# Forced out



## Alida Bockino (Dec 15, 2008)

I have five goats, all whethers. One 8 year old alpine, 2 year and a half old Oberhaslis and two 6 month old Oberhaslis. The alpine has his own stall. The babies share a 4'x6' stall and the other two share a 4'x8' stall. The year and half Oberhaslis are twins who were totally inseperable up until a few months ago when one decided he would be the dominant twin. Now he runs his brother out all the time and unless I lock them in at night, #2 spends the night standing outside the door. I have another shed about 40' away from the "barns" but he wants to be near the rest of the herd. They are both healthy,sturdy boys about 130# but I don't think its good to be out in rain, sleet and snow all the time. Am I babying them or am I right to be concerned? Please advise.


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## imported_ashley (Jun 9, 2011)

I'll preface this with the fact I am pretty new to goats and I am still learning how this works.

I too have a mixed herd of grown adults to babies from this year. I have found goats are quite mean to each other and that is just how it is. There is alot of info on this forum about goat behavior and I have found it all to be accurate with my small herd. I have one "dominant" wether who completely pummels everyone else. I am surprised he has not eviscerated some of the younger ones when he head butts them (he has very large horns and inevitability hooks one from time to time). The smaller ones just learn their place and stay out of the way. He does not go out of his way to be naughty, but if one gets in his way or near his food, he puts them in their place They all want to be together even though they don't want to be "together" if that makes since. It is just how my mismatched herd functions. I don't like how mean they are to each other but it seems that goats communicate that way. If I take one out to graze in the garden, the others get anxious about their buddy being gone but when I put him back they head but him... I suppose its a love-hate relationship...


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Will your "outcast" get along with the babies or with your older wether? Goats certainly will be mean to each other, but no one should have to stand out in the cold all night. If he can't get into shelter, you should definitely look into getting him a warm blanket. You might also put an awning out over the doorway or on another sheltered wall where he can at least stand out of the wet. I had to make a sheltered corner near the goat house because my old wether will only allow the young doe I bought to share his shed if the weather is nice. (Go figure!)

On the subject of blankets, this is the BEST goat blanket ever!!
http://www.sstack.com/Horse-Blankets-An ... -Turnouts/

My big wether, Cuzco, wears the 44" size. Right now they appear to be on backorder until January, but I highly recommend the midweight turnout to anyone with goats. It's actually heavier than midweight in my opinion and is quite warm enough for the coldest Colorado nights. It's waterproof, very well-made, fits our goat better than any other coat we've tried (including coats made for goats!), and even has a tail flap to keep out the cold from behind when they turn their backs to the wind. Highly recommend! I'm planning to buy two more of these in smaller sizes for my two young does.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Last year we were forced to pen two sets up bucks together. A set of yearlings and a 2 and 3 year old. The younger ones were fine for the most part but they had a 12 x 8 foot shelter with a 4 foot opening. So size may of helped. For the two older bucks, they only had an 8 x 8 foot shelter and the older one would dominate the younger and never let him in the shelter. So I put a divider right down the center and closed up the faces of the shelters to just allow them enough room to walk in. Kinda like the face of a dog house. I did this to compensate for the lake of body heat they would share would now be gone. Withing a couple of days, the older boy claimed his side and the younger got his by default. Both equal in size and style. The fighting for shelter stopped and they lived happily ever after.


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## DKalakay (Dec 24, 2009)

Like others I was dismayed to find out how mean goats can be to eachother. I've been having the same problem with the goats not sharing plenty of space and I'm not willing to make one of the goats be out in bad weather. To compound the problem one of my goats was killed by a cougar a few weeks ago so now the other three have to be put inside the "barn" at night. I ended up using some of the hay storage area and building a seperate 3.5 X 10 stall for one of them and divided the 8X10 stall. Since this may be a long term arrangement, and they are in the stalls for 13 hours at night, I may give up the rest of the hay storage area. Unfortunatly the openings to the stalls are behind the shop not facing the house about 150 feet away and a bear has been walking behind there near their pen almost on a daily basis. Especially after the cougar visit the boys are totally spooked and won't even go back there during the day. They seem to feel fine once they are safely locked away at night. It is a regular wildlife safari around my place these days. The goats spend their day time under a small overhang that faces the house. So if you can build some sort of overhang against the wall that would at least provide some shelter. Or even a simple box of a shelter for the winter. You can bend those cattle panels to make a roof too if you have something to fasten them to. Mine have horns so I always worry about them getting caught up by hooking a blanket on another goat. 
Good luck
Denise


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Hey, I just tried something new that might work for you! For a few weeks I had three shelters for three goats. It was ridiculous! But Lilly was outgrowing the little "Dogloo" hutch she'd been using, and the other two sheds are each big enough to house at least 2-3 goats if they would just share. The problem is that the dominant goat lays in the doorway and won't let anyone else in. 

But I figured out a way to fix that problem! I simply installed a hay bale at the back of the shed that Nibbles and Lilly share (I don't make anyone share with Cuzco... he's way too much bigger than the other goats and could hurt them if he wanted to). Adding a hay bale to the back of the shelter effectively made it two levels, and of course the dominant goat wants to be up high, so Nibbles owns the hay bale and Lilly now owns the doorway and everyone is happy.


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## ryorkies (May 4, 2010)

Accually the double layer works very well.
I have a two horse trailer.
The bottom is open floor plan.
But the manger is divided.
The dominant goat likes to jump into one side of
the manger. Then one of the others jumps in the other 
side.
then Sully the big boy takes the floor.
The saddle rack area is also another sleeping area.
So... Since it is working so well
My son built me a 9x12 shed.
We are going to make a loft for the
goats. It will be their own personal
bunk beds. LOL I am thinking 4 compartments.
36 inches tall should work well.
And it seems that the dominant one
likes the top bunk. 
King of the hill.


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## enriquesca (May 25, 2011)

Hello, I see that its territory is very dangerous! talk about bears, cougars and coyotes, WITH MORE RAZO should always sleep in a stable. In my country there are no predators, single men and dogs.
Â Â  Have us For a family of two dairy goats (Juanita and Consuelo), a stallion (Lucero) and 2 kids. They have a small stable of wood and cardboard asphalt roof where everyone always sleep in his confinement.
Â Â Â  Lucero has separate confinement females about 3m.
Â Â Â  ALWAYS my goats are tied, we have to set them free field, we graze the surrounding land with his rope and a stake.
Â Â Â  They have a lot of punches, but Consuelo is dominant.
Â Â Â  Lucero despite being the male with 3 years, more than 90kg and a beautiful antlers, if your children are close to him have an almost paternal, the suspicion gently, presents his horns and children practice cabezasos!
Â Â Â  I attached a stable plane, upload photos later.
Â Â Â  Greetings and ...MERRY CHRISTMAS!!


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## ali pearson (Aug 12, 2009)

Muy bueno Ernique- Pero, claro que el Translator Google es un poco divertido- no creo que sus pays no aye des hombres solteros o des perros!

Felice Navidad 
Ali


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## enriquesca (May 25, 2011)

buenisimo!!!! yo Tarzan


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