Very agressive buck

[landis1659]

Is there anything I can do for my Saanen buck. When he was younger he was fine very playful with everyone buck the last couples months he has just gotten worse. He just turned a year old on the Dec 29th. I can no longer go in his pen without him chasing me and ramming me with his horns. The other day he got his gate open and we found him chasing our huskey. Don't know what to do with him now. Our female is so sweet
thanks Pepper

 

[ksalvagno]

Hormones have kicked in and there isn't much you can do. Did you intend to use him as a buck? I would either whether him ASAP or find him a new home. He still may be a bit aggressive after whethering but there is a possibility it would stop it.

 

[landis1659]

He's done his good deeds for this year, but was hoping to keep him. My husband said to get a cattle prod to keep him off of me but I was afraid that it would make him madder. Thanks

 

[ksalvagno]

I agree with you, I wouldn't use a cattle prod. At this point in my life, I'm not willing to keep an animal that is aggressive. There are male goats out there that can stay intact and not be aggressive all the time. They may be aggressive during rut but then come out of it when they aren't. The other thing that might help is to have some distance between the males and females. Some people do just let their males and females live together but during kidding you would want the male out of there.

It sounds like you only have the 2 goats. Maybe if they had buddies it would help. Maybe his problem is boredom.

I have 3 males together and they do play. So they get any aggression out with each other.

 

[landis1659]

I thought about keeping another male but was afraid they might fight. Weve been thinking of spliting them up a bit more. We should be having some kids in a couple months maybe that will help. Thanks for the help again Pepper

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Life is too short and there are too many nice bucks out there to keep a mean one! This goes for rams too. I'd never keep an aggressive buck because there are nice ones out there.

 

[miron28]

i have been have this problem with mine and i think i got him under control now ... i had to kick his butt he made so mad. i think you just have to show him who is the boss! every once in while he trys me but i pin him to the ground on his side and sit on him until he cries then i get up and he leaves me alone! i almost had to get rid of him until i did what i did and now he is not as bad.

 

[landis1659]

Thank you all, I'm probably just gonna keep him another month or so until Lucy his mate has the baby or babies. They are in pens next to each other so they aren't lonely but he still tries to get to hear. I'm afraid he might hurt her at this point in her pregnancy. If things get better with him then he'll stay if not we'll try to find him a new home, which I'm afraid might not be easy. I don't know if Saanens are go for meat and I don't know what else he'd be good for.

Pepper

 

[Ariel301]

An aggressive buck is no good at all. The best thing to do would be to find one that is nicer. Maybe you can buy one very young and bottle feed him and train him to behave from a young age. We got ours that way this spring, brought him home at about 12 hours old. He is an Alpine with very large horns (we don't disbud) and could be very dangerous if he went after someone, but he is really a big teddy bear. The worst problem we have with him is that he tries to sit in my lap! Start them very young, do not play with them in a rough manner or allow them to rear up/charge/headbutt a person even though it is cute when they are babies. While they are still small enough to do so, every time they try this behavior, flip them onto their side and pin them like that for a few minutes. That way they know that you are bigger. Goats don't really understand any sort of hitting as a punishment, they might interpret that as play or a challenge to fight, as that is what they do to each other, so you can't deter bad behavior by smacking him in the nose/side/wherever like you might with a horse. You can use a spray bottle with water, when the goat misbehaves, spray it in the face. They don't like that at all. I had problems with my does crowding me at the gate and then knocking me down and running out, and I fixed this by telling them to back up, then spraying them with the garden hose every time they rushed at me. Now all I have to do is point at them and say 'back up' and they do, only needing an occasional reminder with the hose.

If you are brave enough to risk it, you could try training him with the spray bottle/hose. However, if he is being aggressive to your doe, I'd get rid of him; you don't want to risk her safety or her babies! With horns, he can potentially kill another goat or even a human, so there is added danger there. If your doe has no horns, it would be best if you got a buck with no horns also, because she doesn't have an equal set of weapons to protect herself.

You can probably sell him for meat, even though dairy breeds are pretty scrawny in that department. It's sad, but I'd be afraid to sell him to someone as a breeding animal or pet with his behavior, unless they have the knowledge/experience to deal with him. If you do sell him, be sure to make it known that he has aggressive tendencies! Wethering him will not likely solve the problem, even though it takes away the hormones, because he has learned he can get away with being aggressive and taking advantage of you, so without retraining he will probably always do so.

 

[FarmerChick]

He's done his good deeds for this year, but was hoping to keep him. My husband said to get a cattle prod to keep him off of me but I was afraid that it would make him madder. Thanks

what keeps a buck off you----whack the top of his horns with a pipe

they can not stand the vibrations. it will keep him off you and yes they learn......my big boer buck was a pain. he would wham my knees etc.

I told Tony I couldn't stand it and he said, duh, whack him. I said yea right? he'll kill me.....LOL

no with a pipe


SO JUST take a 2 ft length of pipe in with you. When he comes at you, whack the horns. IT WORKS!



I had a doe stuck her head thru the fence and couldn't pull it out. My monster boer buck was nailing her to the wall big time. I thought he would definitely injure her. I tried to pry her head back thru working on the other side of the fence, but as I pushed and twisted, the stupid buck was pushing and mounting and whamming the doe from the otehr side..LOL......what a pain. I went into the garage and got a pipe.

I leaned over the fence and whacked his horns and in about 5 mins he walked away to the rest of the herd, leaving me alone to get the doe out of the fence.


honestly this is a lifesaver and works wonders