Doe head-butting and rearing up - stop playful behavior?

[Womwotai]

My experience with goats is minimal so take this as you will but perhaps some of it depends on breed? My two goats (pair) are Boer. The horns curve backward and are not as severe as pics of some breeds I have seen. They don't use them as weapons - ever. They do, however use them to scratch their backs. I would not consider disbudding them and would rather they have the horns to use as a defense towards a potential predator, than leave them defenseless.

I tend to lean towards "raising on mama" is better than "raising on formula" myself. Having friendly, handleable goats/sheep is certainly a consideration however. Right now I am trying to get the best of both worlds. I had a ewe lamb 6 days ago and another this morning. Each morning I am giving the ewes a little grain, figuring the extra calories will help them out while they produce milk. While the ewe is engrossed in eating her grain, I pick up her lamb and hold it for the duration, constantly talking to and stroking it, touching it all over. My hope is that they will become used to being handled so that even though they are "mama raised" they will wind up more easily handled than their totally mama raised parents. Time will tell.

 

[babsbag]

I think that they extra handling will pay off, but just for information, if you ever get an orphan goat raise them on whole cow's milk from the store, not any of the replacer garbage that is out there. They will do just fine.

The horns on a boer are different and they do use them differently. But it was a boer that got her horn stuck in the collar and they still pinch my fingers. But the horns make good steering wheels too. My dairy stock would be vicious with horns, I have no doubt. But the boer can still stick you in the leg when they are trying to get around you. I tend to use my body as a blocking device at times and it can hurt. I don't perceive it as being mean, they just have horns. Plain and simple.

4h market wethers at our fair and ADGA dairy stock have to be disbudded to be shown, there is a reason for that. The dairy is mean, and the market wethers are shown by children.

 

[taylorm17]

I think it can go either way. Goats that are dam raised can be better than some who are bottle raised. You can have a dam raised goat and you play with the kid everyday. I am not against bottle raising or anything, but would only do it if the mom is a bad mom or she rejects a kid or the kid is not strong enough to live outside with its mom. If the dam is a mean goat, she may not let you near the kid a lot so I might bottle raise it. Aso a dam can kind of 'teach' her kid bad habits and mean habits too! It all depends on how you would prefer and the circumstances you are in.

As of horns, I am also not against horns, but prefer not to have any. Depending on your fencing and the horn shape, they can get stuck in fencing. Mean goats can cause a lot of damage to other goats if they use them as weapons. Others are fine with horns and are as nice as can be. It al depends on preference and some other variables.

Also wanted to add that some bottle raised babies who are ONLY around people and not goats can think they are people and be 'socially awkward' for a while with other goats. Also since a mom will kind of regulate a goats eating, when they take a bottle it is all at once, so sometimes it takes them a while to figure out how to eat like a GOAT not a HUMAN! haha. If they are stil with other goats, but are bottle fed, it is different. A mother would teach a kid feeding habits and how to be a goat.

 

[Pioneer Chicken]

I think it can go either way. Goats that are dam raised can be better than some who are bottle raised. You can have a dam raised goat and you play with the kid everyday. I am not against bottle raising or anything, but would only do it if the mom is a bad mom or she rejects a kid or the kid is not strong enough to live outside with its mom. If the dam is a mean goat, she may not let you near the kid a lot so I might bottle raise it. Aso a dam can kind of 'teach' her kid bad habits and mean habits too! It all depends on how you would prefer and the circumstances you are in.

As of horns, I am also not against horns, but prefer not to have any. Depending on your fencing and the horn shape, they can get stuck in fencing. Mean goats can cause a lot of damage to other goats if they use them as weapons. Others are fine with horns and are as nice as can be. It al depends on preference and some other variables.

Also wanted to add that some bottle raised babies who are ONLY around people and not goats can think they are people and be 'socially awkward' for a while with other goats. Also since a mom will kind of regulate a goats eating, when they take a bottle it is all at once, so sometimes it takes them a while to figure out how to eat like a GOAT not a HUMAN! haha. If they are stil with other goats, but are bottle fed, it is different. A mother would teach a kid feeding habits and how to be a goat.

My thoughts exactly!

IMHO, if I had young children, I wouldn't be having horned goats. The possibility of having an accident would just be too great. The child might do something to upset the goat and, in self-defense, the goat might use its horns to butt off the child as an instantaneous thing. If the goat is just mean-tempered towards children, then it makes for a more sticky situation where your child could get badly hurt. Your child's safety is more important than the goat. You've said that your child has already been head-butted and bruised by your goat. I would honestly rehome the goat and find some disbudded/polled (naturally dehorned) stock so that you don't have to worry about your child getting seriously hurt and so everyone's happy the world around.

 

[taylorm17]

Good one. We have 5 children in our family including myself and all of pur goats will be polled or we would have them disbudded before coming onto our property.

 

[mystry]

Good one. We have 5 children in our family including myself and all of pur goats will be polled or we would have them disbudded before coming onto our property.

I thought I read somewhere that if you bred two polled goats then there is a birth defect that you get? Can't remember exactly? Maybe it was just one breed?

 

[Bunnylady]

I've heard that there is a higher chance of getting a hermaphrodite (an animal with both male and female characteristics) when breeding polled to polled, but it doesn't happen every time, and it can happen when one or both parents aren't polled, too.