*whack!***

mpete · #1 09/18/09, 11:59 AM

I was coming in from one of the pens, almost made it to the porch and ****WHACK!****, somethin hit the back of my leg. Dropping what was in my hands I turned around to see my reg. nubian buck rearing for another strike! I uttered a few choice words while reaching for his back leg, he hit the ground hard, I put my knee on his neck to stop him from gettin up, yelled for the kids to bring me a cup of water and avoiding his nostrils I poured it on his face. After a few moments I let him up and he ran off. Usually he stays around and blubbers at you, but this time I think I made my point.
I can believe he got out of his pen, he IS a goat, but he has NEVER hit anyone like that. He usually will just challenge you and maybe push you. I have bad hips to begin with and that jolt has really got me in some discomfort...

Question: Should he settle down now with people? I have small kids, and that would've done some damage if they got hit...

betsy h. · #2 09/18/09, 12:05 PM

Keep a squirt bottle around and use it liberally if he continues- put vinegar in it if he gets worse- then if nothing helps, use a shock stick just aimed at the end of his nose (you don;t even have to touch him) and make it "Crack"- chances are he'll get the message

susanne · #3 09/18/09, 12:07 PM

that is an unacceptable behavior. how old is he?
i would not tolerate a buck with this attitude and he would be send off to freezer camp.

farmmom · #4 09/18/09, 12:48 PM

One of my bucks kept rearing up at me, and one day came after me when I had him on a lead. I threw him down and sat on him for a couple of minutes. I haven't had a problem with him since.

DQ · #5 09/18/09, 01:52 PM

actual head butting is the natural escalation if he was already exhibiting pushing and threatening behaviour. discipline him when he gets even slightly pushy. I suppose he was just seeing how far he could push it. I would give him another chance especiallyif you hadn't been disciplining him for being pushy before.

GoatsRus · #6 09/18/09, 01:53 PM

My DH had to throw our older buck down a couple of times when he reared up at him. That settled him for a while, but eventually we got a shock prod. I could never have thrown the buck down because he weighed around 350# and could easily kill me. We shocked him a couple of times with the prod. After that all we had to do was show it to him and he'd walk away. A few years before he died he became as gentle as a dog.

DairyGoatSlave · #7 09/18/09, 02:19 PM

I was at my friends place once and had to go into the buck pen to fill up water(I was the only one there) And White Cloud came up to me and tried to mount me, I turned around really fast punched him in the nose, he backed up and blurbed at me so I did it again. He has never given me problems sense~

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #8 09/18/09, 04:22 PM

It's breeding season. Most bucks live by themselves, are never handled except when they are in rut. They see men as competition for breeding their females, and then we wonder why we can have problems with our bucks during rut? I do chores everyday with a 4 year old, although he helps me in the buck pen, I would never allow him to be in there without me. Yesterday the electrical guy was here, the pole is out where a buck was breeding, no way would I let him out there without me in the pen, my bucks are very good at their job and see men as a threat to that job. Also handeling does in heat, and then you go in with your buck, yeah he is going to smell her on you, if you dont' already have a dominant place in his 'herd' with him, he is going to throw his leg and blubber at you...this should not be suprising, it's not him saying to himself, I am going to be mean to her today, it is hormonal.

I have excellent bucks, with really good manners, even with that I take percautions when in with the bucks during breeding season, just like I do with all livestock. Even breeding our dogs, I have been doing some fresh semen collections with our male, he has never bitten me, but do I chance it during collection, no, during live breedings, no, he wears a mussle (or the visiting bitch does)...it's the same thing.

I know it's a very pet mentality over here, but being in rut is not a time to challenge a buck or certainly a time to try to teach him anything when he is just all testosterone. Vicki

Corky · #9 09/18/09, 08:15 PM

My thoughts too Vicki.

My buck is B I G ! At least to little 5'2" me.
He is a sweetheart all year long but durring rutt I am very careful around him.
He has never tried to challange me but he does try to rub up on me and I HATE that!

I have had a doe in with him for a few hours all week.
To get her out at night I simply open the door to his shed and gently push his face to the side and she slips right by him and out into the barn.
Shed is attached to barn. First time I did it my DH was afraid he would charge past me.
NO.

I would give that buck another chance.

He is just doing his buck thing. Don't turn your back on him and don't challange him.
It is very easy to make a buck mean.

I know. I did it once. I smacked him.(not this buck) and he never forgot.
He hated me after that. We sold him.

Bucks love my DH though. He is always gentle and never looses his temper with them.
He likes the smell. Y U C K!

mpete · #10 09/18/09, 11:02 PM

He is normally a docile guy. He is a year and a half. He has challenged us before, but we flip him and he is good for another day or two. He is also a pack goat, so he is used to people, although he doesn't pack often because I won't take him if there are going to be does. The suprising part was the getting hit from behind thing because I didnt know he had gotten out, or I would've been watching for him. I don't plan on freezer camp yet, I did have an experience a couple years ago where a buck attacked and kept attacking and he did go to the freezer (he was at my house because he attacked his owner).
The prod thing you guys are talking about, are they pretty cheap?

mpete · #11 09/18/09, 11:02 PM

He is normally a docile guy. He is a year and a half. He has challenged us before, but we flip him and he is good for another day or two. He is also a pack goat, so he is used to people, although he doesn't pack often because I won't take him if there are going to be does. The suprising part was the getting hit from behind thing because I didnt know he had gotten out, or I would've been watching for him. I don't plan on freezer camp yet, I did have an experience a couple years ago where a buck attacked and kept attacking and he did go to the freezer (he was at my house because he attacked his owner).
The prod thing you guys are talking about, are they pretty cheap?

Laverne · #12 09/19/09, 02:48 AM

Years ago I used to take my doe to Apple Valley Nubians to be bred. She told me she had a buck that was dangerous and he got out of his pen and he wouldn't let her out of her house so she had to shoot him dead.

Starsmom · #13 09/19/09, 06:50 AM

I had to throw one of mine. I just sat on him until he surrendered. While I had him down, I had my son let the young bucks out and they walked around him, over him, etc. He got a dose of total humiliation. He was a changed guy when I let him up. NO problems after that. My problem with him was not butting...this guy would sneak up behind you slip his head between your legs and lift you right off the ground. I couldn't break him of it, so I threw him. It worked.

Jcran · #14 09/19/09, 10:12 AM

We use a spray bottle with apple cider vinegar in it; our buck does NOTHING to anyone who carries it. He is a typical buck; big baby who wants to rub on you. I don't allow that because I also feel that its a dominance thing. If he rears up, he gets sprayed. If he tries to PUSH on you, he gets sprayed. If he butts the fence in frustration while waiting for me to toss hay into his feeder, he gets sprayed. He is very well behaved when the vinegar bottle is out. I don't want him ruining my fences or my life.

***whack!*****

*whack!***