My bottle babies are driving me nuts!

[dixiegal62]

I raised 4 bottle babies in the spring, two of them have grown up to be normal goats.

The other two think they are dogs and are driving me nuts. Every night they break out of the pasture and sleep on the front porch with our yard dogs, Every morning Im out there scraping goat poop off my porch that they have trampled in making a scrapper the only tool that will get it up. Its amazing just how much two goats can poop in a nights time.

One has taken to hiding in the bushes and jumping out at visitors, greeting them loudly thus giving them heart attacks. One of my sons friends got ambushed last week and ran back to his car yelling the whole way. We can not figure out where they are getting out at.

[Sher]

LOL...you have been TOOO good of a momma! I have 2 kids on the bottle right now..there about 2 1/2 weeks old. They are going to be monsters..plain and simple. They have stolen my heart though.

Haven't got a clue of how to help ya out..but I can sympathize!

[Minelson]

Mine hang out on the deck and the poops fall through between the planks...maybe you can add something like that to your porch. Or, I have found that mine will go potty on hay so if you put just a pile of hay on your porch they may just go on that and that will be easier to clean. As far as attacking visitors...everyone around here has learned to call ahead if they are stopping in if they don't want their car jumped on.
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b8...D550/ry%3D400/

[thaiblue12]

Originally Posted by dixiegal62

One has taken to hiding in the bushes and jumping out at visitors, greeting them loudly thus giving them heart attacks. One of my sons friends got ambushed last week and ran back to his car yelling the whole way. We can not figure out where they are getting out at.

That had me laughing! Too funny
I have 6 bottle babies, two are still on the bottle. They know when we get home from school/work and coming screaming around the corner cause they are of course starved! The other 4 are 1 and a half years old to 8 months old. They are the nosiest, most curious things around. When I was shingling their barn last summer one use to try to climb the ladder after me. I made sure I had my cell phone so that if he knocked it down I would not be trapped on the roof. They are constantly in my business while I am outside.

Goats have great personalities and I do not mind mine being so friendly most of the time. Maybe you should get a sign that says " Beware of Goats".

[Alice In TX/MO]

All I can say is, "Yes." We've raised three bottle babies, and they are all like that. Underfoot. Hollering. Wanting attention. Think they can run the power tools.

[AnnaS]

You might want to put a sprinkler hose somewhere between the fence and the porch. Goats like water as much as cats do. If you want to get really inventive, gardening supply stores sell water sprinklers that are motion activated. Deer repellants, like blood meal, may also keep the goats off the porch.

A lot of bottle babies are like that. Goats are very intelligent, affectionate, and care nothing about rules. I had a doeling in the house for six weeks this spring. She was quickly and perfectly housebroken and slept on the foot of the bed with the cats. But she loved to smash my computer keyboards and destroyed three of them. I finally started bringing them to work with me.

On the other hand, I had a bottle baby who was fearful. she'd run to the far end of the pen when all the other doelings mobbed me. When she freshened, she hated to be led and would drag, scream, and fight me. I thought she was just a crazy goat. She went to the 4 day MN State Fair goat show this year and was a sweet, gentle goat to everyone else, including the hundreds of strangers she finangled over to pet her. It turns out she doesn't like me.

[goatkid]

Bottle babies can be a real pain when they become adolescents. I have one doeling that likes to jump up on me like a dog. They seem to setle down once they freshen. The wild ones get mellower and the shy ones get tamer. I still prefer dealing with bottle raised kids than wild dam raised ones.