I recently rescued a young doe, guessing about 2 years old max. She is scared of the goat herd and stands away from them. She will hide behind our big wether goat for protection. Her name is Ethel. Ethel lost her plastic link collar, so was trying to put another one on her. She kept running away from me. I finally was able to corner her, with the help of my wether Ricky. She still tried to get away from me but was finally able to put the collar over her head. She has eaten vanilla wafers from my hand but never gets too close. I would appreciate any suggestions to acclimate Ethel to me and the herd. One thing I have thought about was to put her in one of the pens alone until she gets use to me and trusts me, but then, she is not in a herd situation. Thanks for reading! Terry
Can you put her and her wether buddy in a small stall and hand feed her (may have to put the wether out if you don't grain him) and spend time just being in here, talking to her, etc. put her wether guy back when you leave.
We have a stall that is 6'x10' that we use to put the milking does in overnight( so the babies don't steal the milk). I could put her in there when I feed her grain in the evenings and then work with her. Later, I could put our wether Ricky in with her for the nighttime. ***Should I let her out during the day or continue to work with her more in the small stall during the day? Thanks so much!
Whenever you have to do unfavorable (hoof trimming, shots, etc) things, always give her a special treat right after so she hopefully remembers the good thing and not the bad!
Yes, let her out. She needs a buddy to be with. You can put her in with another calm nature goat for 1 week or 2, so they can bond a friendship. Spending time out with them. Sit in a chair and relax with treats. If she took a treat from your hand, that is a big step. If you can scratch her between the horn area, they love it and will come back for more. At first, they will pull away but put your hand out moving your fingers as if you were scratching them and they will come back for more.
Whenever I want to just relax outside, I do it near the goat pins, or in their pin. We've been continuously growing our herd over this year, so we always have new skiddish goats. This has helped them to relax around us. I also bring them treats sometimes just because. I started with store bought goat treats, but they love that I will pick leaves from a few of their favorite trees and hand feed them. I give the other goats pettings in front of the new comers. They still don't trust me as first, but they sure do look like they want a good petting too!
Yes, I was hanging with my sweeties yesterday. Got on the goat swing, and a few of the babies joined me for a swing. Some of them tried playing with my ponytail but they know better but try anyhow. My goats are my perfect therapy!
