# New young Boar buck...pushes me around alittle..problem?



## Judy7 (Mar 23, 2012)

I bought a young (prob yr old) Boar buck because an Amish family had him and he was good around their children. Is good around me but just started coming up in a friendly way and pushing on me with his head. Not sure what to do. Seems like I should not allow it but how should I handle it as I know he will get bigger and stronger. 

He loves attention. Loves to have his head scratched. Have avoided scratching his head and just trying to rub/pat on his neck and body. Is that the right thing to do? This is my first buck. 

Also I let him out of his pen into a pen right next to my doelings. So far he does not seem all that interested and they don't either (no tail wagging)....he does like to hang around by them tho. I would like to have doelings bred in a couple of weeks. Should I just put them together and mark the calendar and hope I see some action? 

Judy in Indiana


----------



## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

He is testing your dominance. Tell him no and push him away, if that doesn't work use a squirt bottle of water on him.


----------



## 2appsloosa (Apr 12, 2016)

When you push him away do not do it with your hand or fist to the middle of his forehead. Push him to the side on the side of his head. And tell him no. If you push him straight back on his forehead he will think you are playing and he will continue to push, but if you just push him aside he gets the idea! At least that has been my experience.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Never push him away, that is a challenge to him, any head contact avoid.

A spray bottle or squirt gun will help. 

Or pull his ear and tell him no or to quit.

As to breeding, you say doeling needs to be bred? Doeling means youngster, how old are these Doelings?
With mature Does, you can put a buck in with them for breeding, mark it down and watch for doe heat signs. 
When a doe is in season, write it down on the calender. You may or may not see the deed being down, so knowing the doe is in, will let you know when to check the doe 18 to 21 days later. 
I leave the buck in 2 to 3 heat cycles and make sure no one comes in. If they don't the buck can go back to the buck pen.


----------



## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Squirt bottle does wonders when my bucks start forgetting to respect my space. I give them a verbal cue "back up" and give them a squirt on the nose. It really does wonders and doesn't hurt them at all.


----------



## lilaalil (Sep 5, 2014)

I would do a squirt bottle or pulling his ear. My goats couldn't care less is I push them. I can't push them nearly as hard as they push each other, so it is just kind of a joke.


----------



## Judy7 (Mar 23, 2012)

Thanks for all your help. Spray bottle with water is helping. 

Yes, I have 2 Boar doelings born Dec 4 so that would make them (if you count the whole month of Dec) 10 months old. Is that too soon to breed? I was told by someone 8 months or 80 pounds. But was was going to wait until later in Oct or Nov so as to not have kids born in freezing weather. 

Also, I have my Boar buck with a Nubian wether to keep him company. Is that a good idea? I was thinking they could sleep together in the cold winter nights to keep warm. If not I will butcher the wether which is what I had originally planned. The Boar held on to a lot of his thick winter hair so maybe he would be ok by himself...atleast he has a lot more hair than the Nubian. 

Judy


----------



## cinderrella123 (Sep 11, 2016)

I think the Boer bucks are more sweeter then the dairy bucks. I had a full blood LaMancha buck i raised him sense 3 weeks old which probably was a mistake. (plus my so called friend never told me he was Line-bred i think that plays a part in there nature as well).

but he went into his first stinky rut at 6 1/2 months of age that is when he started to show his dominance over me he would use his horns and head butt me when i walked away so finally what i did was when the water wasn't working i had no choice but to take him to the ground and hold him there for like a minute until he would stop fighting. I did this to him 2 more times but he learned i don't play that game and he didn't get hurt but he learned to respect me. 

I think everyone's right just use a squirt bottle on him he just wants some love LOL but he is going to be huge. 

I think if i ever get a buck again I will be buying a Boer buck because i love the cross of Lamancha-Boer cross they make the best milking goats more rich milk.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Glad the spray bottle is helping. 

For me, I breed my does when they are 1 to 1 1/2 years old. So they get more growth and mature in the head. 
Some do breed younger than I do and around 75 to 80 lbs, but I wait. 

Having a wether buddy is fine, as long as the wether and buck gets 2:1 feed ratio to prevent UC. If the buck gets too mean, I would remove the wether.


----------



## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I have had dairy goats of all breeds for 35+ years. I have yet to own a mean, pushy buck. I raise them from small kids and they learn at an early age that I am boss. I keep them until they are quite mature and even as an older buck used for breeding many years, they retain their sweet mature.

I do know a lot of meat goat breeders who have issues with their bucks being pushy and borderline mean. From what I see, dairy goats are handled more than meat goats, so that may be the root cause? Or maybe it's genetic, certain lines being more aggressive? Or teaching respect when they are small?

I bred my Boer does to kid at 13 + months, same as my standard dairy does. My kids seem to grow big quickly, so I want them bred before they get a chance to get fat. I guess the final decision comes back to the owner. Can you afford to hold them over another year before kidding? What condition are they in (fat, thin, stunted, growth)? What breed? Season at kidding?


----------



## cinderrella123 (Sep 11, 2016)

lottsagoats1 said:


> I have had dairy goats of all breeds for 35+ years. I have yet to own a mean, pushy buck. I raise them from small kids and they learn at an early age that I am boss. I keep them until they are quite mature and even as an older buck used for breeding many years, they retain their sweet mature.
> 
> I do know a lot of meat goat breeders who have issues with their bucks being pushy and borderline mean. From what I see, dairy goats are handled more than meat goats, so that may be the root cause? Or maybe it's genetic, certain lines being more aggressive? Or teaching respect when they are small?
> 
> I bred my Boer does to kid at 13 + months, same as my standard dairy does. My kids seem to grow big quickly, so I want them bred before they get a chance to get fat. I guess the final decision comes back to the owner. Can you afford to hold them over another year before kidding? What condition are they in (fat, thin, stunted, growth)? What breed? Season at kidding?


so true.


----------



## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Your instincts are good--you were right, he shouldn't be doing that. Also, I agree it's better to not touch them around the horns or they might take it as an invitation to engage in head butting. Some people will grab them by the beard though. The spray bottle is one of my must-have goat supplies. I wish I had some sort of holster for mine!

I wanted to mention that many bucks don't reach full maturity by his age, & you may notice him testing your position as herd leader more often in the future. I'm not at all familiar with Boar goats & how quickly they mature--are they Boer crosses or their own breed? 

There are some other status testing behaviors you need to watch for also, & some are fairly subtle. In a wild goat herd, younger bucks won't usually directly challenge the top buck suddenly. Instead they try to see if they can get away with being "rude" to him first, feeling out how confident & strong he is, without risking getting hurt. Goats will also test their humans the same way. Here a few things he may do that call for a squirt of water. (If I don't have my spray bottle I run at him yelling till he backs away. Deep inside he's a coward!)

Rearing up on his hind legs, with his body sideways to you to look bigger, but turning his head to face towards you. At first he could be way over on the other side of the pen doing this, but will still be looking straight at you, seeing if you're going to bother going over there & putting him in his place again.

"Accidentally on purpose" bumping into you or stepping on your feet. If he gets away with small bumps he may try bigger ones next. Crowding you can also mean the same thing, so hold the feed bucket up over your head out of his reach till he quits crowding you & being pushy around the feeder.

Doing this weird stiff looking trot past you, again with his body sideways to you but his face turned toward you, & the hair on his back sticking up to try & look bigger. Like the rearing, he may start doing this fairly far away from you, but it still means the same thing if he's looking at you.

If you're out walking, he may cut sharply in front of you & perhaps stop. Do NOT let him make you stop or walk around him. You MUST push him out of your way like a boss goat would. Lower status goats give way to higher status goats. 

Usually they get the message pretty quickly that you're not ready to give up your Alpha Goat status, & they stop the behaviors. They may kind of test you a little from time to time after that though, to see if you're still tougher than they are. Also, when does are in heat they can behave very badly. It's good to have your spray bottle with you if you think a doe is in heat-wagging her tail, calling etc.


----------

