Do I need a buck?

[TxMex]

I'm still having problems with my dominant doe butting a less dominant doe in the belly as hard as she can. Would having a herd buck help to settle this doe down? Would he tend to protect the doe that is getting beat up on? I have no experience with bucks at all. I'm at my wits end with this doe!

[Alice In TX/MO]

Bucks think about one thing only. Sorry.

[TxMex]

Dang. It was a lovely theory

[mary,tx]

With mine, this has only been a problem in close quarters, not in the field. A less dominant doe needs a separate barn coop from a bully.

[mekasmom]

Originally Posted by TxMex

I'm still having problems with my dominant doe butting a less dominant doe in the belly as hard as she can. Would having a herd buck help to settle this doe down? Would he tend to protect the doe that is getting beat up on? I have no experience with bucks at all. I'm at my wits end with this doe!

Bucks aren't going to help that. They just have to create a hierarchy structure. If she is pregnant, keep her separate so it doesn't cause her to loose her kid.

[julieq]

Yep, if a head doe is abusive, she needs to be separated out before she injures an inferior doe. A buck won't help that.

[motdaugrnds]

You need a dog like one of mine. Cherokee stops "all" behavior in animals (4-legged AND 2-legged) that she thinks is aggressive, even mating rituals.

If I had a doe that looked like she was mean (as apposed to just establishing a pecking order), I would NOT keep her! It may, also, be that the one being butted is actually irritating the one doing the butting in some way. I suspect, if they were mine, I would spend some time with them watching to see what is occurring. Then I would be better prepared to make a decision as to what to do about it.

Maybe sharing an experience I had a few years back will help you. I had a doe who was the last in the pecking order and had obviously been hurt badly before I got her because her ribs looked out of place. Since I only had a total of 3 does, I stayed in with them off and on for nearly 3 months while they were eating hay out of a feeder bin, standing between her and the others until she learned it was ok to eat out of that same feeder. (The feeder has a place for 4 goats to eat from.) It wasn't long before the others learned she was one of the ones that was suppose to eat with them and she learned she was not going to be hurt by doing so. The problem was gone!

[Backfourty,MI.]

I agree with some of the others here. The more space they have the less the butting goes on, for one thing there is more space to keep away from each other.

If the doe is truly just plain mean & not just doing the pecking order thing I would get rid of her. Also another doe or 2 may help with the situation.

I don't keep my buck/s with the does', they have seperate quarters so he wouldn't help at all. Even kept in with the does' he won't stop the bullying.

[Kshobbit]

I am in agreement with all the above posters. A buck won't stop the aggressive doe's butting. I usually sell a really mean doe that butts and slams the other does. I sold one in December after watching and hoping she would stop for months. The rest of the herd are so happy she is gone.

[TxMex]

They have lots of room. Especially now that I finished the electric fence. I kept hoping that would help. The only way it helps is if the less dominant doe notices her charging and gets out of the way. The poor less dominant doe stays as far away from her as possible while still being within sight. My 'herd' consists of 3, so this is a very unhappy goat.

I'm building as quickly as I can. I wanted my next project to be a chicken coop and then a barn, but I guess it will be another goat pen.

Thanks everyone!

[April]

I've also found that the "mean" does teach their kids to be mean as well. I get rid of them as quickly as possible.

[Laverne]

Remote control shock collar. May not work but it would be fun for awhile.

[TxMex]

Originally Posted by Laverne

Remote control shock collar. May not work but it would be fun for awhile.

ROFL! Don't tempt me!

Things are going a bit better. I had been confining all 3 of them into a pen at night. I've decided not to confine them. That way the less dominant doe can get away from the bossy one. I'll just have to hope that the electric fence I put up will turn away any predators. I plan to start building the goat barn within the next 2 weeks. At that point I'll have multiple pens and that should help. Also I'll start feeding them on the milk stand so that should eliminate 'bossiness' over food.