Introducing a New Goat in a Small Herd?

Happy Utahn · #1 06/21/07, 01:33 PM

My wife and I got an alpine-mix yearling and her (then) three-month-old doeling about six weeks ago. They are both very good natured with us and each other. The doeling doesn't want to wean, so we keep them in separate but adjacent pens during the day, or we let only one out at a time to graze. That way we get to have at least SOME milk. The doeling hates to be alone, so we figured a second kid would help the situation.

Yesterday we bought another doeling, a three-month-old pure-bred alpine. She is very sweet and docile. The other two goats were OK with her all day, but when we put them all together in the stable last night, our yearling, Christy, began to butt the new doeling mercilessly, for no apparent reason. The only thing we can think of is that Christy doesn't recognize the new one as part of her own herd.

We separated the two kids into the second pen for the night, and have kept them away from Christy today. The two kids get along great.

Is this normal behavior for goats when a new one is introduced? Is there a particular way to introduce a new goat? I know there is with dogs and cats, bit none of the goat books we have seem to mention it.

pookshollow · #2 06/21/07, 03:05 PM

You'll probably have to keep them separate in the barn for a little while - Christy is warning off the strange "kid". My mama goats are not nice to each other's kids, even though they've been together all along! She might also be a bit territorial in smaller spaces.

They'll get to know each other through the fence, and eventually (a couple of weeks?) they'll be ok together.

BlueHeronFarm · #3 06/21/07, 03:18 PM

You can do it as pooks suggests, for sure. But, FWIW we just put them together and let them sort it out. They need to establish their places in the herd - even a herd as small as three.

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #4 06/21/07, 04:41 PM

Anyway you can just move the nursing kid and the new kid together for several months, this would give you more milk and a weaned kid, and two bonded together youngsters that you can then introduce back to the milker after breeding this fall. Vicki

harplade · #5 06/21/07, 08:02 PM

i'd put them all together-I don't think the yearling would truly hurt the baby-I have noticed, though, when putting a bottle raised baby with older goats, there is a much steeper learning curve b/c those bottle babies don't seem to understand 'goat' talk like dam raised.

BethW · #6 06/21/07, 08:43 PM

I'm in a similar situation right now. Just tonight we introduced an 8 week-old kid to our two other kids (one is 3 months old, the other is four months old). They're butting the new baby mercilessly, and the new kid seems so meek and so much smaller that I wasn't happy leaving them unsupervised at night.

We ended up partitioning off their stall with a cattle panel so the new baby could at least get his bearings in a new place before having to put up with being ganged up on. Tomorrow, I'll let them all out together to hash it out under supervision (and in a much bigger area than a barn stall). I may leave them separated at night for a week or so.

If there are any other suggestions, I'd be glad to hear them!

MamaDee · #7 06/21/07, 10:19 PM

We had four adult does and bought a 3 month old doe. We put them together under supervision and they were terrible with her. I am not so sure she wouldn't have gotten hurt. They were butting her side and slamming her into the wall! We got her out of there.

We made a 6 x 6 area out of chicken wire for her that shared one wall with one of their pen panels. We kept her in there full time for a couple of weeks. Then we let her out under supervision during the day for a week. Then....we let her with them all day and they were o.k. Still not at night though. After a couple weeks of all day together we put her in for the night with them. They were completely fine. They still will not let her eat from the same trough as them, though. We have to feed her separately. They will let her eat hay....I guess b/c it's there all the time.

We tried a doggie door thing, but a small Kinder we have could get through easier than the doeling!

I'm also looking forward to others' suggestions. We just got four more goats......two adults and two kids. They are all together, but separate from our other five girls. Not quite sure how we'll blend this crowd!

Dee

christij · #8 06/21/07, 10:26 PM

My Nubian seems to only be okay with beeding down with two ND wheters. Whenever I had her in a seperate stall by herself and then tried to introduce someone she wouldn't stand for it - even if it's an ND that she is stalled with on a regular basis. I think the reason being is that the two boys where here and had their stall before she came. Anything she has been in by herself she will bully whoever I introduce. I have written off as being territoral issue. Her girls are weaning rightnow but over the winter when I rearrange sleeping quaters I am hoping she will be okay with them. We will see! I plan to move them into thier stall to see if that helps.