Mrstillery, we had them for 5 weeks.

To clarify...are you saying that all pitched a fit EXCEPT for the one that you did NOT bottle-feed?

Gibbsgirl, yes, it would be interesting to see how she behaves around and with another adult goat here.

She will have nothing to do with us unless we have something that she likes to eat. If I go out with some thing that does not interest her, she will turn around and walk straight back into the shed. Her baby, though...comes to the fence to be petted and will stay there until I get up to go. Soooo sweet! I hope she does not turn cold like her mama when she grows up!

Yes... And I have no idea how that worked out? Before she kidded I tried pretend milking her and she stomped and squatted and nearly strangled herself trying to get out of the stanchion. She is also fairly skiddish so I was scared she wouldn't be a good mom. She has ended up being a great mother, extremely tentative and has never stomped once while being milked. That just shows you goats are so weird sometimes!

Keep her until she weans the kid and then get yourself another, gentle LaMancha. A squirt gun can be used if she makes aggressive overtures towards you. Water is a very effective tool for goat management! It does sound like the kid has a better disposition. Also, I woudl get rid of the plastic link collar. They don't allow enough control over the goat in my opinion. Use a nylon dog collar.

Narnia, if you would post your location perhaps there is a member here who could help you out with your problem goat.

I have heard that any collar besides the plastic chain collar could choke the goat if they got hung up on something, so we left the plastic collar on. Is this not true? I did not have another plastic collar to put on the baby, so I put a dog collar on her to put on and take off, but today, I just left it on her. It was too much drama trying to get it on her every time. And today, while I was bent over putting on the baby's collar, the mama took a bite of my hair and jerked it, which was painful! Ouch!!

With the lead training...baby has caught on faster than her mom. This was only the 3rd time with a collar and lead and she no longer pulls as hard as she did the first time. She loves to skip and hop when she walks from pen to garage for milking time, so those were about the only times that there was a resistance. So, here we were, parading to the garage to be milked...mom - struggling, straining, pulling, choking, gasping...while baby is walking along daintily with a loose lead! What a sight!

I took baby for a long walk after the morning milking. She has caught on so quickly!! Faster than any puppy that I ever had! Every time she stopped to pull back, I got down low and called her to come to me and she would. I would pet her and praise her. She LOVES to be petted, so she needs no treats. We did this several times. After that, most of the time, she walked by my side, like she normally does without a lead. She is so easy to work with!! She feels like my dream goat! When I rub her udder and pretend to milk, she freezes and squats slightly. She turns her head to me to look at me. She is just soooooooo adorable!! She is the silver lining in this dark cloud!!

I have heard and read about people who fell in love with goats. I thought..."How could anyone possibly fall in love with a goat?" Well, our baby has stolen my heart, like no dog ever has! It's an unexplainable something...that is different from my relationship with a dog. Goats really ARE special (sweet ones, that is)!!! Because of her, I am so glad that we got this pair! But, I also realized...while out on our walk...that I am really enjoying her size (33 lbs). It's more what I am familiar and comfortable with...the size of a small dog. I wonder how it will be when she gets larger?? I will know soon enough!!

I use either the nylon dog collars, or choke chain collars that are only wired closed with a tiny piece of wire that will snap loose if it gets caught up. Have never had anyone choke with these collars. All strangling events have been with baling twine collars. :-(

OK. I forgot this before. But, out of desperation once, I bandana'd sheep.

We were showing sheep at fair, and we could not get the last few to cooperate with sheering. Out of desperation, I tied a bandana on one to temporarily blind him. He got it loose a couple of times, so I needed help to keep it in place after awhile.

But, lights out, really made them stand very still compared to how they were without it.

Sounds like milking is a two man job for you right now anyway, so there's another idea.

Goats don't like to overexert themselves in my experience. So, if you can break the cycle of her behavior even a couple of times, she may settle down and decide harassing you isn't worth it.

The dam is pulling your hair?? Smack her in the nose when she does that. She's being a bitch. Replace her. Most goats should be like the doeling. I am sorry you got a lemon.

What did it mean to her when she pulled my hair? I was not in a position to pop her on the nose.

Like I said...I think she's a strange goat. She loves to exert herself fighting my DH on the lead. Still going strong!!! Choking all the way!!

It is the goat equivalent of slapping you in the face!

I think your instinct that she needs to go is right. I'm just writing this stuff on here in case you find it useful for her or in the future.

It can be extra intimidating to try again after the first animal was a bust. Just figured the more you have to read the more little tips you collect for the future.

OK I did not read every reply, I'm sorry I can't focus enough to read every word.
I think you should go ahead and cull her. She's being a witch and if you can't handle her, she won't get any better. I understand the size difference. Trust me, I really do. I am 5'3" 110lbs. 27 years old with a bad back and a bad knee. I own Nubians. I have had Lamanchas (never again. Both that I had were meaner than snot) also had Saanens (very sweet)

If you choose to cull her and get a new goat these are must dos before you agree to buy.

Catch the goat yourself. Lead the goat yourself, from pen to milk stand (if in milk) Milk the goat yourself. Pick up the feet, touch the goat every where. Lead the goat away from the herd to see how they act.

Sorry your first goats had to pains. Not all goats are like that. And that little doeling may end up like her mother, and she may not...it depends if the mother is that way because of lack of handling or if it is just her personality. But if you start working with the doeling now, chances are pretty good you will have a nice cooperative doe in the future.

Who would buy her??!! Another newbie like us?? :( I'm afraid that I won't be able to sell her...unless at the auction barn.

Just say in your ad that you're inexperienced and in over your head.

I'd take her to the butcher if your worried about a future owner. But, I know that's hard for some people, so no judgment.

So, you have found nubians that are sweeter than the lamanchas? I guess it all depends on the individual goat rather than just the breed.

Yes, I have come to the same conclusions...to handle the goats ourselves WITHOUT the owner around, to see how they respond to us. Great suggestions.

We had another tough milking morning. My DH got so mad that it has ruined his day. If we do cull her, we will have to wait unto the baby is fully weaned. How old is that?

We had thought of that, but she is quite skinny. There wouldn't be much meat to her. I don't know that I could eat her, personally. I have such bad feelings toward her that eating her would be unpleasant.

Even drinking her milk is becoming a distasteful thing now, because of the stress that we have to go through just to get it!

Deep down in my heart...even though I really do not like her...the thought of her being butchered makes my heart hurt.

At any rate...we will have to first find a replacement prior to culling her, so that we can continue to have milk.

We have been working soooo hard to make this goat happy! My DH goes out to the fields every day, harvesting kudzu leaves to feed her.

Last night, he gave her some, but not as much as usual. She kept bellowing endlessly, so he went into the pen to see what she wanted. She ran into the shed, stood by the hay feeder that holds the kudzu. She looked at the feeder and at my DH, telling him that she was out of kudzu. So, he got her some more and then she quit her bellowing! She is quite demanding at that!

I can't help but wonder if there is a key to getting her to calm down, because she was so perfectly calm at the previous owner's. The one thing that is different, is that she was never led from one location to the next for the milking. She was let out of the stall in the barn and onto the milking stand. I wonder if all that struggling on the way to milking stand is making her upset??

And...thinking back...I recall seeing her struggling when he led her by her plastic chain collar (which she had not been wearing, but he had put her on for the travel) into the holding cage and then to our car.

That is why she keeps it up. Let her holler. She'll learn to shut up. Your trying to be to nice and she's taking advantage. You need to be her boss. Not her friend.

What you feed affects the milk. My LA Manchas get free choice hay and a pound of feed on the milk stand. An occasional treat and that's it. We don't have kudzu, but there are weeds here that will make the milk taste off and the amount of butterfat changes during lactation. I have a new doe who tries to kick my hand away so I just tie her near leg to the back of the milk stand. She can move it, just let not far enough to reach my hand. She fought the first time and now when she feels the rope she stands. If she tries to kick the "off" side I push her to make her loose balance and put her foot back down. She is learning to stand quietly and is improving. It sounds like your being to "nice". Not that you need to be abusive, just more dominant.

We don't mind her demands for having her needs met. She is communicating with us and that is good. We check to see what is going on when she bellows because we live in the woods and need to see if a predator has gotten into the pen, since we don't have a guard dog. Unless there has been a change to her routine, she usually bellows for a reason.

But, we understand the need to dominate. My DH is continuing to restrain her on lead. She still pulls a lot, but hopefully will get the message sooner or later.

Last night and this morning, I tried squirting her every time she kicked. That seemed to help. We will continue the squirt method to see if it breaks her of the habit.

You don't have to send her for meat. An experienced goat owner would be able to handle her. You can probably ship her off to another dairy and she will be appreciated there. But for a family milker, where personality and human interaction matters....she's not the best fit, especially for a beginner.

This is probably true. She was at a dairy before, not in a personal interactive home. I am shopping Nigerian Dwarfs now, for smaller, more manageable goats.

If you wanted Nubians, check some out, mine are wonderful girls. ND can be super cute and fun but also have their own set of problems. My girls are very sweet and calm, only hollers at milking time, er mostly at milking time.......

That's the way my LA manchas are. We looked at the Nigerian dwarfs but they are small and don't give much milk so we would have needed more of them for our family.

Hollers while being milked or hollers to get milked?

We decided yesterday to go for once a day milking....to spare ourselves the agony of dealing with this goat twice a day! She's probably happier, too.

Milk production a little less, but we are tired of starting out our day with the stress. It colors our whole day! We milked her last night at 7:00 and she kicked again and had to be tied down but we got through it.

So, if you don't like drama, you may want to reconsider Nubians. The ones I've interacted with do stuff like laying down and refusing to walk. You drag them? They yell more and still don't get up. Finally get them on the milking stand. They lay down on the bucket, crushing your hands! OK, so they're not all like that...and they ARE emotionally dependent and NEED lots of attention.....which some people like. But if you're after calm, quiet, and sweet, Saanens, LaManchas (most are not like yours), and Oberhasli are all good breeds. I never owned a Nigerian Dwarf, but the ones I've seen scream quite a bit, in very high pitched voices.

I have Alpines. I like them, but they are mischievous and it doesn't sound like they'd be a good fit for you.

Update
 

Hi everyone! Thanks for all your helpful advice! I wanted to give an update.

She just recently, a few days ago, decided to settle down somewhat. I think she feels comfortable with us now. It's been a loooooooong 2.5 months!!!

We had started to milk her once a day, but got so little milk...found out she had bloat...got her over that...went back to twice a day, until we fixed a way to separate the baby from the Mom. So, a few days ago, we decided to try the once a day milking again.

Actually, this is when she became calmer! She has been much better about giving up her milk once a day, than twice a day!! Interesting!

I LOVE once a day milking!! Half the work in milking, milk handling, and cleaning equipment!!

We have made adjustments for my safety. I do not go into the pen alone with her there.

She does let me pet her now, and there is sort of a relationship...she "lets down" her milk by squatting a bit when I start to wash her udder. She does not stomp during the washing, but still stomps when milking, so my DH just calmly ties down her legs while I'm washing her udder and we get through the milking without any drama nowadays, so we have all learned to make adjustments.

We put a small amount of grain in a bowl on the milk stand, so that she will jump up and stay there. If she runs out, it is still while I am washing her udder, which she nowadays, seems to enjoy and is patient through it. She is so dirty from lying in dirt that I have to use 3 terrycloth towels to get her clean!

Then, when we start to milk her, we give her the rest of her grains with alfalfa pellets mixed in. This system is working well for us as it has slowed down her eating considerably!!

So, things are calmer here at "Green Acres" farm!! :gaptooth:

I have four does and if im not outside at 7 their mad if im not out their until 8:30 they r furious. she is not that strange I have a boer that wont let me go remotely close to her belly lol and a goat that can tie herself up to a tree �� and a REALLY smart Nigerian never can seem to out smart her lol