Project Goat WA

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

Saw this thought I would post. 

https://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/grd/d...90818.html

[Nanno]

This guy reminds me a lot of my Alpine boy Crockett who I sold last year as a breeding buck prospect. Very striking colors, and Crockett had one pink and one black horn as well. It's too bad this guy developed such an attitude. I hope someone is able to adopt and work with him because it looks like a lot of time and love has gone into him.

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

If I had more time, and a herd with horns I would consider him.

Before I collected my current herd I worked with this nasty little kinder doe that meant business. She gave it all she had to hook and gore a human, don't know why. Maybe it was due to being a single goat for years. I spent a lot of time with her, gave her some love, sat on her, got some bruises, but after a few months I had gained her respect. She no longer attacked me, but she would still be aggressive with other people, she followed me everywhere. I convinced her owners to surrender her to a rescue since she was an unhappy lone goat and they did. I don't know what happened to her but she inspired me.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

A shame they didnt get ahead of the aggression as it started to happen. So hard to correct it later on. People dont understand that goats fight for their rank. If they let them become the boss, it often already to late. Funny thing is, he looks like one of mine Buy I dont recognize that full white face.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Strike that! He is one of mine lol. I found his baby picture.

   

Now its really a shame they didnt handle him better. His mama is one of our nicer prospect producers.

[Nanno]

What a cutie! I'm sure his owner meant all the best. Bucks are tricky to handle, and I've heard bottle-raised bucks can be particularly difficult, especially if someone doesn't have much experience with intact male goats. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the folks who bought Crockett last year are able to keep a handle on his behavior. Hopefully this goat will be able to come round with the right kind of training and a bit of hard work.

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

I thought he looked like one of yours Dave.

I sure hope he finds a good home.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Yes, bottle baby bucks can be... spoiled The boy I kept for myself this year was the first to go into rut outta all the boys. Holding on to his 4 pen mates cause the buyers in Montana got evacuated due to the fires. So their pick up got postponed. Although he was and still is the sweetest little man, he is in full run and either wants to talk dirty to you, pee on you or rub all over you. Its hard to love something that smells so bad LOL. And the other 4 boys are all following suit. You cant go in that pen now with out getting molested I hope that boy finds someone. Just removing his nuts will help a TON! I will say, he was completely tame before becoming a buck, so there should be hope to getting him back to that state. Well worth the $100 gamble. Sub note. I cant believe how big his horns are for that age. But that shows you what testosterone will do for a goat.

[Nanno]

How old is this guy Dave? I couldn't believe the size of Crockett's horns when he was only 10 months old!

I read a study a couple of years ago about bottle vs. dam-raised bucks and rams. Rams apparently can be very hard to bottle raise without making them aggressive. Bucks are not as difficult as rams but may exhibit many of the same tendencies. Since they are imprinted on humans they tend to fixate on people as a sexual target when they reach puberty. They also see humans as sexual competitors which leads to overt and dangerous aggression. Dam-raised kids, being imprinted on mothers of their own species, have less inclination to see humans as sexual targets or competitors. This is not to say that bottle babies are all destined to become dangerous, or that dam-raised babies are all gentle, but there were overt tendencies which people who raise intact male goats and especially sheep need to watch out for. I found it interesting, and it certainly made sense. Females and wethers do not usually have these weird sexual hang-ups, but of course if aggression becomes a learned behavior, wethering may not eliminate it even if it helps take the edge off.

[GoldenTreePackGoats]

That's interesting Nanno.

This is my first year with bucks in rut and Yuck! It is really hard to love and work with something that smells so terrible, and leaves a layer of yuck with everything it touches. The dynamics in my buck pen are comical, Kingsley my 90# 8 month old saanen is just raging for the ladies, Rafiki my 45# 7 month old lamancha thinks he's big things, and Bagheera 65# my 3 month old alpine isn't into the ladies so much yet.