Taming a goat

Goatboy · #1 07/23/04, 12:24 PM

Anyone have any suggestions on how to do this? I just got a 6 month old pygmy buck and well as the saying goes he's wild as a buck... Sucker wants nothing to do with a human what so ever.. Tried coaxing him with corn like I did my others but he won't have it.. I'm really at a loss at what to do next..

TexCountryWoman · #2 07/23/04, 03:53 PM

I think he will be tame before you know it. Keep offering him that "magic feed" and he will warm up. Gentle soft voices, no sudden movement, same routine. After awhile, he will feel safe and at home and will try to be the boss! A friend gave me a couple of wild goats awhile back, a Nubian doe and her half Boer doeling wild as deer, and now they like to be petted and are getting much tamer. They watch the other goats and get jealous. They also have a more "stable environment" than where they came from, where they were considered nuisances. If a goat knows you truly care for it, and don't harbour resentments, the goat will love you back (in it's own greedy goat way!). Good luck!

Mrs_stuart · #3 07/23/04, 06:44 PM

I agree with TexCountryWoman..slow and steady and he will eventually respond. My daughter takes a chair out and sits in the yard with the goats and just reads...they eventually come up and have their head on her shoulder. It always seem to work...just have to keep trying.

Belinda

Jen H · #4 07/23/04, 07:44 PM

Yep, the grain will work. Just sit out there with a container of grain in your lap and talk to the critter for awhile. Soon you'll have him eating out of your hand and wanting tummy rubs.

TimandPatti · #5 07/26/04, 01:28 AM

We have one that was young when we got him but he is still wild. All the rest are as sweet and tame as they come. He just will not allow you to touch him, not even for grain! Trust me I have been patient and no one loves their animals as much as me, so this is a new one! I have been able to tame all my hens, donkeys, ducks and goats but not this guy. Otis will yell when he sees me and I go in the pen and he gets quiet but won't come near me.

okgoatgal2 · #6 07/26/04, 10:32 PM

someone who bought an insane, wild goat from my mom (and she bottle feeds, this whole line was weird) fed her baby carrots until she will almost sit in his lap now. maybe the goat doesn't like corn...give him carrots or bread or something else

mizattitude · #7 07/26/04, 11:42 PM

I had 2 Nubians before..I got them way past weaning. One probably had been fooled with..the other..Nope. She never really warmed up. She would come to you, but was skittish.

IMHO, if you want a tame goat..get them to where they need to be bottle fed..that young. I bought 2 day olds (or a couple of days old). There is not a sweeter pair . They follow me around and come when i call. They are now about 6 months old.

I personally would not take anymore goats that were not young enough to be bottlefed..For some reason, I found it almost impossible to get them to where they truly trust you.

The again..it may be just me..