*Advice needed*Introducing a new goat to the herd

samssimonsays

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We brought home our newest baby girl Brooklyn, we will be changing her name when we learn her personality more. She was a bottle baby with her twin sister and we are absolutely in love with her already! She is so sweet, mellow and QUIET compared to my two hellians.

How the others are reacting to her:
My little doe isn't sure she likes someone else being the center of my attention but she is gentle with her. My Wether though, that's another story! He head butts her all the time. I have stepped in and will stomp at him and sternly say no... I have trained my two to know what no means.... and he will back off. BUT he will do it again. Last night when I was walking her out of the pen to the barn (I have her in a dane dog crate with hay and water in there for safety until the two bigger ones accept her) Ollie came running out of nowhere and plowed her down with his head. I turned around and let him have it. I pushed him until he was against the tree and just firmly held him there until he quit fighting me. When I released him he squared up with me as if to challenge me and head butt me. I stomped at him and said NO. He stood on his back legs and acted like he was trying to challenge me and I stomped again at him and he spun and head butted the tree and proceeded to stomp all four feet and beller. He then stayed facing the fence, back to me. After that, every time he would attempt to head butt her I would stomp and say no and he would head butt the tree, stomp all fours and beller as if throwing a tantrum... I have a feeling he will be a peach to get to adjust to this change... He is the worst one out of the two for needing a schedule and he is the one who is "dominant" in my little bitty herd. I know he is hashing that out but she is not challenging him she just tries to get away from him. Is this a sign of him not accepting her or is this totally "normal" goat behavior? He is slated to go to a different pet home but I was hoping maybe hubby wouldn't mind having three goats and let him stay:fl... I may have gotten a bit attached :smack

But anyways, I know y'all are picture hungry people so here are some pics of her!

On the way home :love
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Introducing her to the pen.
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Everyone checking her out. (She is so Teeny!!!)
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samssimonsays

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Thanks Blessed! I do too LOL. Sadly, my wether could HIGHLY benefit from an older doe puttin ghim in his place but Tilda is such a sweet and easy going goat that she just lets him walk all over her and be "The man". This is the down side of starting with babies right? I am not sure if it works the same with goats as with dogs but Ollie knows me as the leader/dominant one of the herd and will submit to me. He bosses anything and everything else around though. Last night was the first time he challenged me EVER and I NEED to put him in his place! Can I lay him down and do a submission hold on a goat like you do with a dog that challenges you?
 

animalmom

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Oh my word, yes! If Ollie is not being a gentleman then it is your obligation to remind him. I do with with my boys, and occasional girls whenever the "glare" doesn't subdue immediately.

Flank the offender: grab the two legs on the opposite side of the body and drop him to the ground. Hold him there until he stops squirming. If he has been really offensive I keep eye contact while he is down and remind him that all good things come from me and I am not the one he wants to upset. Once he calms down let him up. He may give you the cold shoulder for a few minutes, but he really wants to get loved on by you to know you are not mad at him.

I've done this at one time or another with probably all my boys, bucks and wethers. My oldest buck, spoiled to the max as he was my first born, will, every blue moon, get up on his hind legs as though he is going to challenge me. I look him in the eye and ask him if he really wants to rumble. He backs down and would rather get scratched under his chin. He's a love bug.
 

BlessedWithGoats

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I actually used this method too! Some of our BYH family had mentioned doing this, and I did use it on my buck I believe, I used it on my sister's wether, and I used it on my new doe... :) I've used it with my dog as well. :)
 

samssimonsays

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Thank you Animalmom! I am glad I wasn't TOO rough with him last night! I wasn't rough enough from the sounds of it. Tonight they will have another opportunity to meet each other so hopefully I will have the chance to correct him and get him to realize that I am the leader and SHE is "my" baby and he needs to respect her. His little tantrums are cute to an extent now that I look back at it all but man do they make my blood boil at the time of the offense! He is a lover and has never challenged me once but he was adamant on head butting the new baby and I won't tolerate that. She will be housed in the barn until I feel they are safe around her without me.
 

samssimonsays

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I actually used this method too! Some of our BYH family had mentioned doing this, and I did use it on my buck I believe, I used it on my sister's wether, and I used it on my new doe... :) I've used it with my dog as well. :)
It is so good to know I can use that tactic on him! I was really worried I don't want to be mean to him but I need to put him in his place too ya know?
 

mysunwolf

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If your current doe is behaving well with your new doe, as I think you've said, you could separate out the badly behaving Ollie to the barn and let the two does bond in the yard. They might gain some friendship and independence, and when you re-introduce Ollie (after plenty of hollering), your does might be a more "united front" and can better fend off his aggressiveness. This has worked for me with sheep before. You'll still have to remind him of his manners, though!
 
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