ANOTHER UPDATE: Rough, rambunctious, slightly aggressive buck...

[The Chick Addict]

Hello! My buck, Caspien, is one year old. When I bought him he was quiet and sweet. Now his behavior has become rough! He is very playful. At first he would rub his horns against my legs to get me to play with him. Now he is acting non-playful in his behavior... he will now walk up to me and start butting my legs with, at times with all his strength. He knows it makes me frustrated so he continues to do it. I read in a book about goats to tap goats like that on the nose but when I tried that he thinks I'm butting him back when I do it. He also is very rude and likes walk in front of me and tries to trip me when I'm feeding him and the girls so I'll drop their feed and he won't have to wait. I love him but he's getting on my nerves!!! He's very sweet and playful at heart... how can I make him stop?!

 

[animalmom]

I have a Nigerian Dwarf buck that gets a little stupid and decides that I am a toy. I started taking a short thin branch, about 3 feet long, in with me while I was in the buck pen. A couple taps on the nose and he wisened up. Have not had to show him the branch in several months.

I also have a Nigi wether that gets food obsessed as in if someone else is getting some raisins he must get raisins and butts everyone out of his way. We don't tolerate rude behavior so I have a 3 foot piece of 1/2" pvc pipe that I carry into his pen. Usually if he sees the pvc he backs off and waits, impatiently, but he waits. He is not deprived of anything. He just has to wait.

All this to say you need to demonstrate to your young man who is boss because right now he's feeling like he is. Lite taps on the nose with something other than your hand may be enough for him to see the error of his ways. I like a 3 foot length as the end of it is far enough from your hand that the goat doesn't seem to connect the tap with your hand.

Make sense? Good luck with your fellow. He's at an age where he thinks he is king of the world.

Pictures please?

 

[The Chick Addict]

I have a Nigerian Dwarf buck that gets a little stupid and decides that I am a toy. I started taking a short thin branch, about 3 feet long, in with me while I was in the buck pen. A couple taps on the nose and he wisened up. Have not had to show him the branch in several months.

I also have a Nigi wether that gets food obsessed as in if someone else is getting some raisins he must get raisins and butts everyone out of his way. We don't tolerate rude behavior so I have a 3 foot piece of 1/2" pvc pipe that I carry into his pen. Usually if he sees the pvc he backs off and waits, impatiently, but he waits. He is not deprived of anything. He just has to wait.

All this to say you need to demonstrate to your young man who is boss because right now he's feeling like he is. Lite taps on the nose with something other than your hand may be enough for him to see the error of his ways. I like a 3 foot length as the end of it is far enough from your hand that the goat doesn't seem to connect the tap with your hand.

Make sense? Good luck with your fellow. He's at an age where he thinks he is king of the world.

Pictures please?

Oh Thank you so much! I surely will try that! Yes, he definitely does think he is king of the world. He is the goat in my profile pic but I will try to send some more pics of him and the girls! 😊

 

[Mini Horses]

By "tap" she means a substantial smack....don't break his nose but make it sting.👍. A switch stings when you hit. A Water bottle to squirt his face helps but, the switch reaches further.

Teenagers!! 😡😖

 

[The Chick Addict]

By "tap" she means a substantial smack....don't break his nose but make it sting.👍. A switch stings when you hit. A Water bottle to squirt his face helps but, the switch reaches further.

Teenagers!! 😡😖

Can't agree more! 😂

 

[goats&sheep19]

Buck training really needs to start as soon as they are born, or at least as soon as the very first signs of aggression.
I used to 'play' with my bucklings, and because I am young, tough and nimble just put up with their bad behaver later on.
However, with our current buck, as soon as he started being silly, I got a stick and hit him on his nose. Quite hard!
Not enough to actually hurt him, but plenty hard enough for it to sting.
It feels unkind, but it makes a big difference, so I think it is worth it.
Now he is in rut, and I am most definitely the boss, and just making as to come at his nose is enough to put his mind straight.
My point is, there has to be no hesitation, you have to know that you are in charge, and act like it.
Every single time he comes at you, you reinforce it.
Don't let him start to think he could butt you, don't make it into a game.
What does he actually do when you 'hit' (I really don't like calling it hitting, but when it comes down to it, that is what it is) him?
If possible, could you post a video of it? (not if you don't want to)
If the stick doesn't work, get a water spray bottle, and try that instead.
I love bucks and bucklings, but they can be soo irritating!

 

[The Chick Addict]

Y

Buck training really needs to start as soon as they are born, or at least as soon as the very first signs of aggression.
I used to 'play' with my bucklings, and because I am young, tough and nimble just put up with their bad behaver later on.
However, with our current buck, as soon as he started being silly, I got a stick and hit him on his nose. Quite hard!
Not enough to actually hurt him, but plenty hard enough for it to sting.
It feels unkind, but it makes a big difference, so I think it is worth it.
Now he is in rut, and I am most definitely the boss, and just making as to come at his nose is enough to put his mind straight.
My point is, there has to be no hesitation, you have to know that you are in charge, and act like it.
Every single time he comes at you, you reinforce it.
Don't let him start to think he could butt you, don't make it into a game.
What does he actually do when you 'hit' (I really don't like calling it hitting, but when it comes down to it, that is what it is) him?
If possible, could you post a video of it? (not if you don't want to)
If the stick doesn't work, get a water spray bottle, and try that instead.
I love bucks and bucklings, but they can be soo irritating!

Yes, thank you so much! I didn't have him when he was born and he is my first buck. I will try to get a video if I can! I did smack him when he approached me with his head down. He seemed to understand that he should not do that. So far he seems to want to continue butting me but it looked like he thought twice when he was about to act cheeky. Thank you all again! 💚

 

[The Chick Addict]

Okay y'all here is an update:
If anything, Caspien's behavior has gotten worse. He will actually butt with all his might and try to knock me down. He even scratched my dad on the leg with his horn. He will still try to get in my way, even when I'm not feeding, just to make me mad. I push him with my leg but he still continues. He is very annoying to and harrassing the girls, though Bonnie seems to think his behavior very "manly" while Willow will not tolerate him. He eats all of the food in 1 day while when it is just the girls, it lasts them about 2 days. He has even learned to jump the goat pen's 4 1/2 ft. fence and then jump our neighbor's 3 ft fence. He is in rut as of now, and our neighbor's doe is in heat so I have tied him to one of the trees in the pen with shade and water. He knocks over the water in the late afternoon so I have to refill two times a day, which is a waste of water. I've tried everything, being gentle, spraying him with a water bottle, a water hose, smacking him with a stick as suggested and being rough with him in return. I feel like when I am rough with him, I am abusing him and I don't want to do that!! When I separate him from the girls, will his behavior mend? Or will it still be the same? And is there any other gentle but still working solutions to his horrible behavior in the meanwhile?

Thank you!!!

 

[Baymule]

I do not tolerate ANY animal on my place with behaviors like that. Ever. If he was on my place, he would either be freezer meat or gone to auction.

Abusing him? Not hardly. Think about it, if there were 2 bucks, they would be butting each other, so hard that you could hear the impact. So any hard smack you give him is more like a mosquito bite.

He sounds like a nuisance turning dangerous. If you will look back, his invitation to play was the beginning of bad behavior. What was cute then has escalated to bad and dangerous behavior. Jumping fences would put him on my GONE list. The time to stop this was the first time he rubbed his head on your leg. He is your first buck and you didn’t realize that it would get worse. You know it now and on your next buck you will be more aware and recognize the signs that will turn into bad behavior.

Your buck has learned this behavior now. He has no respect for you and considers himself superior to you. Bucks win the prize, breeding, by beating up the other bucks. There are no other bucks, so in his brain, he must dominate YOU.

Unless someone here has some magic trick for you, I’d load him up and take him either to freezer camp or auction.

 

[SageHill]

I'm not a goat person, but I'll add to what @Baymule -- I do not put up with aggressive behavior in any of my animals - dogs, sheep, chickens (roosters specifically), horses, etc. First -- there are far too many good animals that can replace the mean ones. Second - and most important - we can be hurt badly, and depending on the animal - mortally bad.
EDIT to add - or hurt someone else and they can come back and sue you - got rid of a horse who was going down that path, and had knocked me in the head as well.