meme
Loving the herd life
Meet Heidi:
1.5 year old American Alpine, dry yearling. Wanted for attacking helpless little goats.
Heidi is my baby, and was bottle fed since day one. As she has grown older, she has slowly become the dominant goat out of our three adults. She sometimes beats up on Rachel and Shasta at feeding time, but they are usually just fine after a while. She has never been aggressive towards people. When Rachel kidded in late March with triplets, we bottle raised them on a CAE prevention program from birth, so they were never with the herd. Their "infant pen" was a little ways away from the adults, so they could hear and see eachother from a distance, but no sniffing noses or anything. When they were about a month old, we put them in a sectioned off part of of the adult pen. Heidi immediately started slamming the fence, trying to head-butt them. Rachel was sometimes allowed to visit them, and the worst she did was bit their ears when they started getting a little too playful. It's pretty funny actually, like an annoyed mom correcting her kids.
Recently, after selling one of the doelings, we decided that Oreo needed to become part of the herd, since we are keeping her. The past few days, we have been taking them all on supervised trips together to the larger part of the pasture, where they all gorge themselveds on oak leaves. Rachel no longer bites their ears and Shasta pretty much ignores them. Sometimes, Nutmeg, the buckling, will pick a fight with his mom. I allow them to engage in normal headbutting, so Rachel can establish herself as the higher-up. I understand that this is normal goat behavior, and let them work things out. However, Heidi is different. Even when they are several yards away from her, she will charge them and try to trample them on purpose. She waits until nobody is holding her collar or standing in between her and the target, and she just takes off. It is less of a normal head-butting match, and more like she is trying to trample them to death. Earlier today, she took off full on springting at Nutmeg. She rammed him in the stomach and he started sliding down the hill. She stepped on his ear and nearly got his head. She quickly turned around and came back for more, but thankfully I was able to grab her before she could reach him again. Nutmeg was fine, but seems a little shaken up. I didn't expect integrating them into the herd to be that easy, but why is Heidi so determined to hurt them? Even at the fair, she was always trying to fight with goats in the ring-side pens or those who go too close. Maybe I am just paranoid, but I feel like they would be seriously injured if I left them together. Thankfully, everyone is disbudded, or I don't know what would have happened. How do I integrate them without the brutal attacks? Does anyone have any advice?
1.5 year old American Alpine, dry yearling. Wanted for attacking helpless little goats.
Heidi is my baby, and was bottle fed since day one. As she has grown older, she has slowly become the dominant goat out of our three adults. She sometimes beats up on Rachel and Shasta at feeding time, but they are usually just fine after a while. She has never been aggressive towards people. When Rachel kidded in late March with triplets, we bottle raised them on a CAE prevention program from birth, so they were never with the herd. Their "infant pen" was a little ways away from the adults, so they could hear and see eachother from a distance, but no sniffing noses or anything. When they were about a month old, we put them in a sectioned off part of of the adult pen. Heidi immediately started slamming the fence, trying to head-butt them. Rachel was sometimes allowed to visit them, and the worst she did was bit their ears when they started getting a little too playful. It's pretty funny actually, like an annoyed mom correcting her kids.
Recently, after selling one of the doelings, we decided that Oreo needed to become part of the herd, since we are keeping her. The past few days, we have been taking them all on supervised trips together to the larger part of the pasture, where they all gorge themselveds on oak leaves. Rachel no longer bites their ears and Shasta pretty much ignores them. Sometimes, Nutmeg, the buckling, will pick a fight with his mom. I allow them to engage in normal headbutting, so Rachel can establish herself as the higher-up. I understand that this is normal goat behavior, and let them work things out. However, Heidi is different. Even when they are several yards away from her, she will charge them and try to trample them on purpose. She waits until nobody is holding her collar or standing in between her and the target, and she just takes off. It is less of a normal head-butting match, and more like she is trying to trample them to death. Earlier today, she took off full on springting at Nutmeg. She rammed him in the stomach and he started sliding down the hill. She stepped on his ear and nearly got his head. She quickly turned around and came back for more, but thankfully I was able to grab her before she could reach him again. Nutmeg was fine, but seems a little shaken up. I didn't expect integrating them into the herd to be that easy, but why is Heidi so determined to hurt them? Even at the fair, she was always trying to fight with goats in the ring-side pens or those who go too close. Maybe I am just paranoid, but I feel like they would be seriously injured if I left them together. Thankfully, everyone is disbudded, or I don't know what would have happened. How do I integrate them without the brutal attacks? Does anyone have any advice?
I would not say this is "normal" goat pecking order behaviour and you just have MEANY....getting pushy around grain or breeding is understandable but outright targeting an animal that is not standing off against them, especially after a couple hour pushy introduction, is bullying in my books. I have small nigerians with yearling apline horned does with no aggression issues...small and large all seem to figure it out and live peacefully.
