The Trouble with Two Year Olds

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

I can relate with one of my goats, his name is Huck. He was the most docile, passive, quiet and friendly goat, almost "slow" so to speak. His brother Yukon was top goat, and bashed any one who challenged Huck, so Huck never really had to assert himself for rank in the herd. When Yukon died in July, Huck got booted outside the barn, and picked on, he withdrew into himself even more from goats and people. Then one day about 2 months after Yukon died I saw him challenge our top goat Pluto, the were bashing each other for 4 hours non stop, panting, dropping to their knees when coming in contact from exhaustion. I broke them up at that point. But Huck continued until he was situated as the top goat. He even started hinting at challenging me which resulted in a squirt bottle to his face, but he did jump on Nick while we were walking the neighborhood. He really changed, almost like a rebellious teenager when he lost his brother. Now being 7 months after Yukon's passing, Huck is still more than assertive with the other goats but he has settled with us due to consistency in our expectations of his manners. (squirt bottle is our best tool)
He was a year when he lost his brother, and he's now a year and a half. The other goats of his age thus far haven't changed much, nor developed bad behavior. We had a buckling we castrated at 9 months because he was becoming aggressive and rowdy in rut, and we didn't want that to develop into his character because he is so sweet at heart, castration changed him, he's a new goat sweet as ever.
Maybe it's just some goats that go through this phase? I don't really know, but it has been very recognizable with Huck. Again, I don't know if/how goats grieve but with Huck's behavior it broke my heart. When we euthanized Yukon, we brought Huck to see the body before we took him away and Huck trotted up to him, sniffed, made a tiny little meh, and turned and ran away, from that moment he was never the same.