Chat
08-08-2016, 09:10 AM
I love watching herd dynamics. They are fascinating. It's so cool how Dude won't knock Cruiser down. They are sparring like gentlemen, which is always cool to see. The only truly nasty, blood-drawing fights I've seen were between does vying for dominance. I'm sure watching a buck fight would be even more spectacular. I'm guessing the wethers are generally less fierce because they lack hormones.
My herd is sort of in flux right now with Cuzco the established King, but Finn and Sputnik coming up as undeniable leaders under him. Finn used to challenge Cuzco, but it has been months since the last real altercation between those two. It's like Cuzco has delegated leadership responsibility to Finn and Sputnik and they've taken it without challenging him for ultimate headship. But there is an undeniable sense of waiting in my herd, as if the boys know that there will be a change of leadership soon and all they have to do is wait for it. At this point I don't think they're going to try to topple Cuzco because they know they can afford to wait him out. Perhaps it's a bit of mercy on their part too--I don't know.
Petunia is my herd queen under the boys, but she's kept Sputnik in a close relationship as her muscle. No one messes with the two of them as a pair. Sputnik tends to be mean to the goats under him if Finn or Cuzco aren't there to keep him in line, so I was afraid he would be jealous of his mother's attention when Pedro and Pepi were born. But that never happened. He's sometimes mean to the other babies, but not to Petunia's. In fact, when we were on the way to Beulah yesterday, I tied up Finn and Sputnik in the trailer so they couldn't harass the underlings. When I opened the door, Pepi was lying in the corner behind Sputnik while Pedro was pressed against his shoulder. They were using him as a shield from Tigerlily.
Meanwhile, Tigerlily acts as Jezebel's muscle. Jezebel is so pathetically low on the goatem pole she's more like the dirt underneath it, but Tigerlily (and Napoleon too actually) have quite a bit of standing in the herd and they are her ticket to acceptance. Tigerlily is still quite thick with her mother and will probably be the one who makes sure Jezebel has access to the hay rack this winter. Goats can be so mean to each other, but it's amazing how they also look out for one another--especially family groups.
My herd is sort of in flux right now with Cuzco the established King, but Finn and Sputnik coming up as undeniable leaders under him. Finn used to challenge Cuzco, but it has been months since the last real altercation between those two. It's like Cuzco has delegated leadership responsibility to Finn and Sputnik and they've taken it without challenging him for ultimate headship. But there is an undeniable sense of waiting in my herd, as if the boys know that there will be a change of leadership soon and all they have to do is wait for it. At this point I don't think they're going to try to topple Cuzco because they know they can afford to wait him out. Perhaps it's a bit of mercy on their part too--I don't know.
Petunia is my herd queen under the boys, but she's kept Sputnik in a close relationship as her muscle. No one messes with the two of them as a pair. Sputnik tends to be mean to the goats under him if Finn or Cuzco aren't there to keep him in line, so I was afraid he would be jealous of his mother's attention when Pedro and Pepi were born. But that never happened. He's sometimes mean to the other babies, but not to Petunia's. In fact, when we were on the way to Beulah yesterday, I tied up Finn and Sputnik in the trailer so they couldn't harass the underlings. When I opened the door, Pepi was lying in the corner behind Sputnik while Pedro was pressed against his shoulder. They were using him as a shield from Tigerlily.
Meanwhile, Tigerlily acts as Jezebel's muscle. Jezebel is so pathetically low on the goatem pole she's more like the dirt underneath it, but Tigerlily (and Napoleon too actually) have quite a bit of standing in the herd and they are her ticket to acceptance. Tigerlily is still quite thick with her mother and will probably be the one who makes sure Jezebel has access to the hay rack this winter. Goats can be so mean to each other, but it's amazing how they also look out for one another--especially family groups.