I could have sworn I saw this question addressed some time back but a spin through the archives came up snake-eyes. so...

I recently took on a boar/nubian x buck who is approx. 1 year old. he's a pretty friendly guy but insists on pushing and butting. I think the previous owners might have encouraged such behavior as play. being new to bucks I'm not sure if this is just Spring friskiness or something more permanent. he was not dehorned - which makes him both handsome and potentially lethal. short of just knocking the tar out of him any suggestions for correcting this behavior? as it is now when he pushes I hold his horns out of (my) harms way but I think that's part of his game. advice? thanx.

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), April 26, 2002

Answers

Having him dehorned will do wonders.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 26, 2002.

First off, why do you have him? For breeding does or for a pet? Castrating is the only sure way to curb aggressiveness in a buck and if he has already become aggressive, this might not change a lot...learned behavior.The nature of the buck... Handsome as the horns may be they are downright dangerous.The butting and pushing are just a natural instinct.

-- Kate in New York (Kate@sheepyvalley.com), April 26, 2002.

Get a squirt bottle full of water & squirt him with the water right in the face each time he attempts to ram you. They hate this!!

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), April 26, 2002.

I hope to breed him with a togg doe I'll be getting soon so until I see how he performs he will remain intact. I'll consider dehorning as a last-ditch solution to getting poked but the question still stands on the behavior modification. I'm worried that the habit is ingrained already too. Guess I was hoping for something along the lines of the old "stepping lightly on the back feet of your dog to discourage jumping up" kind of training.

whoops. just read the answer from Wendy suggesting the spray bottle. I'll give that a "shot"

as for the horns, these guys seem to do ok. :^)

http://www.photo.net/photo/pcd0133/monument-valley-goats-40.tcl

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), April 26, 2002.

I would try the water, it usually works like a charm. If it doesn't, urine in the bottle ABSOLUTELY WORKS! Good luck, Sissy

-- Sissy (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), April 27, 2002.

You can also grab their front legs and roll them quickly on their side, basically take them down. You don't want to flip them over but catch their feet off and ease them on the ground. A couple times of that and they usually don't try messing with you. And yes this can be done to a yearling buck by a small person, as I'm not the largest person around.

-- Leslie (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), April 27, 2002.

thanks for the ideas. it really isn't too problematic now but I want to steer him in the right direction. Sissy - the second part of your answer brings to mind the age old question: "who in the world first thought of eating snails? and why?" :^}

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), April 27, 2002.

ok, first thing first, when you grab his horns , thats whats starting the behavior, never ever handle a goat by the horns,

if you can stop doing that, it will stop much of the problem , otherwise a squirt gun will work :)

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 29, 2002.

bit of an update for those interested:

- Beth I think you're partially right. little feller himself initiated the pushing but handling the horns definitely encouraged him. with the spray bottle as a "plan B" I decided to treat him more like a dog - giving a sharp "NO!" when he tried to start up and strokes and scratching of ears when he didn't. so far so good. considering there is a visiting Nigerian Dwarf buck spending time with the only local female (a Nigerian) in a nearby pen he's being pretty even tempered.

-- B. Lackie - Zone3 (cwrench@hotmail.com), May 02, 2002.

I'd say Beth is probably right. You've heard of animals "locking horns"? That's probably part of what he's reacting to - a competition with you for dominance.

IANAE (that's "I are not an expert" or something like that). However, I've seen people post here about de-horning goats by using the rubber rings you can use for castrating animals. File a groove round the base of the horns so the rings won't come off, then put a band or two on there. I do NOT know if this would work or not, and what ages it would work on, but it might be an idea - could someone who knows goat specifics please comment?

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 03, 2002.