Taming my new buck. HELP!

[SchönFarbe]

Ok I just resently acquired a year and a half old boar buck who hasn't been around people much and has lived in a 10 x 20 foot pen all of his life. He is huge probably 200 lbs at least. He is pretty wild and I'm nervous to be around him being as I only weigh 110 lbs. So how do I tame and control an animal that weighs almost twice as much as I do

 

[Pearce Pastures]

This might be a bit tricky but you can probably at least get him to be calmer and let you handle him easier. Since he is new, quarantine is always a good bet anyway. Move him into small pen, one that he eat, drink, move in but not so big that he can run away. Then spend time with him. Talk calmly, feed him, let him sniff at you. If he does not seem freaked out, touch him on his back occasionally to let him know you are not going to harm him. By the time he is ready to be out of quarantine, he should be a bit better. He may not ever be a big cuddly love though. Does he have horns?

 

[Mini Horses]

I agree with Peace Pastures. Often they will calm to those who feed them. Yes, can hurt you but, Boer goats are generally a calm natured animal. 25 yrs ago I raised them and always made sure to handle from birth. A buck who is 250# needs to be friendly. Most of mine were easy to catch, lead and handle.

You did not have him early on, so just work with him and keep on trying to handle a litte more each time. Take care as the sheer size can throw you off balance.....I never found them to be a "charge & displace" type animal but, the can be scared. Try to get his co-operation before you intro does.

Talk in same soft voice as you handle. Use a harsher if he pushes the envelope, back to soft for the good boy. Animals DO know the good/bad voice sounds.

Let us know how it goes.

 

[Southern by choice]

Agree with both posters above BUT... every buck is different. Some of the meanest bucks I've ever seen were Boer Bucks... a breeder friend of ours was almost killed by one.

Do the "handling" from outside the fence! Never go in alone PERIOD!

I say this because we own a lot of bucks... I mean alot of bucks. Every buck we have raised is wonderful and truthfully I neverhave to worry with any of them. I have no fear of turning my back on them, even during rut!

BUT---- we bought a 2 year old Lamancha buck... generally a "nice" buck but as he has matured and gone through another rut as well as behaviors that the previous owner thought was "affection" were not corrected- he is dangerous.

At 1 he was sweet and friendly but we suspect some behaviors were not corrected ... which has led to this guy almost 3 now being really scary. He is 225lbs 37" tall and is going to be slaughtered next week.
I won't risk him going anywhere... sometimes people just don't listen and I am afraid someone will get seriously injured.

My DH thought he could go in with this buck to grab a pitchfork that was 10 ft away. Buck was about 50 ft away. I warned DH he was dangerous and pleaded for him not to go in.
DH didn't listen... thought he could be quicker... he wasn't .
Buck charged full on. DH is very strong and grabbed and held him but was being moved around like it was nothing... eventually after some time DH managed to get out safely.
It was very scary.
DH doesn't work with the goats like we do so I guess thought we were just "gals" and were "afraid"...

In his case I believe it was environmental not a trait... his son is like a puppy dog without a mean streak in him.

We did have a massive New Zealand that was the sweetest big baby ever- with people- but he would try to kill any other buck and would even tear a fence down to get to them. Loved that goat so much and cried when he left... he was a big baby.... but again we could never put him with the other bucks so he had to go. Now we only get bucklings and raise them up.

All our bucks live together- we have 2 buck fields with a total of something like 14 bucks I think sad I don't even know how many we have currently.

Said all that to say please be careful. Never put yourself in a position of no escape, never go in alone, be safe. Some bucks are fine and only act stupid in rut.

 

[SchönFarbe]

Yes he dose have horns which for me is a good thing cause my "philosophy" is that a goat with horns is way easer to control than a goat without because if a goat charges you and they have horns you can grab them to slow them down and switch there direction (I've done this before) vs a goat without horns with nothing to grab on to besides there beard if they have one. I know Im one of the only people who thinks that but I'm ok with that. When most of my heard was still baby's I decided I wanted an older doe so I brought home toga witch is my oldest goat she is 5 this February anyway the day I brought her home I was walking with her around my yard and gave her treats to warm her up to me and all of a sudden she swings around and stands on her hind legs like goats do and I had nothing to grab on to no beard no horns... Nothing. So I decided that if I ran she would take that as " hmm ok so I'm head honcho here, I can do that again" so I halled out and punched her in the face not hard enough to cause injury but hard enough to hurt a little well ten minuets later she did it again and did it again this time a little harder to hurt a little more than last time and after that she has never challenged me scence.