The Steps of Goat Aggression

[Erikthviking]

Yeah, flipping a big, aggressive goat is pretty risky! I'm glad you're already getting some positive results from the spray bottle. Bucks can be a real handful this time of year, but rut is no excuse for dangerous behavior. I find that the less you handle bucks during rut, the better they behave. My own buck is very friendly and craves human attention and affection but I nevertheless try to maintain a professional distance this time of year or he tends to get pushy and demanding. With bucks, friendly affection very easily becomes sexual excitement quickly followed by dominance behavior. So as much as my sweet boy "Pest" wants me to love and rub on him, I keep it to a minimum by giving him a quick pat on the back or a scratch under the chin. I try not to rub him on the face or head and especially not near the horns, and I keep our interactions brief. I'm more friendly with Pest when he's not in rut.

Now, recently I borrowed a buck that was pretty aggressive and had no qualms about hitting people who got in his way. He had really big horns so he could be scary and dangerous when he got mad. He attacked the gate and darn near destroyed it when my does came in heat while I was out of town one weekend. The buck attacked my friend who was caring for the goats while she was trying to reinforce the mangled gate, so I was pretty mad at that ornery beast when I got home. I went out to electrify the gate that night and the buck attacked me. I happened to have a 14-inch piece of garden hose in my hand that I was planning to use to insulate the wire, but in that moment it became my best self-defense and teaching tool. I whacked that buck across the face with it as hard as I could and I kept right on whacking (and yelling) until he backed away and reared up at me, at which point I charged him and beat him over the face again. He turned tail and ran and I ran after him, whacking him across the back as I chased him. He half-heartedly tried to turn on me once more as I chased him, but he quickly changed his mind when I kept chasing and hitting. As soon as I felt satisfied that he was truly running from me without any further thought of turning on me, I turned away and let him go. Any time he started to approach me again I gave him a verbal warning and brandished the hose at him. It was enough to keep him from giving me any more trouble and we got along great after that night. He didn't attack me or anyone else after that beat-down and quickly started down a new path as a fairly solid citizen. My other goats also played a big part in his reformation. They constantly put him in his place and taught him how to submit.

The point of all this is that sometimes it takes a lot to get these aggressive bucks in line but it can be done if you are thorough, firm, and completely fair. I met our borrowed buck with the force that he gave me and then left him alone as soon as he "cried uncle." Whatever you do, don't ever go after him and attempt to make up or be friends after he's submitted and run away. He won't understand the gesture. As soon as he runs away, turn and ignore him completely. Don't approach him, and if he approaches you, be very guarded. His hair had better be lying flat and his eyes had better be soft and his posture relaxed and gentle. Anything else and you need to drive him off again. You don't need him to be your friend. You need him to respect you. That's the mistake a lot of people make. They think their goat is like a dog and needs to be accepted back into the pack. But goats aren't dogs and they don't run in packs. If you watch goats in a herd, a dominant goat will beat up a challenger and then turn away and ignore him as soon as he submits or runs off. If the dominant goat pursues then it means the fight is still on. You don't want your buck to mistake your gesture of friendship as a challenge to continue to fight. If you ignore him after he runs then he will know that you've forgiven him and aren't still angry. That's goat language.

This is some good info here. Saw this after I posted my update. Will find a hose or other substitute and protect my space more actively. After todays fight my buck went back to eating and I hung around for a minute or two before leaving the pasture.