Taming skittish goats?

[Gigachad Poultry]

Hello everyone! This is my first proper thread so idk if this should be different than on BYC, but I recently got 2 doelings and I wanted to know how to tame them?

They're half sisters named Lucy (aka heart head) who's 5 months old and much more willing to be friends, she'll even sniff my hand cautiously.

Then there's Ethel (darker head) who's 5 and a half months old and extremely skittish. She started breathing really hard when she sees people, she'll stomp her foot, puffs up her tail, and starts huffing and puffing. She's terrified of people and wants nothing to do with them.

For a bit of context, they were born into a massive flock of sheep that graze the land with only a handful of goats roaming with the flock. They've had no handling and the person who originally wanted these two was going to butcher them so they haven't been getting pet treatment. They've only known human touch as a bad thing and I was to teach them that humans aren't always bad.

 

[Baymule]

Food. Put feed in a pan and sit nearby. A low stool is best so you aren't some big scary monster towering over them. Speak softly or baby talk when you go in their pen and give them their feed, then just sit quietly. As they get more used to you, move closer to their feed. Watch to see their reaction when you talk to them. If nervous, be quieter, let them approach and start eating then talk to them. It may take awhile but they want to eat and they will learn that yummy things come from you. I had some wild sheep and that's what I did. I got closer and closer then put my hand on the edge of the pan. Then I laid my hand in the feed so that if they were going to eat, they had to deal with my hand. Make sure the pan is big enough so your hand doesn't take up the whole pan.

Get a book and sit in their pen and read. Sit in the straw or bedding, legs out in front of you, they may approach to sniff your shoe or jeans. Put a treat in the pan on their feed. I use animal crackers. They probably wont eat it to start with, but they will soon grow to love animal crackers. Just take it slow and be patient and you will have two new best friends. Ley us know how they are coming along

 

[RR Homestead]

First off welcome to the forum family!
Beautiful ladies you got there. I couldn't have said it any better than @Baymule. If that doesn't work I could loan you my DH. There is nothing that man can not win over. I have to put restraining orders on DH when new stock comes that is intended for food. He will have even the wildest ones as pets in no time. Last ones were crazy darn near fence jumping wild hair sheep. I thought if they were wild as can be there'd be a chance they'd get processed. They were supposed to be raised out for a few months then processed. They lived here until they had no teeth and were at the end of their days naturally. They even ended up with names. Bill and Ted. They were always on excellent adventures.

Once you get one figuring it out and understanding you mean no harm and tasty snacks the others usually follow fairly quickly after.

Good luck and please keep us posted on their progress!

 

[Gigachad Poultry]

Food. Put feed in a pan and sit nearby. A low stool is best so you aren't some big scary monster towering over them. Speak softly or baby talk when you go in their pen and give them their feed, then just sit quietly. As they get more used to you, move closer to their feed. Watch to see their reaction when you talk to them. If nervous, be quieter, let them approach and start eating then talk to them. It may take awhile but they want to eat and they will learn that yummy things come from you. I had some wild sheep and that's what I did. I got closer and closer then put my hand on the edge of the pan. Then I laid my hand in the feed so that if they were going to eat, they had to deal with my hand. Make sure the pan is big enough so your hand doesn't take up the whole pan.

Get a book and sit in their pen and read. Sit in the straw or bedding, legs out in front of you, they may approach to sniff your shoe or jeans. Put a treat in the pan on their feed. I use animal crackers. They probably wont eat it to start with, but they will soon grow to love animal crackers. Just take it slow and be patient and you will have two new best friends. Ley us know how they are coming along

That's incredibly helpful info, thanks!!! I tried that today and Lucy took a few steps towards me and sniffed the feed so it's definitely working!

 

[Gigachad Poultry]

First off welcome to the forum family!
Beautiful ladies you got there. I couldn't have said it any better than @Baymule. If that doesn't work I could loan you my DH. There is nothing that man can not win over. I have to put restraining orders on DH when new stock comes that is intended for food. He will have even the wildest ones as pets in no time. Last ones were crazy darn near fence jumping wild hair sheep. I thought if they were wild as can be there'd be a chance they'd get processed. They were supposed to be raised out for a few months then processed. They lived here until they had no teeth and were at the end of their days naturally. They even ended up with names. Bill and Ted. They were always on excellent adventures.

Once you get one figuring it out and understanding you mean no harm and tasty snacks the others usually follow fairly quickly after.

Good luck and please keep us posted on their progress!

Thanks! It's awesome getting to start my livestock journey and getting help here! Oh gosh that's crazy lol! Bill and Ted sound like a fun duo lol

I got a collar on Ethel and she actually calmed down enough to let me pet her and take my hand off the collar for like 10 minutes as she shifted her footing and sniffed my hand and arm. Lucy watched the whole time and even walked up to me to give my arm a sniff. They were both shaking a ton though so I could tell they were scared but there was no chaos or anything and Ethel was from my understanding just confused why I wasn't trying to eat her. Eventually Ethel walked away about a meter or two before looking am back at me while Lucy sniffed her collar. Then they saw my cat walk into view and spooked lol

 

[Gigachad Poultry]

I want them wearing collars so that I have something to attach a leash to or grab if needed. I hate grabbing them by the horns since they're still young and their horns don't feel awfully strong, I don't want the core core breaking

Here she is with her collar after she calmly walked off over very to her sister

About an hour later and it's still on and secure, I was worried it might be a bit too big