The Steps of Goat Aggression

[Erikthviking]

I've heard that cattle prods can work in some cases, but I've never used one (yet). I wouldn't rule it out for a a truly dangerous animal, but I feel like it might cause more resentment and fear than actual respect, but I don't know. Another thing I've heard that some people have used with good success is an air horn. How old is your buck? If he's a big guy set in his ways you're going to have a lot more trouble than if he's just a young whippersnapper trying on his "king of the world" hat. I'm also glad to know that your goats are on pasture and your buck is with them. Many bucks develope terrible attitudes because they are confined away from the herd with only one companion or no companions at all. If that were the case for your buck I would be able to sympathize with his aggression, but if he's out with the herd with room to roam then he has no excuse. It's time to lay down the law!   

The best way to keep your goat from escalating the violence is to make sure you lay down the law so completely that he is hesitant to start something a second time. He may be afraid of you for a while, but if you never provoke him or punish him unfairly he'll quickly realize he doesn't need to be afraid of you. He only needs to be afraid of what will happen if he challenges you (or any other people). If you're fair and consistent with him he'll learn not to fear people but to fear consequences. You need to make sure you're not accidentally inviting him into your space with your body language. This is what creates inconsistency, which results in mistrust, disrespect, or fear. If you shimmy around him, avoid his space, move out of the way when he comes toward you, etc. it's an open invitation for him to bully you. But then when you turn and punish him for it you've sent a very confusing message. He doesn't know whether he should fight you or fear you. Depending on his personality, a goat could fall into either one of those categories. Own your space. Walk a straight path from the gate to the feeder. Never sidestep your goat because he's in the way and you don't want to deal with him. Walk straight through him like he's not there, and when he doesn't move, lay down the law and MAKE him move. Immediately. As soon as he moves, continue on your way like he's the least important thing in the world to you. If he follows you too close, tips his head at you, brushes you as you pass by, or nips at your clothing, whack his nose and chase him out of your space. Lack of thoroughness and consistency is most people's downfall when they fail at reforming an aggressive goat. It encourages a goat to escalate the fight because he's getting mixed signals and he's not convinced of your resolve. The other thing we do wrong is we try to be friends when it's not appropriate. Friendship only blossoms after respect has been earned. If your goat does not respect you he will never be your friend. He has to respect that you are in charge and that when you tell him to move away, you mean it! We made that mistake with our first goat, Cuzco. We were so intent on being friends with him that we let him get away with a lot of bullying behavior that we didn't even see until it was too late to truly correct it. He was never dangerous to the point where we could not manage him, but we always had to manage him. He was never safe or trustworthy.

Another tool to have on hand is a halter. I like to halter my goats because when I control the head I control the rest of him, but most important I control the horns. I had to trim my borrowed buck's hooves a couple of times because they were quite overgrown. Because of the length of his horns, there was no way I could do this safely with him tied by a collar. I haltered him and snubbed him up as short as possible so I could work with his feet without getting slammed or hooked. He managed to hook me anyway, so I put a rope around his horns and I tied them to the fence as well. Usually I don't handle a goat's horns. It is highly disrespectful toward them and goats often take deep offense at it, but this goat had no respect for me and was intentionally using his horns against me. Tying his horns up made him angry, but it also drove home the point that he was not in charge of the situation and I could do what I liked with him. Obviously I handled him gently while he was tied so he had no real grievance against me other than injured pride. When the buck wasn't wearing a halter and I needed to move him (like back from the gate), I grabbed him by the beard and dragged him where I wanted him. You buck needs to know you're in charge and you call the shots. The buck went from having to be haltered and dragged for every encounter to being docile enough to be led around safely by the collar. He stopped trying to hook me with his horns or butt me out of his way or drag me around on the lead. The transformation happened very quickly once he realized he was not going to get the upper hand in any dispute. It's amazing how quickly he stopped disputing! We became friends shortly after that and he would come up to me looking for scratches and treats instead of looking for a fight. I still maintained my "professional distance" like I do with all bucks, but we were on friendly terms.

Long term, you shouldn't have to deal with issues like these too often. Once you understand how to interact with goats so they never get any aggressive ideas in the first place, these problems don't usually arise (unless you borrow someone else's headache like I did!). Keeping goats gentle is easier than correcting them after they've developed aggressive tendencies. As you become more familiar with goat body language and social interactions you'll find that challenges don't come up too often. My main problem is reminding other people not to get too friendly with Pest. He is always the first goat to trot up and greet visitors, and it's very sweet until it's not. They don't understand the sexual current that underscores every encounter with a buck in rut, so when they tell me they don't mind the stink, that's not enough to convince me that they should be hugging him and letting him rub his face all over them.

Another thing that will hold you in good stead for long-term goat management is learning when to throw in the towel on a beast that isn't manageable. There are many good bucks in the world. Returning, rehoming, or wethering this buck are not bad options. With more experience under your belt you can start fresh with a different buck next season and raise him correctly. You may find that a goat that is a holy terror for you is quite tractable in a different situation with different herd dynamics. I'd say if you can't get him to change his attitude within the next week or two, it might be time to admit that this particular buck isn't going to work out. When you've had goats for a few years you'll realize that some of them aren't worth the time and effort of keeping when there are so many easier ones out there. You also have to ask yourself if this attitude is one you want to see propagated in your herd. Attitudes often pass down the generations, so keeping an aggressive buck could come back to haunt you in a few years if his offspring have the same tendency. How does your buck behave toward the other goats? Is he gentle or rough? If he's rough with his subordinates I'd say he's definitely not worth keeping another season. A good buck should look after the herd, not terrorize them. Every buck I've kept for multiple seasons was a sweetheart to the other herd members, and especially toward younger goats on the bottom of the pecking order. A good buck makes sure the little one has a warm spot to sleep and a place at the feeder. He loves up your does and asks if they're in heat instead of hitting them and lunging at them and demanding affection when they're not interested.

Finally, in regard to your knees, don't let your buck stalk you. If he's walking close behind with his hair standing on end, he's being dangerous and aggressive. If you have that riding crop in your hand, hold it behind you and wave it back and forth as a warning (like a tail). If he gets within range, smack his face with it. He must learn to stay off your back. If he ever manages to hook you with a horn, turn and rain holy terror down on him. He should feel in that moment as if you are a grizzly bear about to tear him limb from limb and eat him. It's a psychological battle more than a physical one. Physically, he can take you out, but you can't let him know that. Make yourself big, your emotion big, your voice big, everything BIG; then scare the pants off him. Make him turn tail and run for his life. Whack him as hard as you can with that crop. You can't injure him with it, but it should hurt! If you can, aim for vulnerable spots like the nose, side of the face, and ears – not for the head or horns because he won't feel much there. He shouldn't feel like he's in a fair fight. In that moment, he should feel like he's being attacked by a predator and his best option is to get out of there as fast as possible. It shouldn't take more than one or two encounters like that to permanently change your goat's mind about attacking you, provided you are also minding your own space and making sure you're not inadvertently inviting him back in by allowing him to move you around. If you can own your body language, then laying down the law with your goat should leave a proper, long-lasting impression.

Thank you so much again for your time. I haven't had to interact with the goats yet today other than to look in on them. The wife is coming with the riding crop in a bit, so when I go feed I will have voice, water bottle, riding crop, and last resort board. The buck is about 3 years old, and he wasn't like this when we got him 5 months ago. It was my improper handling (including touching his horns) that set him up poorly to go into rut. He does handle the herd somewhat roughly now. He didn't before. Now that I see all theses signs, it is very clear how we got here. I feel I owe it to him and the rest of the herd to do everything I can to fix this. I know now that I need to own my space. Like you said, there can be no friendship without respect. I will update here as things move along.