new small buck getting really pushy, what to do?

BamaSuzy · #1 01/05/05, 02:33 AM

My new Boar buck, who I've had for about two to three months, has breed (we think) one of my females so is now officially a "buck." But this growing up has come with some bad behavior...

He was a bottle fed baby and is about 6 to 8 months old now. He was very gentle when we got him. I am in and out of the goat fenced area a lot and have to go inside two times a day to feed and water.

He has started jumping up on me, pushing me, etc. I firmly say no and trying to make him stop but if I push him down off me that seems to make him want to push me back more....

How do I stop or prohibit this behavior? He will be moving to his own fenced area beside the two female goats soon and will likely have our goat dog as his companion there....

Is he acting this way because one of the goats was in heat? (that is over now)....Is he acting this way simply because he's a male? I am 5 ft 5 inches and weigh about 140 to 150...I am not used to wrestling livestock! My Angora rabbits don't give me this problem and neither do my chickens and rooster! ha!

Any suggestions and help will be appreciated!

BamaSuzy · #2 01/05/05, 02:34 AM

oh---and he's not so SMALL any more either....as big as the two female goats now....

trickham · #3 01/05/05, 06:58 AM

I believe that there have been some suggestions recently that you take ahold of his ear and his tail and then bring them together, I guess kinda making a 'goat circle' LOL. This should cause him to submit and realize that you are 'top goat'. The best way to deal with this in the future is prevention. You said that he was a bottle baby. I would guess that whoever raised him spent a fair amount of time petting, cuddling and playing with him. I can't blame anybody for that. Goat kids are just about the most adorable creatures on the face of the earth.

However, the problem is that with intact bucks this tends to cause them to become overly familiar with humans, and when they get older they begin to treat humans just like goats. So now you will just have to convince him that you are 'top goat'. If bucks are not allowed to become too familiar with humans then normally will retain a fair amount of respect for us and not exibit nearly as much of this behavior. I think that my new herd buck was overly humanized as a young goat, and he has expressed some anti-social behaviors, so I need to try the above-mentioned method myself.

marvella · #4 01/05/05, 07:02 AM

my buck was a bottle feed baby too. i carry a big stick. he is far worse when he is in rut. during those times i don't let any children anywhere near him. like she said above, you have to be top goat.

Mrs. Ed · #5 01/05/05, 09:55 AM

We bought a buck from a friend of ours last year about this time. He was very rough with us, butting at us, hitting at us, etc. We didn't know what to make of this. Our other buck was not this way. We talked to our friend about it and come to find out, our friend would PLAY with this buck and they would get quite rough! This enormous goat was wanting to play!! Well, my husband isn't as big as our friend so we had to put a stop to it, especially after he got me one day while I was out it the pasture.

My husband had to show him HE was top goat. We haven't had a problem since.

Our other billy we had tamed down to be rubbed on and pretty friendly, even more friendly than some of the does. Now that he is mature, he is much less friendly. We have been told that it is a tendency in the males to be less friendly.

I agree with all that has been said here. You will have to take your place at the top of the hierarchy or your buck may hurt you even though he may not mean to.

Baaa · #6 01/05/05, 10:53 AM

We had a boer buck that was BIG & BAD, I could not and did not even go in the pen to clean. Son had to use a cattle prod on him to clean water out and tie him up by his horns. This buck would get you with his horns if he got a chance. Son sold him the new owner called and said he sold him and then the man that bought him said the goat got him prettybad and he took him to auction.
This buck was a cute lil bottle fed pet raised by a girl and he grew into a big spoiled buck that hated men.Baaa

GoldenWood Farm · #7 01/05/05, 09:46 PM

I have 2 bottle baby boys. Both have bred girls before(they are like 8 months right now) and are still VERY sweet and gentle. Toy my lamancha when he was breeding the girl (I was in with them) still would come up to me after he bred her to be pet and scratched and told what a good boy he is :no: :haha: . I would try kneeing your buck hard in the chest/stomach area to get him to stop. Thats how I teach my goats not to jump on me. He REALLY needs a goat buddy. I am 5' 6" and have NO problems wrestling when need be with my goats(which is like never). Good luck with your boy!

MotherClucker
ps: I have found that pushing them down makes them become more aggresive in their efforts as they find it almost a play thing.

Sondra Peterson · #8 01/05/05, 11:49 PM

I had this same thing happen to me this year with one of my bottle babies and what finnally worked was this. You reach underneath him, grap his hind leg and pull hard throwing him to the ground then kneel down on him holding him down.
It took three times throwing him to the ground and kneeling on him. He has never tried to jump on me or attach in anyway. I am now the HERD BOSS!!!
Someone else told me this and it WORKS!!

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #9 01/06/05, 04:57 PM

The window of opportunity to have a well behaved buck is only from birth until he breeds his first doe. There isn't going to be any correcting, that will work, being done on a buck in rut. Once he is out of rut, or the girls are all bred and they stop cycling, they do go back to their old selves. Most bucks who live with their harem or live in large areas with other bucks...rarely get to be those mean nasty things, sadly most bucks live by themselves, how sad.

I walk a large circle around my young bucks in rut the first time, I also clip them to the fence if I have to work in their area for any length of time, especially if they are in with the does. I just can't see how confronting a young buck in rut is going to do anything but make him worse. I would use, but defienetly not purchase an older buck with attitude. I am pretty well known for having some of the nicest bucks around, I do think it's because of the way I do and don't handle them. They are livestock, I always remember this when that cute little 8 pound, 5 day old guy comes up to my thigh and butts me, that one day he will be 200+ pounds and be much taller than me. I would hate to have to sell a male only because I can't control him. A really nice buck I owned and used very successfully is now being sold because he is tearing apart the new guys facility. He's alone, he's bored and he has no room to move around. Not much of a life, and now I couldn't possibly move him home, with his new attitude I don't have the facility to keep him in. Most folks are very suprised when they see my buck pens, feild fence with cattle panel on the side that faces the doe pen across the property. Vicki

farmmaid · #10 01/06/05, 05:31 PM

We have a senior and junior buck. Absolutely NO trouble with either, but they run with the does. I hand examine each animal each day and they stand perfect for me. Come with the herd when they see me coming. When we trim hoofs I stand at their heads and hubby does the trimming, no tieing. All the herd is like that but none were botle babies...Joan