[MylieD]

Well, I think I made my first new goat owner mistake. We got Nancy, a 2 year old Nigerian dwarf, about two weeks ago. She's very much a people friendly goat. I thought her babies could be her companions when they were born in a few months, but then she seemed to be lonely. So we decided to get a second goat. Not thinking anything about it (silly, I know) we got a 3 month old Boer cross. I was letting them smell each other when all heck broke out. Nancy was not pleased with this new addition and started butting her very hard. So I grabbed Nancy and the only thing I could think of was to tie her up. The baby took off and decided to hang out by the chicken coop. We have two fenced in acres for the goats to run around in. Yesterday we kept Nancy tied up for a few hours while the baby goat ran around. Then at dark we put the baby in a dog crate by where Nancy likes to sleep. Nancy tried to butt it a few times, but then was fine. I tied Nancy up this morning and let the baby goat out to eat. Nancy immedietly wanted to go after the baby, almost as much as the baby wanted to go to her. The baby tries to interact but she is smart enough to run, just not fast enough. Am I going to have to keep them seperate until the baby is bigger? Any suggestions? The baby was in with mature males. Would washing their scent off help?

Also, I haven't seen the baby drink water and she's barely peeing. She's eating fine. Any tips on how to make sure she's drinking?

Right now I've got one big goat maa'ing for me to free her and one baby goat maa'ing for her mama.

 

[MylieD]

Thank you. I don't have seperate areas, so I put Nancy (older goat) on a long lead and let Korra (baby) run free. Then around 8pm I free Nancy and put Korra in a crate near Nancy's sleeping area. This time Nancy only reared up once. We had a set back yesterday because Korra got into some azeala bushes. I didn't realise what they were. The goats can't get to them any more. Spent most of the day and half the night throwing up in my bathroom. Thanks to the internet, I found out what to do for her so she was back to her normal self today. And now we're back to trying to get the goats to get along.

 

[MylieD]

I had to wash her yesterday because she had vomit all over her. Maybe that's why Nancy was a bit calmer with her today. We don't have a stall. I built a goat house but Nancy decided she likes the porch better. I put the crate on the porch. We just let them run around our fenced in front 2 acres. We don't have a particular area sectioned off for them.

 

[MylieD]

About how long does this process take? The older goat still won't let the younger goat get within 5 feet of her. She's slightly less violent about it now and I can trust them in the yard together. Just that the baby really seems to want companionship and Nancy is being such a butthead. Is it possible she'll never accept the baby?