Note: I have tried to use a spray bottle on him, and it doesn’t seem to phase him at all.
Ramming and banding failure?
As some of you know, I’ve not had goats for very long. Currently my ‘wether’ is acting very aggressive, and humping Betty (our second goat) a lot. I know they do this out of dominance as well, but I expected wethers to be a little less... like this? He rams into Betty any chance he gets, and has even started head butting me! He tore up the corner of a hay bale in a fit, because I wasn’t letting him head butt anyone. I’m starting to worry that his banding either failed, or he’s just going to be a handful with a sour attitude. He also is growing a lot of hair on his head and that ‘Mohawk’ looking line along his spine. Hackles? I’m unsure. Any ideas? I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of him, even if he’s only 13 weeks.
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Did you see both testes in the band and see both fall off?
How long ago was he banded? What was his behavior before being banded? Was he being aggressive to the other goats (Betty) before then? Has head butting been tolerated or seen as goat play in the past? Is he a new addition to the herd or was he born there?
Try these approaches when he attempts to head butt you.... Clap your hands, stomp your feet, change your voice to a stern and very firm tone (not yelling) and tell him NO, raise your hands in an upward sweeping motion to above your head, make your posture straight and tall while squaring your shoulders, give off confident and intimidating body language, and try your best not to back down to him. The objective is to make him back away from you, keep at it while taking single steps at a time towards him, until he turns tail and runs the other direction. Then ignore him so he can think about what he did and why he was scolded. Repeat this type of scolding each and every time he attempts to head butt you or any other human. Let him know you are the human herd queen and won't tolerate being treated that way.
Try these approaches when he attempts to head butt you.... Clap your hands, stomp your feet, change your voice to a stern and very firm tone (not yelling) and tell him NO, raise your hands in an upward sweeping motion to above your head, make your posture straight and tall while squaring your shoulders, give off confident and intimidating body language, and try your best not to back down to him. The objective is to make him back away from you, keep at it while taking single steps at a time towards him, until he turns tail and runs the other direction. Then ignore him so he can think about what he did and why he was scolded. Repeat this type of scolding each and every time he attempts to head butt you or any other human. Let him know you are the human herd queen and won't tolerate being treated that way.
A spray bottle with water, has to be strong. Ive used a full bucket of water on their heads. They respect that. I start with my bucks early, as soon as I can.
Only 13 weeks?! Little bugger! Does he have another young goat to play with?
If you are unsure if one of his testicles was left behind you could have the vet out and check.
Hard to answer some of those questions as we got him at 8 weeks old, and he had already been banded by then. The breeder we went with bands a bit earlier than I’d prefer, but he seems healthy other than that. We don’t accept head butting by any of them, he just seems to think there’s an exception for him.How long ago was he banded? What was his behavior before being banded? Was he being aggressive to the other goats (Betty) before then? Has head butting been tolerated or seen as goat play in the past? Is he a new addition to the herd or was he born there?
Try these approaches when he attempts to head butt you.... Clap your hands, stomp your feet, change your voice to a stern and very firm tone (not yelling) and tell him NO, raise your hands in an upward sweeping motion to above your head, make your posture straight and tall while squaring your shoulders, give off confident and intimidating body language, and try your best not to back down to him. The objective is to make him back away from you, keep at it while taking single steps at a time towards him, until he turns tail and runs the other direction. Then ignore him so he can think about what he did and why he was scolded. Repeat this type of scolding each and every time he attempts to head butt you or any other human. Let him know you are the human herd queen and won't tolerate being treated that way.
Yes! Betty is about his age.Only 13 weeks?! Little bugger! Does he have another young goat to play with?
I believe so, but it was a while ago now so I can’t exactly remember what I saw. I might’ve mistaken both for just one.Did you see both testes in the band and see both fall off?
Definitely have a vet check him out. It's pretty hard to miss a testicle when banding and if one somehow was missed, you'd see it still bulging there. However, if this guy had a retained testicle it would have been missed in banding and it would still be hiding up in the abdomen where you can't see it. Retained testicles require surgical removal.
The head butting could just be a behavior issue, but the sudden growth of excess body hair sounds suspicious. If he starts peeing on himself that's a major clue that something got missed. Goats castrated at 8 weeks don't develop this behavior.
The head butting could just be a behavior issue, but the sudden growth of excess body hair sounds suspicious. If he starts peeing on himself that's a major clue that something got missed. Goats castrated at 8 weeks don't develop this behavior.
Yep a vet is best.
A small update: We havent gone to the vet just yet as I was starting to feel a little bit better about the situation. He hasn’t been humping anyone, the hair growth isnt as bad as a full grown buck, so I thought I was pretty safe. Now, however, he has started to make an extremely odd noise whenever he rams into someone/something. A low pitched groan kind of, and he’s been sniffing our youngest goats behind and lifting his lip. Not sure if that’s normal or not, I think I may bring him in soon to get it checked out. I would hate to have an accidental pregnancy of a goat so young.
Sounds like you need to have a vet check for a testicle.
He sounds as if he is rutting.. :-( let a vet check. As for correcting behaviour if a spray bottle is not working I use my walking stick and cold water in my spray bottle.
Unfortunately the vet isn’t available until Monday, and I’m getting worried that Timmy may breed Betty when we’re not watching. I want to separate him, but I have no other place to put him and I’m worried he would be too stressed by himself. Any ideas?
Any way you can get your hands on a buck apron? A cattle panel or fencing may be used to divide the pen temporarily...they can still see and hear each other then. As a last resort, I once tethered the buck and doe separately till the new pen was ready...it worked well ( with a lot of supervision ofcourse)
You really need to find a way to separate them.
Do know, you should have them separated for a month after the procedure. She may already be bred,
if he is partly intact.
Do know, you should have them separated for a month after the procedure. She may already be bred,
if he is partly intact.
I’ve separated them and I’m going to book an appointment with the vet as soon as I can. I can only hope from here on that she wasn’t bred.
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