# Goat licking fingers



## kannm (Mar 18, 2009)

Hi,

My goat Cleo is deciding whether or not she wants to be nice to me. For the most part she is pretty good. She sometimes tries to jump on me or bump me in the butt. Since she has been bred (we think she is) she is starting to get nicer and easier to handle. Today she wanted me to rub her. After a while, my fingers turned black on the ends due to the dirt and oils from her and her mom's coat. When she smelled them she kept trying to lick off the black stuff. I would have let her, but I was afraid of losing a finger.

We have free choice minerals and hay and baking soda. Right now the minerals could use a 'freshener' as they have been in the cup for a while. Jason puts minerals on their grain/alphalfa pellets when he gives them treats because they do not go to their minerals very often. I just gave them a bit of BOSS and alphalfa pellets as a treat and because I wondered if she was trying to get at the oils from her coat that were on my fingers.

What do you think is going on? Is she just being strange or normal or is something missing in her diet?

Thank you for you responses.


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## kannm (Mar 18, 2009)

Does anyone's goats lick their fingers? Maybe this is just a normal thing to do?


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## TinyHoovesRanch (Jan 16, 2010)

I wish I could say but I have no idea, my goats are always licking me, because they love me haha but I dont think its really a bad thing, they probably like the salty taste


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I'd say that Cleo is being friendly...she liked the scratching so much she didn't want you to leave.
My goats like to lick and nibble...nibbling is a no no but they still try.


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## kannm (Mar 18, 2009)

That's good. I was hoping she was being friendly.

We have not spent as much time with Cleo as I would like, so she is not as well-behaved as Luna. It would be awesome if she was starting to warm up to us more. She is not afraid of us, she just wanted to boss us around before. Hopefully we can get her to want to listen to us by bonding with her.


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## newmama30+ (Oct 4, 2010)

Even some of my less friendly does will try to lick me after I give them a scratch. Of course I do have a couple that hand feeding is a nono, cause they will bite my fingers.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Nothing to be concerned about. I think they just do that to check you out. They do the same thing with a new toy, house, branches, etc. in their pen. I've noticed that some of my real timid does, will come up slowly and lick and chew on my hands and clothes. They're just being goats.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

My girls used to lick my fingers, now their obsession has turned to playing with my coat! This all started when colder weather hit. If there is a string attached to a zipper, loose string, strings for the hood, tag, or anything they are all over it. My herd queen is the most affectionate, she was the one who used to lick my hands and arms like crazy, now she rubs all over me as much as she can, while pulling at my strings. OH--- pockets with any kind of designs, snaps, or buttons...she goes absolutely crazy with obsession in pulling at them LOL I always know whose pulling at my butt! LOL


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