Hey all! I've had my goats for a little over two years but I am not an expert on their behavior still. I can't figure out if my buck is being aggressive or playful. He is a 1 year old fainting goat. I am the only one that can even get near him as he's such a scaredy cat and will run at the sight of anyone else. Normally I can just walk up to him, pet him, feed him, whatever. He's not necessarily a loving goat like my girls, but we get along just fine.
But here's the thing I need help with.
Sometimes he will stand up on his rear legs in front of me, not very close though. Or he'll come hopping over but stop several feet away. I can still walk up to him just fine, even if I am a little nervous. He has never tried to head butt me, not even once. I've never even seen him do the head tilting that sometimes comes as a warning before the head butting. After the rearing or running/hopping up to me he'll just stand there, looking at me.
When he's doing this it's always when he's playing with the other goats. So I don't know if he is just riled up and wanting me to play as well or if it's more of a dominance thing that I need to put a stop to.
I have heard stories of aggressive bucks that will try to headbutt or keep you from entering/leaving the gate and just going after the owner. And he's not like that. He just seems pretty passive. Like "Oh it's you" and keeps going about his business.
But is this occasional rearing and running up to me a challenge or is he just being playful? If it's a dominance thing I definitely want to put a stop to it before it escalates (as I've heard it will if they think they can boss you around) but if he's just playing I don't want to be mean. Does that make sense?
But here's the thing I need help with.
Sometimes he will stand up on his rear legs in front of me, not very close though. Or he'll come hopping over but stop several feet away. I can still walk up to him just fine, even if I am a little nervous. He has never tried to head butt me, not even once. I've never even seen him do the head tilting that sometimes comes as a warning before the head butting. After the rearing or running/hopping up to me he'll just stand there, looking at me.
When he's doing this it's always when he's playing with the other goats. So I don't know if he is just riled up and wanting me to play as well or if it's more of a dominance thing that I need to put a stop to.
I have heard stories of aggressive bucks that will try to headbutt or keep you from entering/leaving the gate and just going after the owner. And he's not like that. He just seems pretty passive. Like "Oh it's you" and keeps going about his business.
But is this occasional rearing and running up to me a challenge or is he just being playful? If it's a dominance thing I definitely want to put a stop to it before it escalates (as I've heard it will if they think they can boss you around) but if he's just playing I don't want to be mean. Does that make sense?
