Introducing new goats

[exegeses]

We will soon be adding 8 goats to our 2 ... the 8 we will be adding are: 1 buck, 1 yearling buck, 6 does of varying ages. They are all together as a herd. We currently have 1 buck and 1 doe.

What is the best way to introduce the new ones? One, two, or more at a time, or all at once?

I'm sure the bucks would want to fight (right?), so we'll need to have at least one 'buck pen'.

Both bucks are polled, the doe we have now is polled, the other does we will be getting have horns. A question for anyone who has a mix of polled and horned goats ... do the polled goats usually end up at the bottom of the herd hierarchy?

Thanks for your help.

[Backfourty,MI.]

What kind of goats are they? If it were me, my bucks would definately have a seperate pen from the doe's. # bucks for 6 or 7 doe's is alot, you'll have alot of variety there anyways.

I do have 1 polled doe & the others have horns & they all get along fine, there is always 1 that will be the boss no matter what.
I would keep a close eye on them when you put any of them bucks or doe's together since there will be butting. 6 new doe's in with your 1 you've had may be piked on quite a bit especially if you bought all the new one's together from the same breeder.

Do you quarentine your new goats first for a couple weeks 1st? Incase of any illness?

[exegeses]

What kind of goats are they?

The buck I have now is 1/2 Nubian 1/2 Boer, my doe is Nubian.
The buck we'll be getting is Nubian, one of the does is a Sannen, one is a daughter of the Sannen & Nubian buck, the other does are Nubian.

6 new doe's in with your 1 you've had may be piked on quite a bit especially if you bought all the new one's together from the same breeder.

I pretty much figured this ... that's why I was wondering if it would be better to introduce them a couple at a time. Would that cause less butting in the long run, or more (once they're all together again)?

Do you quarentine your new goats first for a couple weeks 1st?

Not this time. I don't have a pen large enough to hold the newcomers. The lady I'm getting them from is moving to another state, and had been selling her goats for the last several months. She kept her best ones back, in case the move fell through, so she doesn't have any others coming in now ... it's just these guys. We have a month or two before they need to be moved, and they'll be wormed just before.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I think introducing a couple at a time will just seem like she's getting picked on for a longer period of time since it will be like 2 a week or every few days. Can you put her in a pen with a fence between her & the new one's & let them get to know each other through the fence first? If not I guess I would put them all in together when I was going to be home & watch. If she's not getting any rest you could put her up somewhere at night away from them.

I have also found that the bigger the area the less likely they are to fight too much & they have more room to get away from each other.
Maybe let them all together when your watching them out in the pasture or feild big yard, etc.?

[mygoat]

If you're not quarantining them, make sure you test the incoming stock for CL and CAE at LEAST once before bringing them home, then hopefully a short while after bringing them home. No quarantine pen is the worst scenario, you'll want one. Now is better than never. Once you get CL, that's it and it only takes one infected animal. Nothing is more important than disease testing and prevention.

As for bucks, they can all live together just make sure they can all get in the offered housing no matter if one is being a bully. That usually means 2 or more doors and large enough the non-dominant one can get away from the bullies. You will want a separate pen for your bucks, as well as another small pen (can be rather tiny as it's only used to expose the doe to the buck for several breedings) to hand breed your does, as having an exact due date and knowing lineage is very important in animal husbandry. It will prevent you missing a difficult kidding and also take note of what breedings produced the kind of stock you want and which ones didn't.

I would rather just introduce new goats all at once. Your does that are used to the area are actually more likely to pick on the newcomers, not the other way around. As long as you have ample room in the housing and pasture as well as multiple hay feeders it is not a problem. New goats are likely to be so terrified of their new surroundings that they will only make pitiful attempts at defending themselves, usually just running away. The incoming herd queen is about the only one that might make a fuss but she'll be disoriented too. This is generally what happens, there could be exceptions but usually it's not a terribly big deal.