Horsefly
Ridin' The Range
I just thought I would share this discovery I made. It has made life so much easier.
We have a 1 1/2 year old fainting goat buck and he is really pushy and even dangerous. He was the first animal born on our property and our first kid. Being we were new we made mistakes with his upbringing, when he was small we would think it was funny and let him play push us and butt us. I knew we shouldn't let him do it but the rest of the family did anyway. We also didn't get him dehorned or wethered like we should of. As he grew bigger he got pushier, smellier, and learned how to use his horns (prod you, rip the fence up if he was irritated, etc.). We could handle him some but it is almost inevitable to come out of "battle" with him with bruises on you legs from him hooking you. His favorite was to catch your arm between his horns and twist. And finally he got to big and strong to be able to flip and win. I was always scared to have people over to pet the goats and he had to be locked up if there were others around. Then he would prosede to rip the fence off the post. It was also a big ordeal to find someone who could handle him when we went out of town. He was almost sent to the butcher several time but for some reason we never did. In short he was a danger. I tried pinching him over his neck and that helped or pushing him in the chest but he would still try again and again to catch you off guard. After searching the Internet I found some site that said goats hate water and to use a spray bottle to get rid of unwanted behavior. I never tried it with "Chilly" (buck) because I figured he was to aggressive.
So when we had our new babies this year we got another buckling. We started him off right and he is dehorned and we just banded him. We don't tolerate pushing and when he was pushing me a bit 2 days ago I remembered the spray bottle and decided to use it to help train him. When I went back out with the spray bottle Chilly aproched me and started pushing and rearing thing to me and I squirted him, you would think I shocked him! He jumped back! I was just amazed that a little mist of water could deter him. So the past couple day we take a spray bottle with us out with the goats and it is amazing the difference in him. He doesn't try to run you over or push you even if you don't have the bottle, he is now easier to be around and we don't have to worry he will hurt some one. I am so happy we tried this with him.
We are planning on selling him in the future and I am sure it will be much easier to sell a friendly goat than one that wants to gore you.
I thought I would share this story for anyone going through this. It doesn't hurt him and just shows what is the correct behavior. This was more longwinded than I set out to write but hopefully it helps someone.
We have a 1 1/2 year old fainting goat buck and he is really pushy and even dangerous. He was the first animal born on our property and our first kid. Being we were new we made mistakes with his upbringing, when he was small we would think it was funny and let him play push us and butt us. I knew we shouldn't let him do it but the rest of the family did anyway. We also didn't get him dehorned or wethered like we should of. As he grew bigger he got pushier, smellier, and learned how to use his horns (prod you, rip the fence up if he was irritated, etc.). We could handle him some but it is almost inevitable to come out of "battle" with him with bruises on you legs from him hooking you. His favorite was to catch your arm between his horns and twist. And finally he got to big and strong to be able to flip and win. I was always scared to have people over to pet the goats and he had to be locked up if there were others around. Then he would prosede to rip the fence off the post. It was also a big ordeal to find someone who could handle him when we went out of town. He was almost sent to the butcher several time but for some reason we never did. In short he was a danger. I tried pinching him over his neck and that helped or pushing him in the chest but he would still try again and again to catch you off guard. After searching the Internet I found some site that said goats hate water and to use a spray bottle to get rid of unwanted behavior. I never tried it with "Chilly" (buck) because I figured he was to aggressive.
So when we had our new babies this year we got another buckling. We started him off right and he is dehorned and we just banded him. We don't tolerate pushing and when he was pushing me a bit 2 days ago I remembered the spray bottle and decided to use it to help train him. When I went back out with the spray bottle Chilly aproched me and started pushing and rearing thing to me and I squirted him, you would think I shocked him! He jumped back! I was just amazed that a little mist of water could deter him. So the past couple day we take a spray bottle with us out with the goats and it is amazing the difference in him. He doesn't try to run you over or push you even if you don't have the bottle, he is now easier to be around and we don't have to worry he will hurt some one. I am so happy we tried this with him.
We are planning on selling him in the future and I am sure it will be much easier to sell a friendly goat than one that wants to gore you.
I thought I would share this story for anyone going through this. It doesn't hurt him and just shows what is the correct behavior. This was more longwinded than I set out to write but hopefully it helps someone.
