# Very agressive buck



## landis1659 (Jan 4, 2010)

Is there anything I can do for my Saanen buck.  When he was younger he was fine very playful with everyone buck the last couples months he has just gotten worse.  He just turned a year old on the Dec 29th.  I can no longer go in his pen without him chasing me and ramming me with his horns.  The other day he got his gate open and we found him chasing our huskey.  Don't know what to do with him now.  Our female is so sweet
thanks Pepper


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## ksalvagno (Jan 4, 2010)

Hormones have kicked in and there isn't much you can do. Did you intend to use him as a buck? I would either whether him ASAP or find him a new home. He still may be a bit aggressive after whethering but there is a possibility it would stop it.


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## landis1659 (Jan 4, 2010)

He's done his good deeds for this year, but was hoping to keep him.  My husband said to get a cattle prod to keep him off of me but I was afraid that it would make him madder.  Thanks


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## ksalvagno (Jan 4, 2010)

I agree with you, I wouldn't use a cattle prod. At this point in my life, I'm not willing to keep an animal that is aggressive. There are male goats out there that can stay intact and not be aggressive all the time. They may be aggressive during rut but then come out of it when they aren't. The other thing that might help is to have some distance between the males and females. Some people do just let their males and females live together but during kidding you would want the male out of there.

It sounds like you only have the 2 goats. Maybe if they had buddies it would help. Maybe his problem is boredom.

I have 3 males together and they do play. So they get any aggression out with each other.


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## landis1659 (Jan 5, 2010)

I thought about keeping another male but was afraid they might fight.  Weve been thinking of spliting them up a bit more.  We should be having some kids in a couple months maybe that will help.  Thanks for the help again Pepper


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## aggieterpkatie (Jan 5, 2010)

Life is too short and there are too many nice bucks out there to keep a mean one!   This goes for rams too.  I'd never keep an aggressive buck because there are nice ones out there.


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## miron28 (Jan 8, 2010)

i have been have this problem with mine and i think i got him under control now ... i had  to kick his butt he made so mad. i think you just have to show him who is the boss! every once in while he trys me but i pin him to the ground on his side and sit on him until he cries then i get up and he leaves me alone!  i almost had to get rid of him until i did what i did and now he is not as bad.


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## landis1659 (Jan 8, 2010)

Thank you all, I'm probably just gonna keep him another month or so until Lucy his mate has the baby or babies.  They are in pens next to each other so they aren't lonely but he still tries to get to hear. I'm afraid he might hurt her at this point in her pregnancy.  If things get better with him then he'll stay if not we'll try to find him a new home, which I'm afraid might not be easy.  I don't know if Saanens are go for meat and I don't know what else he'd be good for.

Pepper


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## Ariel301 (Jan 8, 2010)

An aggressive buck is no good at all. The best thing to do would be to find one that is nicer. Maybe you can buy one very young and bottle feed him and train him to behave from a young age. We got ours that way this spring, brought him home at about 12 hours old. He is an Alpine with very large horns (we don't disbud) and could be very dangerous if he went after someone, but he is really a big teddy bear. The worst problem we have with him is that he tries to sit in my lap! Start them very young, do not play with them in a rough manner or allow them to rear up/charge/headbutt a person even though it is cute when they are babies. While they are still small enough to do so, every time they try this behavior, flip them onto their side and pin them like that for a few minutes. That way they know that you are bigger. Goats don't really understand any sort of hitting as a punishment, they might interpret that as play or a challenge to fight, as that is what they do to each other, so you can't deter bad behavior by smacking him in the nose/side/wherever like you might with a horse. You can use a spray bottle with water, when the goat misbehaves, spray it in the face.  They don't like that at all. I had problems with my does crowding me at the gate and then knocking me down and running out, and I fixed this by telling them to back up, then spraying them with the garden hose every time they rushed at me. Now all I have to do is point at them and say 'back up' and they do, only needing an occasional reminder with the hose. 

If you are brave enough to risk it, you could try training him with the spray bottle/hose. However, if he is being aggressive to your doe, I'd get rid of him; you don't want to risk her safety or her babies! With horns, he can potentially kill another goat or even a human, so there is added danger there. If your doe has no horns, it would be best if you got a buck with no horns also, because she doesn't have an equal set of weapons to protect herself. 

You can probably sell him for meat, even though dairy breeds are pretty scrawny in that department. It's sad, but I'd be afraid to sell him to someone as a breeding animal or pet with his behavior, unless they have the knowledge/experience to deal with him. If you do sell him, be sure to make it known that he has aggressive tendencies! Wethering him will not likely solve the problem, even though it takes away the hormones, because he has learned he can get away with being aggressive and taking advantage of you, so without retraining he will probably always do so.


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## FarmerChick (Jan 9, 2010)

landis1659 said:
			
		

> He's done his good deeds for this year, but was hoping to keep him.  My husband said to get a cattle prod to keep him off of me but I was afraid that it would make him madder.  Thanks


what keeps a buck off you----whack the top of his horns with a pipe

they can not stand the vibrations.  it will keep him off you and yes they learn......my big boer buck was a pain.  he would wham my knees etc.

I told Tony I couldn't stand it and he said, duh, whack him.  I said yea right?  he'll kill me.....LOL

no with a pipe


SO JUST take a 2 ft length of pipe in with you.  When he comes at you, whack the horns.  IT WORKS!



I had a doe stuck her head thru the fence and couldn't pull it out.  My monster boer buck was nailing her to the wall big time.   I thought he would definitely injure her.  I tried to pry her head back thru working on the other side of the fence, but as I pushed and twisted, the stupid buck was pushing and mounting and whamming the doe from the otehr side..LOL......what a pain.    I went into the garage and got a pipe.

I leaned over the fence and whacked his horns and in about 5 mins he walked away to the rest of the herd, leaving me alone to get the doe out of the fence.


honestly this is a lifesaver and works wonders


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## freemotion (Jan 9, 2010)

Yes, it is the language they speak.  The one who rams the hardest is the top goat.  I have to do this with my alpha doe on occasion, but it only takes a small board or stick across the horns for her.

When I was a kid, it was my job to put does in with the buck...and take does out.  I always went in that pen with a piece of 2x4 in my hand!


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## Roll farms (Jan 9, 2010)

I won't even keep kids out of an aggressive buck....it's a trait that can be inherited and I prefer peace / safety.

There really are too many nice bucks out there to risk yourself by putting up w/ a mean one.


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## currycomb (Jan 9, 2010)

we were given a mean buck, nubian with horns. he would rear and charge, i would side step him, moving his target and went on with my business. the previous owner had made a pet of him and played head butting games when he was a bottle baby, so just had to let him know no games played here. he is now sireing nice kids for a local farmer, no longer attacking people.


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## ()relics (Jan 9, 2010)

IMO...bottle billys=potentially dangerous billys...they are too friendly.  I don't agree with hitting a billy or any animal because it is "misbehaving"..chances are that you or some previous owner caused the problems that you now have to put up with and when you hit them they usually feel obligated to " hit you back" thinking you are playing some goat game with them....My billys don't like me and stay away, I can catch them if needed, but they _prefer_ not to be around me....Just the way I like it... When we show a billy he is kept confined seperately and given the respect he deserves;   letting him think that he is "the king of the world" but never letting him ANYWHERE near any does...As previously stated some billys are just too wild and should be removed for your own protection.


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## Roll farms (Jan 9, 2010)

As with a dam-raised buck, if you treat them right (and I mean TEACH them what's acceptable), a bottle baby buck *can* be fine.  

All 3 of our current bucks were bottle raised, and it's nice to not have to chase them down or manhandle them if I have to treat them on my own.

I sold a 6 yr old Nubian bottle buck last year who was the biggest pup on earth.  

ALL bucks can be a handful at breeding time (it's a man thing) but be smart and realize that before you go in there....

I had 2 really nice dam-reared bucks....1 boer and 1 kiko....that had to move on because they were agressive.

I had 1 dam reared buck that wasn't aggressive, but had to be cornered to be vaccinated or get his feet trimmed...and I don't like stressing them out.

Rams, on the other hand....bad idea to bottle raise them suckers.  
*rubs bum in memory of a 'pet' ram gone wrong*


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## landis1659 (Jan 10, 2010)

Our Buck (Buddy) was 2 and half mos. old when we got him from a lady down the street. He was not bottle fed and it took us about another 2 mos. to get him to come to us. After that he was pretty friendly.  I yelled at my son-in-law and husband all the time because they thought it was cute to play rough with him.  So then after that he used to come and push on my legs and I would just push him back and say no! But that turned into harder push and now a charge in the last couple months.  He is a year now as I said before and I can't control him at all now. At over a 100 he just keeps pushing me so much that he threw out my shoulder trying to keep him off off me. I don't even go in there now I let my husband do the feeding and cleaning now, I told him it was his fault he was like this.  We wanted to keep him for breeding but if I can't get him under control soon I'm just gonna give him away to someone else.  I'm kind of waiting until Lucy his mate has her baby so she won't be all alone.  My husband doesn't have the stomick for butchering him.  Does anyone know if know can mate a mother and son, I thought it would be too close, like inbreeding??  Otherwise were gonna have to find another male.  I found him by accident, then it told a 3 hour drive to find a female.  I truely love the breed our Lucy is wonderful. My grandkids play with her all the time.  Anyway I'm thinking about trying the squirt bottle trick the one guy said because neither one of them like water.  Every time it starts to rain they run for cover.

Thanks everyone for you input, I know where to come for answers now, Pepper


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jan 10, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> I won't even keep kids out of an aggressive buck....it's a trait that can be inherited and I prefer peace / safety.
> 
> There really are too many nice bucks out there to risk yourself by putting up w/ a mean one.


I don't have a buck yet, but that's how I feel about roosters.  Our roo has gone after my newfie's butt a few times and she just walked away, but a few days ago he went after her face.  She won't tolerate pushy animals around here (dogs or otherwise) so she put her whole mouth around his body, pinned him to the ground and growled.  Then she let him up and walked away.  He just stood there for a moment, ruffled in his feathers, and had the most defeated look on his face a chicken could possibly have!!   He was so shocked!

She used to do the same thing when our other dog was a puppy and got out of line.  Occasionally she preforms a much milder version of this correction on the cats when they get too rowdy in the house.  Of course, they're cats so they don't care.  She ALWAYS has a soft mouth.

I was so pleased with her, that roo needed to be taken down a notch!


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## cmjust0 (Jan 11, 2010)

landis1659 said:
			
		

> Does anyone know if know can mate a mother and son, I thought it would be too close, like inbreeding??


No, mating a mother to her son isn't _like_ inbreeding -- it _is_ inbreedng.

I guess you could call it 'linebreeding' if it goes well, though..  That's what other folks seem to do.

   


(..for the sake of clarity..I wouldn't do that if I were you..)


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## aggieterpkatie (Jan 11, 2010)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> landis1659 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I've heard several breeders say you can do it once and not have any ill effects.  For example, you could breed a father to a daughter, but not breed those offspring back to the father.


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## landis1659 (Jan 11, 2010)

That's what I thought.  So either way it wouldn't do to keep him around, because I couldn't use him again next year if I wanted to breed his daughter, (hopping we have a girl this year).  I would like to have a small herd someday.  I haven't found any books that talk about family lines or such.  Just what I know about dogs.  Thanks Pepper


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## mcadams (Feb 19, 2010)

the best thing for him would be to find him a new home, be sure they know about his problem. or turn hin into to tacos. my mom ruined a good beor buck my father had by playing with him all the time, by pushing on his head....when got to about 200 pounds he was doing all the pushing. he had to go.


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## landis1659 (Feb 20, 2010)

Thanks we kept trying but yes, we finally had to let him go.  I found a real nice young man who said he was gonna use him for breeding his Lamanchas. I told him the problem he said not to worry that he could control him.  We know now not to play with the bucks like that anymore.  Our doe is fine but not the bucks. I'm hoping he works out for the guy.  Now I'm looking for another doe. So Lucy won't be lonely.

Thanks Pepper


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## ksalvagno (Feb 20, 2010)

Glad you were able to find him a good home. Hopefully you can find a doe soon for your current one.


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## landis1659 (Feb 21, 2010)

Thanks Karen


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