# How do you tame a Wild-One?



## pennylullabelle (Nov 22, 2009)

Thumper and Shiloh, my new does, are so WILD! I wish I was kidding... :roll: 

I had to do a work over on them of course. So, temp, heart rate, respiratory rate, trim hooves, copper, selenium, de-worm, vaccines....if I would have had an extra set of hands to hold them I'd have drawn blood for CAE, Cl and Johnes. So...this first obtrusive handling has NOT helped my case!! :doh: 

In fact...Shiloh bit me...hard....gushing blood and everything.  

So...How do I tame them down a bit? Shiloh will occasionally take a cookie, but neither approaches me willingly and in fact if I go in their stall (I have them in a 12x12 stall for right now because I just can't handle chasing them around the 20x100 pen they were in!) they just run around me in circles like I'm a lion about to pounce. Of course they are prey animals and I am a predator...so, I don't blame them. But man they are NOTHING like my other goats who are ALWAYS under foot.  

What do you do to gain the trust of a wild mannered goat? I figured I might go in, catch them once a day, pet them all over, then let them go. Bring in their grain and sit on a chair and just let them eat. Sound like it'll work? onder:


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

I wouldn't catch them.... that will give them a "bad" experience everyday before the good. Just try going in there everyday with grain.... sit in a chair and put the bucket at your legs so they have to come next to you to eat. This way they can just get used to being next to you without being "attacked" which is what those silly goats think you're doing when you catch them. LOL


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## Granolamom (Feb 22, 2009)

My two girls (mother and daughter) were exactly the same way when I first got them a year ago. BUCKWILD!!! All I can tell you is that it'll get better with time, but don't push it too hard. They're smart as heck, and will soon figure out that you want them no harm. Just be calm around them, have treats in your pocket when you see them, and spend as much time as you can with them, just sitting there, in a non-threatening way.


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## logansmommy7 (Nov 11, 2009)

Our girls weren't tame at all when we got them, always running when we came around. We discovered the licorice goat treats (we get them at TSC) and they have been eating out of our hand ever since. This is the only treat they like-and let me tell you they LOVE them...they even jump on us now when we have them...I tried raisins, cookies, and finally these and they are the answer! Plus, I think the licorice in the treats is good for the rumen...try it!


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## Epona142 (May 26, 2008)

Not without good reason am I called the Goat Whisperer. Almost all of my goats were brought home absolutely wild.

I start by flat out ignoring wild goats. I bring them feed. I sit in their pen and read a book or something.

Eventually they learn I have food. Then I might sit with a feed bucket in front of me. Then I'll move that to between my legs or holding it close.

When they're comfy with that, I'll touch them. No doubt they freak out at first, but soon enough they learn that they can only get food while being touched. As soon as I can manage it, I find the "Sweet spot", usually on the shoulder or neck or back, the spot that makes their head twist.

And within a couple of months, they are tame enough to handle. Within a year I've turned goats I couldn't touch into spoiled "dogs".


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## pennylullabelle (Nov 22, 2009)

Okay, thanks guys. I'll try just sitting in there for now with their grain near me. Typically that's how I would get a mustang to approach me when it's still very wild. So, makes sense it would work for a goat! And the cookies I have are actually Manno Pro Peppermint Horse Treats....but the goats LOOOOVVVEEE them!!! So, I got that going for me...


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## AngelGoats (Jan 28, 2010)

My 2 year old Nubian was that way when I got her 2 months ago! It has taken time, but she now takes treats and food from me, and will follow me around for it. I pretty much did as you said and just ignoredher and she watched me with everyone else. But I still cannot get to relly pet her. Not sure what else I can do! I am going to try the food in the lap thing and let her know she gets no grain unless I can pet her. We will see! Thanks for the advice!


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## SterlingAcres (Oct 19, 2009)

The older ladies I just got weren't wild, but they sure wouldn't go out of their way to stay in the same area as you. If I was in the barn, they were in the pen. If I was in the pen, they went into the barn.

I spent a few minutes a day sitting in the barn with a bag or bowl full of goodies. When the ladies saw the baby girls were all about me, they slowly realized "hey, she's not gonna eat us, she's got food." Moony and Cozy looooove apples, grapes and raisins. Now the fatties chase me as fast as the babies do. 

Good luck


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## logansmommy7 (Nov 11, 2009)

Yeah-ours realized that the boys (our wethers) were going to get it all and they started coming running when they saw us. Now they are not hard to pet, and no problem at all when you have goatie treats in the pocket. They can smell those licorice treats a mile away. Those are good for them, aren't they? I haven't seen anyone else say anything about them. Hope I'm not giving them something bad...


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## SterlingAcres (Oct 19, 2009)

If they're labeled for goats, I wouldn't worry. A little bit here and there shouldn't hurt. Common sense already says don't feed a whole box at a sitting lol I'm sure they're fine.

The breeder I got the girls from told me lettuce and cabbage would kill them. About gave me a freaking heart attack because Moony loves her some lettuce.


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## logansmommy7 (Nov 11, 2009)

Oh yeah, we don't give them every day, and when we do, just a few. They LOOOOVVVE them though...I encourage you to try them!


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## SterlingAcres (Oct 19, 2009)

If I ever talk my hubby into taking me up to Tractor Supply, we'll be broke, trust me  For now, the spoiled tarts get fruit and veggies from the kitchen.


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## Idahodreamer (Sep 19, 2009)

I do the 'jealousy' treatment--- they stand in the corner of their pens, and I'm feeding and petting the tamer does. They don't get nothin til they come and get it---and when they finally do come and get it DONT try to touch them until they are relaxed enough to waltz up to you without hesitation. 
Good luck!


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## pennylullabelle (Nov 22, 2009)

arty: :gift: :balloons: Happy belated Bday Talitha! :balloons: :gift: arty: 

Thanks for the tips guys! I will be in there pen for a while tonight and then try again tomorrow after I get home from my mini road trip!


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## Idahodreamer (Sep 19, 2009)

Thankyou! I'm off to check on my gorgeous b-day present to myself *lol, my dad backed out of paying for her!! :hair:* . . . Might even post some pics tonight yet. . .  I'm a very happy 18 yo. lol.


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## DebMc (Dec 11, 2009)

Ah! The power of peanuts! Unsalted peanuts in the shell and targeting.

I have two does that came straight from the Navajo reservation. They were as wild as they come. Like the others here suggested, I sat on a spool w/a bucket of grain at my feet and let the girls come to me. Then I started offering peanuts in the palm of my hand. Within days, Katie, the bolder of the two does, had tamed down and started learning tricks with the clicker. Allison, the other, is very handshy and still, 3 months later, will only take peanuts from me now and then. What really impels her to interact is target training. As soon as she sees the targeting stick (a riding bat) and clicker, she comes running and will "touch" the target on cue w/her nose. Click/treat! 

I have an Angora doeling that came to me from a fiber farm. She wouldn't accept treats from her breeder or allow anyone to touch her. Within a few hours of releasing her after the long trip home, she was taking peanuts from my hands and enjoying shoulder scritches. 

Oh, and let's not forget patience! Time and patience, something I always seem to be short on.

Wow! A goat bite that actually drew blood! My Katie's a biter but I must say she has good bite inhibition. She's only bruised skin once (my son's arm) and I thought that was bad. I hope you're okay...where did she bite you???

Deb Mc


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## pennylullabelle (Nov 22, 2009)

Well, the bite was partially my fault. I open a goats' mouth the same way I do a horses'. I pinch the side of the cheeks inward and they open, but cant bite down without biting their own cheek. Well she pulled back really hard - didn't go far, she was in the stand - but my thumb slipped and she shut her mouth and bam! Gapped open my thump with her back teeth. She would probably use a little floating back there...they are sharp!! I still got her bolused and wormed though 

Patients is one thing I am very good with. I have to read ALOT. College and all. So I am totally fine with grabbing a mushroom chair, sitting down in the warm stall with a book, and just waiting. Thanks for all the tips guys! I know they will come around...hopefully before we move so it's easy to catch and transport them!


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## LockeEstates (Nov 25, 2017)

We just got out wandering goat home. She has been missing for two months and is completely wild now. Her sibling Buck was wild but settled by being tied to the pen but could run with the other goats and got the idea that he was being taken care of. Now he doesn’t even think of running off. This one ran the night we unloaded her and we just got her back yesterday after two months. I left her alone last night. She is in our garage until our vet can check her out. I went out today and made some pathways to her food and water, talking calmly to her. She has 25 bales of hay (our storage for the whole herd) and she is staying as far away from the door as she can.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

It will take time and lots of patience. Sit in her vicinity and talk with her. If you feed grain, only feed her out of the container you are holding. Never make her feel she is trapped, but keep her in a small space where she is always near you. If she is frantic, back off just a bit. Don't let her hurt you. Time and patience! Good luck!


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## LockeEstates (Nov 25, 2017)

Thank you for the advice! I have this wonder of a friend at Three Graces Farm that came to thr rescue. She has one of my twin bucklings so she took Calypso to the farm for rehabilitation she did some digging and found out that this beautiful female is a year and a half old never bread full blooded French Alpine. I bought her at auction for less than $100.00. She had a tag from a commercial dairy farm on her. We are thinking that the farm must have needed to thin out their herd so they sent some to auction. I bought two a male and female. Pierre is with me and is the sire to Angel’s expecting offspring.


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## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

I love getting wild goats my whole herd wasn't handled much when they were born up til I got them which was around 1 year old if not longer! The number one thing to NOT do is never chase!!!! It'll put you back from where you started. go in their pen sit down and give them food it'll work but will take a little while just be patient. my super wild one Eva her kid is my profile picture...she used to be so wild like you look at her from 10 feet away she would run now she knows how to shake


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## camooweal (Jun 27, 2015)

Patience, patience and more patience !! We had a very flighty Anglo Nubian doeling and I began by letting her see me scrub her mother's back - which totally horrified the youngster !! From there I graduated to holding a bucket of feed at the trough for her (while the others ate) and letting her head touch my hand as she ate from the bucket. From there I was allowed to touch her head briefly and now, three years later, she'll come to me for a scrub like the other does do. I've also had a very good animal communicator speak with her and I feel this helped her too, being able to get her feelings 'out' rather than their being bottled up. For instance, when confined she'd charge around risking life and limb - not only her own but others. She told the communicator she felt claustrophobic when confined (and some people are claustrophobic why not animals?). Right or wrong, but I do think it helped her a lot. She's no longer flighty (she wasn't wild) and is now one of the quietest in the herd and can be milked without being tied or leg-roped. Just keep feed in front of her !!

camooweal


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