Question re: hard to catch/friendly goats

crazygoatgal · #1 05/20/08, 10:53 AM

I just posted this question on an existing thread, but thought I should make my own. WhinnyNinny asked about her doe jumping the fence and then having trouble catching her and several others have mentioned having trouble catching theirs. So heres my question, and please I am not trying to sound like those annoying people who gloat about how wonderful their animals are, but why are mine so much different than yours? I never have trouble catching them, as a matter of fact I have trouble getting away from them! They are not all bottle babies and I bought some as dam raised and as adults as well. I know people say the Nigerians are the friendliest, is that what they are referring to or am I just REALLY REALLY blessed?

bloogrssgrl · #2 05/20/08, 11:03 AM

It depends on the mood my goats are in as to how friendly/easily caught they will be.

Of course, around feeding time, you would think I was the Grain Goddess descended from on high.

If they do get out and are feeling frisky, they can be a bit of a pain, but they are completely ruled by the rumen and a treat will certainly mean the end of freedom.

Wow. I think I just came up with a good t-shirt: Ruled by the Rumen!

4Hmomwyo · #3 05/20/08, 11:05 AM

I think a big part of it has to do with time spent and feeding. For people with large herds and/or herds that are almost completely out in pasture, the animals don't see/interact with them as much (I am assuming this--I'm sure there are exceptions) as those animals from small herds or in more confined settings. Also for those animals in a smaller confined area, they see the owner more during feedings and associate them with good things--that's why we have a hard time getting away from them too! Our experience with a dairy goat that was extremely skittish and two 4-H market goats has reinforced this theory. Where we were never able to get near them in a short period of time with them seeing us lots and getting grain and other treats, now we are their favorite things! That's been our experience, so yes, you are REALLY REALLY blessed, but so are we

!

**mygoat** · #4 05/20/08, 11:19 AM

My girls are all 'friendly'. However, a few of my goats are trained to do some work around the farm, especially my herd queen. When she sees me with a leash, cord, strap, collar or ANYTHING that I could possibly use to catch her, she's GONE, and everyone follows her. However if I go out and sit with them for some 'itchy time', all of my girls gather around.

I prefer bottle raising my kids because it's no-brainer tame. I don't have to work with them for hours to attempt to tame them. I do have a doe that was dam raised that acts like a bottle baby, and I have a bottle doe that acts like a dam raised - but generally they are friendlier.

Scrounger · #5 05/20/08, 11:40 AM

My wife's dad in NW Missouri has metal yokes on all of his goats (even kids) to keep them from grubbing under a fence or pushing through it. I've never used one on ANY goat. Never saw the need. Most of the time IF I DO have an "escapee", it's a month old kid who has found a TINY hole to squeeze through. Once they are older, then no more escapes (except the occasional ZOOM through an open gate....

).

BethW · #6 05/20/08, 04:03 PM

My dam-raised NDs are impossible to get away from. Most days I'm the escapee, not them

I've never had to chase them down for anything.

Goat Servant · #7 05/20/08, 04:40 PM

[QUOTE=mygoat;3092364]My girls are all 'friendly'. However, a few of my goats are trained to do some work around the farm, especially my herd queen. When she sees me with a leash, cord, strap, collar or ANYTHING that I could possibly use to catch her, she's GONE, and everyone follows her. However if I go out and sit with them for some 'itchy time', all of my girls gather around.

Got a big kick out of that one!
Anne I like your "Ruled by the Rumen"!!

My Boers (two of them from very large herd) took awhile to come around. Hay & grain were the only things they related to at first.
Now I get mobbed by everyone at the hay feeder. And the dam raised kids are just as friendly as most bottle babies, tho I have one now who is skitterish (a recently weaned half Nub) maybe she thinks Im going to boot her away; I did have to do that when she jumped on me at bottle time.
When they are laying around against the gate and Im empty handed I cant get in or out!!! I mean it takes a whole lot of shoving before they'll move the lazy buggars.
Then the times I just sit out there they come up two or three at a time wanting their head skritches.

BothFeet · #8 05/20/08, 04:57 PM

I find them easier to catch when they are in a herd, I think they feel safer. When I have an escapee she gets very wild and very hard to catch.

Mine are all fed by the momma goats, but interact with us daily. Some are tame and cuddly, some are more wild. They all lose their shyness if we walk out with food.

Rockytopsis · #9 05/20/08, 05:07 PM

Mine are friendly according to how many animal crackers are in my pocket. LOL

Zone · #10 05/20/08, 05:13 PM

I have a small herd, under 10 right now. A few months back, I heard some light tapping/banging on the front porch one evening and figured it was the screen door making noise in the breeze. I opened the door and met the Whole entire herd on my front porch staring at me like nothing was out of the ordinary. I was SO surprised I started laughing. I actually closed the door, turned around and told my husband and then reopened the door. It was the funniest thing. All were waiting to see what "mom" was going to do, so I chose one or two and led them off the porch and back into their yard. The rest followed. Then I fixed the gate.

Nope, no problems catching them that night.

cathleenc · #11 05/20/08, 10:07 PM

our barn is built against a steep, wild wooded hill - and heaven, to our goats, is to escape and browse and climb.

They will scamper like wild things to get away from me with the choicest treats in hand - no treat compares to that hill, I guess.

Some nights I just have to let them wait till it gets dark - the dark brings them back, wailing to get into their barn. Then I am acceptable again and they'll look for treats.

Silly goats.

EasyDay · #12 05/21/08, 07:39 AM

The second doe we bought was strictly a "field" goat. I don't think she'd ever been touched by human hands. Couldn't get near her, hardly. I spent a couple days going out and catching her (whew), holding her down, and petting her all over while talking softly to her until I'd feel her totally relax. That did it. After just 3 or 4 petting sessions over 2 days, she decided that I wasn't going to eat her. We still have her and she's just the calmest sweetheart!

RiverPines · #13 05/21/08, 09:04 AM

A few I have I bought as adults and already not human conditioned.
After a year they still run at the sight of humans.
The 2 I have left are being replaced by their offspring.
I have already replaced others and put the skittish ones in the freezer. Their young always are fine because we handle them from birth on.

Most of my goats now are easy to manage. Soon they all will be.

whinnyninny · #14 05/21/08, 09:27 AM

Mine seem to know what I'm doing... maybe it's something in my body language that I'm not aware of. But I'll go to pet my mama goat, and she'll be easy to catch... but if we want to catch her for milking, she's not so keen to be caught.

Our 12-day old buckling is so easy to catch... he'll actually run right up to us, but his sister doesn't want to have any part of it. We were building a milking shed yesterday and spent a few hours in the goat pen, and she started coming right up to us and sniffing at us (and trying to nibble my favorite jeans), so maybe she'll be easier to catch now.

Our 7-month-old doeling doesn't care about being caught when she's in her pen (about 2,000 sq ft), but when she escapes out of it she is really hard to catch. But she'll let me catch her easier than she'll let DH catch her. That's what DH gets for working 70 hours a week and not having any time to spend around them!

Wags · #15 05/21/08, 09:49 AM

I have Nigerians - most of them are easy to catch. One has never been a love bug like the rest, and she doesn't like to change pastures or have her hooves trimmed. Although once caught she is quite docile. I also have one that is a bit of an escape artist, but she never runs off, just eats the grass on the other side of the fence.

None of mine are bottle babies, but they have all been handled from birth. Our new wether who will be two weeks old tomorrow cries for me every time I leave the pen, even with his momma standing right there. He loves to snuggle, especially when its at all cold outside.