# Dam headbutting week-old buckling



## carrie307 (Apr 1, 2014)

Hi, I hope someone can give me some advice on my Nigerian Dwarf Goats. I have a new mother with two kids. (There were three, but one was a runt and didn't make it after a day.) All has been fine until today. Healthy and gaining weight quickly. The babies are now seven-and-a-half days old and the mother has started headbutting the little buckling. (The other kid is a doeling.) It doesn't seem like she's not allowing it to nurse, so I don't think she's rejected it, unless this is the beginning of rejection. We disbudded the buckling two days ago. (Doeling will be disbudded soon.) We let the mother smell his butt afterward in case his head smelled funny and she was fine with it. So it doesn’t seem like the disbudding has anything to do with it. (Some additional information – Our other doe, who doesn’t have kids, had been headbutting and trying to bite the kids from the beginning. She seems to have backed off a little now, and mostly just gets jealous around feeding time or in close quarters. Could the dam be copying the other doe??)

Anyone else have a problem with a new mom headbutting her young kid? Please advise! Thanks!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

It could be that her teats are sore and he's more aggressive at nursing than his sister. And I'm sorry, but I don't know how to fix that. If he's still nursing, I don't get too worried as her teats will toughen up. Just keep an eye that he IS growing and getting enough and that mama isn't getting too bad about butting....hooking and throwing is never good.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

First of all you have to make sure she is not hurting him. Is she head butting him hard? Are you there when he nurses? Is he getting a full belly? 

If he is going to hurt him you will have to pull him and bottle him fed or be out there all the time when he needs to eat. Sometimes the doe will do that if she knows something is wrong and the baby will not make it. that is not always the case by any means.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

If she is too tight in the udder on that side, he is nursing from, she won't allow him, milk out enough to make her comfortable and then try the kid on her.
Also check her milk, make sure she has no mastitis. Check for blood, discolored milk, strings, clumps, thickness.
Is her udder hot or hard ect.


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## carrie307 (Apr 1, 2014)

*Improvement*

Yes, he has a full belly, so he is getting enough milk. She didn't seem to mind when he was nursing. More so when he was in front of her. I'm not sure if does can be jealous of their own kids, but she seemed to do most of the butting around coveted objects - the gate to the side yard where the goats try to escape to play because they're not supposed to , and a cinder block that is particularly fun to stand on. Whatever the reason, it seems to have improved. It went on several hours yesterday morning, but I haven't really seen it happen since. I have a goat-cam that I can monitor while at work, so I will keep an eye on them. Will be disbudding the doeling tonight, so maybe we'll see if that was the issue. Will give update if she starts at it again. Thank you for the input.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Glad things are better.


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## christinajh (Jan 24, 2013)

My FF lamancha does a soft head butt to one of her kids that seems to be drinking too much, and she only does it when she is standing to the side of her "too long" after nursing. The rest of the time they are fine. I just figured the kid doesn't pay attention to her walking off or kicking, so the mom has had to resort to pushing her away. I know kids can get sick from eating too much, so maybe your buckling is stubborn about eating and she has had to head butt him away.


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## sandhillfarm (Feb 25, 2013)

Let her smell the butt and wait for her to lick/ or baby talk the doeling before setting her down. Makes sure she fully accepts her back before smelling the head. 


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## carrie307 (Apr 1, 2014)

*Update*

This problem only lasted a few days. All seems fine now. Thanks for the input.


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## Woody_Glen_Farm (Feb 23, 2014)

My doe does this to her buckling all the time except at feeding time-- which is when SHE decides!! She has triplets and the other two are doelings. The little guy pesters her madly and head butts her back! I think she's trying to teach him manners and he is very persistent! This has been going on since they were about 1 week old but they are all fat and happy. I wouldn't worry if he seems to be getting fed.


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