Recently Castrated Pygmies

[waywardfarm]

I've got two 5 month old twin Pygmy boys that were castrated 2 weeks ago. I waited to have them done later because I lost my last little one to urinary calculi and didn't want to take any chances. These two were bottle babies (got them when they were 2 weeks old) and are the sweetest little things...except...they are rough with each other. Jay (the larger) will butt Noah (the smaller) around and shove him into the wall. Noah usually does not fight back though. Jay started doing this about a month ago and it's not getting any worse but it's not getting better yet. Now that they have been castrated, will they hopefully stop doing this?

Thanks!!!

 

[Fluffygal]

Goats love to rough house with each other. Even does will get rowdy with each other so them being wethered would not affect this tendency.

Sounds like Jay has taken position as top goat and Noah has submitted to this arrangement. Is Noah able to get away once he has been pushed into the wall or is Jay aggressively smooshing him into the wall where he needs help to get away? If it looks like it is more than normal rowdiness then you may want to seperate them.

 

[madcow]

I see my goats (all of them at some time or another) butt heads all the time. I mostly see it as a way that the individuals involved are maintaining or establishing their ranking in the herd. It's an ongoing thing that will sometimes will get worse for a while, but then get better, depending on what is going on with the herd, such as adding a new goat, or if I upset the ranking with something I've done with one of them. I think it's only something to be concerned with if they get to the point of harming each other. They have to constantly establish and/or maintain their ranking. It's just the way that they set boundaries with one another to keep the group peaceful. It's just the way they are and a normal part of their behavior. I have a mother and her daughter and both are full grown. The mother is the herd queen, but hated to be milked. So when the daughter kidded, because she was the easiest to catch and didn't mind being milked, I would milk her first, so she would get fed first. My feeding the daughter first caused the mother (the herd queen) to believe her ranking was being challenged and the 2 of them would get in the worst head butting sessions you could imagine, to the point of drawing blood. When I realized I was messing with the herd ranking and made sure to feed and milk the mother first they calmed down and things were right with their world again. I find their behavior with the group dynamics interesting. From what I understand does are always the herd leaders and bucks are last on the ranking pole, with wethers lower than the bucks. I am sure that they still have some lingering testosterone in their system, as it takes a while for that to clear out, maybe months, but with time and the testosterone level gradually diminishing they will establish who is the dominant buck. I would only be concerned if they got to the point of injuring each other or if it consistently upsets the rest of the group. If that happens I would remove one of them from the group or find someway to change the group dynamics so that the herd harmony is re-established again. Hope that helps shed some light on what might be happening in your herd with these 2 wethers. Some goats never get along with the group. You might have to separate them from the group entirely and see how they act with just each other and that lead them to work things out and be calmer with each other, most of the time.