Why is she so obnoxious?

[TroutRiver]

I have a yearling boer/nubian doe who has become the BIGGEST pain in my butt

She jumps over or crawls under electric fences, and climbs solid fences. She has to be tethered inside the paddock to keep her in, and she SCREAMS about it. If I take another goat out of the paddock (even when I leave her with a buddy so she's not alone) she screams constantly until I come and get her. Her twin brother was like this, he became sausage. She was not like this until recently. She used to be really sweet and quiet, and really good about walking on a lead with her collar. Recently, when I try to lead her somewhere, it's like she thinks I'm trying to kill her, she screams and resists, I practically have to drag her.

Is it because she's a teenager? Is it her breed? Just her personality? I am hoping this is just an adolescent phase and she will grow out of it. Her and her brother were a "gift" from a friend who lives nearby, so I would feel kind of guilty getting rid of her (the plan that I told him was that the boy was going to be meat and this girl would be used for dairy and I'd give her a good home)... but I am really getting tired of this obnoxious behavior. What should I do?

[susieM]

Maybe, like so many young women, she'll be better after having a baby and some responsibility.

[nehimama]

As she's so annoying, think about this: Boer/Dairy crosses normally do NOT make good dairy goats. Dairy goats have been bred over the years for a 9 - 10 month lactation. Boers have milk long enough to raise their young (4 - 5 months) and they dry off.

Too, as they were given to you, they are YOURS. To do with as you wish.

Good luck with this one.

[nehimama]

Oops. Double post.

[Alice In TX/MO]

This is why I don't have Nubians. Although I know one breeder who selects for quiet well behaved personalities, this is not the norm, nor the reputation of the breed.

I loved the Nubian buckling we had for a while, but the doe was just like you described.

I no longer have Nubians in my herd.

(apology for offense to Nubian owners)

[TroutRiver]

I know that nubians are renowned for being loud and obnoxious. I would attribute it to that except that my other two does are purebred nubian and nubian/alpine, and neither of them are anywhere near as obnoxious as Stella (nubian/boer). I did not "choose" nubians, I haven't really decided if I have a breed preference, it just so happened that nubians and nubian crosses are what I found that seemed to be good options at the time. There are LOTS of people around here who keep nubians... not sure why so many people in this area choose them over other breeds.

[Alice In TX/MO]

It's the ears. They look like Jar Jar Binks.

[bcadybug]

We really need a "LIKE" button on here!

Alice that was HILARIOUS! LOL...

Val

[mekasmom]

Are you in the country, off the road, far enough that you could just let her roam? She wont run off. She will stay near her herd. Of course you have to be far enough off the road that she won't cause an accident. I have had many loose goats that just hang around the sheds/pen. They do get kind of bad about laying on the porch, so you have to be willing to sweep off pellets, and keep her out of your garden, but other than that yard goats are just like a dog. And they are AWESOME about keeping strange dogs off the property.

[wolffeathers]

I have heard that they settle down after breeding.

I hope this is true because my 6 month nubian is literally bouncing off the walls. I found her standing on the wall, 5 feet up on a 3" ledge. Complaining and just in generally being a velcro goat. She's sweet, but I'm really looking forward to "mommy" stage and out of the "baby" stage.

[hiddensprings]

I have found that my Nubians tried to "train" me. They used to make all kinds of noise until I came running to find out what was wrong. It didn't take me too long to figure out they did get strictly to get the attention. Still I love them and have learned to overlook their rather noisy exsistence.

[where I want to]

Oh - so you're the owner. I just read a posting on the "why are humans like that?" forum for goats. They complained (must be Nubians) about the infuriating tendency of humans to act like they own goats just because the feed them all the time.
This may sound weird but have you tried tethering her outside the pen so she can't get near her dear, dear, dear friends? If she is locked away from them for a couple of days, she may just decide that staying with them is more important than she previously thought.
Just get some ear plugs either way...............

[Kazahleenah]

When I read the title, I thought to myself..."must be a nubian". LOL!
I love nubians for their "distinct" personalities, and their individuality. I do admit, they are not for everybody though.

[RedSonja]

Originally Posted by where I want to

This may sound weird but have you tried tethering her outside the pen so she can't get near her dear, dear, dear friends? If she is locked away from them for a couple of days, she may just decide that staying with them is more important than she previously thought.
Just get some ear plugs either way...............

This *might* work. I have two wethers destined for freezer camp when I have the energy and the freezer space coincide, and it's because they won't stay in a fence. Now that the weather is nicer here, I've been leaving the goats in their electric net paddock 24/7. Day one of this, the Freezer Twins left the paddock. They stayed out all night and the next morning when I went to pull milkers, they both RAN in the paddock to get back to the herd. *knock on wood* they haven't escaped since. They're still going in the freezer though.

-Sonja

[TroutRiver]

Thanks for your responses, everyone. I have enjoyed reading the silly comments

I can't let her free range, I live on a vineyard and the first place she would go would be the grape vines. They are my landlord's livelihood, and the one rule that he set when I asked about getting goats was that they HAVE to stay away from the grapes (a completely reasonable requirement)

As for tethering her outside of the fence, I don't really want to put the idea in the others' heads that they could be on the other side of the fence, too.

[Pony]

Okay, I'll give ya the ears on JarJar, but the face is Dragon from Shrek.



I think she'll probably settle down once she's been bred.

or not.

She is, after all, a Nubian queen, and must have subjects to do her bidding.

(And no, not all Nubians are like that, just like all Saanens aren't boring and all Lamanchas aren't ugly.)

[Laverne]

My goats used to like to get out and I would start hurling buckets at them and they'd all run back to their area. They aren't so much interested in getting out now. A LaMancha doe I have was really obnoxious and copper bolusing helped her personality and I think she is even better after being wormed for Liverfluke.

[Backfourty,MI.]

We got a nubian doeling last summer & I had always read here that nubians were very loud so I was a little hesitant but she was so darned cute we got her anyways! She is very quiet which is surprising. One of my mini nubians is kinda noisey but usually only when it's getting close to their breakfast or dinner other than that all our goats are pretty quiet.

My nubian does sound like she talks in her sleep though which is weird I thought. Never noticed it until I was spending sush long periods of time in the barn during kidding's & it's like she mumbles & grumbles in her sleep, Maybe she's dreaming?

[AuntKitty]

Not to rain on your parade, but in my experience the loudness is passed on by the doe to her kids. I don't know if it is genetic or environmental, ie they learn to do it from her, but my noisy herd queen always has at least 1 noisy kid and then she has to be even noisier to get my attention

Kitty

[AuntKitty]

I also think part of the roar of the TRex in Jurassic park came from a recording of a Nubian doe whose staff was driving away ignoring her....

Kitty