Doe Dominance...What do I do?

[Jenniferlynne13]

My Saanen, Cally, kidded 3 weeks ago...she has been bunking with her twins since then....

My Toggenburg, Addy, kidded 2 weeks ago and has been bunking solo in the stall that she and Cally used to share....

Tonight...I decided to put the twins down in their stall, and let the two does go back to business as usual in their stall (the barn is enclosed by the corral, so their stall has a half door with a heavy curtain that they keeps out the elements but they can go out into the corral as they please....)

Cally...has been TOTALLY Bullying Addy....Poor Addy tries to go into the barn...and next thing I see is her RUNNING out at full speed ....

I don't want to lock them in the stall for fear I will find a MUTILATED Addy in the morning....

Addy has a shelter out in the corral that she can sleep under if necessary...but I HATE to think she's sleeping outside because she is being bullied by Cally....

Will this rivalry fade with time??

Thanks in advance for any advice!!!

[mygoat]

Yes it will fade.

Apart from separating them for maybe a day, it is not beneficial to isolate does that long and leads to major fights and bullying as you're witnessing. I rarely separate does at all, and really only separate if I have a doe who is ill/struggling after kidding (rare) or if kids are struggling, or if the does' mothering skills are not quite perfect (common in first time does, usually mild and restraining with their kids usuallywill fix it). It is usually for a day or two, max. Our kidding pen is a cattle panel sectioned off area in our barn, so they're never really 'gone' - this helps with her dynamics, too.

[KSALguy]

any time you separate members of a herd for an extended time the social order is disrupted and needs to be remade, it will settle down, do they have horns or no>? if you have a small area to put them in where they cant get a running start to hit each other that may help, the more confined and less able to move the better sense its just the two of them,

[Jenniferlynne13]

Thanks for the Tips...

The Saanen had a VERY difficult delivery of the twins...VERY DIFFICULT...I had two seasoned pro's here helping and both said it was the worst delivery they'd ever seen or been a part of....She had nerve damage in her hind legs (which has since cleared up)....the kids were a week early and they even had difficulty for the first couple of days....I had planned on bottle feeding the babies... but Cally's teats were SO small and I couldn't get ANY milk out of her...i was afraid the babies were going to starve ...SO I put her in with them...She was a GREAT momma...I spent the first night in the barn with them...and helped steady the kids at her teats...by the second night...I was watching via a Video Baby Monitor...and only had to run out a couple of times when I saw one of them having trouble... after that...Mom did the work...

My plan was to leave her in with them for two weeks and then separate them just at night in order to milk her some in the mornings & then let the kids have her for the days...After two weeks...the kids still seemed on the small side...so someone had suggested I give them one more week...which I split the difference and gave them 1/2 week more....

The stall that the two adults shared may be a little too big ...they can't get a RUNNING start...but can rear up and get a good ram going....ooo...but the stall for the kids is smaller...maybe i need to switch things around!!

The Saanen has her horns...but I have them secured so that she can't do any damage by gouging.... here's a pic


PS..the horn protectors are the tips / pointy ends of a small nerf football that I was able to cup around the tip of the horn and secure with duct tape (white of course to match her so she wouldn't look silly) originally I had only put the two pads on each horn...but she managed to get one stuck in Addy's Collar...and in the 4x4 inch hole in the goat fence...so I decided to bridge the gap w/some more duct tape...this has worked BEAUTIFULLY....and has stayed on with no problems!!

I just don't want the my Toggenburg to have to sleep outside ...she is such a good girl...and should have her nice warm & Dry bed!!

Fingers crossed for calm!!

[Backfourty,MI.]

I don't keep my does' separated any longer than need be when they kid because of the head butting when all back together. When the kids are getting around good, nursing 7 momma's doing well they are back with the rest of my small herd(usually 2 days).

It will settle down like the others have already said but the more space you can give them together to get away from each other I find is better. Make sure the kids have places to get under or hide from the other does.

[Jenniferlynne13]

I had no idea that the separation would be an issue....Lesson Learned!!!

THANKS Guys for the info...I won't make this mistake again!!!