# Wether still acting aggressive like a buck?



## kovet (Jan 9, 2011)

The vet the banded our bucks about 3 and a half weeks ago(and they still havent fallen off yet). They are currently 13 weeks old. One of my wethers is still acting very aggressive and butting us extremely hard and we cant get him to stop. If we hit him for butting us he just gets more aggressive and butts harder. But when we try to ignore him he still continues to butt us. Is this just his personality? Why is he so aggressive?
p.s. Hes actually pretty sweet when hes not attacking us.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

My uncle had a boer buck that would get into spells like these. He would become extremely aggressive and ram you and knock you over then walk all over you. This buck was around 200-250 lbs. After he was done he was really quite sweet. If he is going to be this aggressive toward you I highly suggest selling him. Just for your safety and your kids or grandkids safety. Whether he has horns or not doesn't matter he can still end up seriously hurting someone.

I'm not suggesting to sell him because I'm cold hearted. I'm just trying to keep the safety of others in mind.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Here's some suggestions to stop butting.

1) No hitting back. That's a challenge. Instead, grab him by the ear and loudly yell "NO!" while yanking him away from you. They usually hate having their ears touched, and they don't really know how to react to it. If he comes back for more, keep yanking him away and scolding him until he stops. Once he does stop PRAISE HIM. A collar also works for this.

2) When my doe tries to butt me (and she knows better) I grab her, lift her head up, look her in the eye and say "NO. BAD GIRL." in a nasty voice. Then I lead her around and position her and generally make her behave beautifully for me. Also, that way I can praise her as a position her, because she's doing something I approve of.

3) I've never tried this, but I've heard a watergun to the face sometimes works. Just make sure it's different from the fly spray or he'll think you're punishing him when you fly spray him.

Ps. Not even bucks should act like this. I know they're a bit crazed during rutt, but the bucks I have met are all well behaved sirs who know their place.


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## Maggie (Nov 5, 2010)

Spraying with the watergun or spray bottle works well. Spray him right in the face with it, it obviously won't hurt him but it sure is surprising to them!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Instead of a spray bottle I'd think one of those bright colored water guns kind of like a super soaker. Every time he acts bad pull it out and squirt...when he sees it maybe he'll think twice. I've not tried that but they do recognize things, and as much as I use spray bottles for this and that, I wouldn't want my goats being afraid of them.

I know someone that carries a cattle prod in their buck pen because the buck likes to invade their space. One little shock and he recognizes it and knows he has to behave, I think they said they only had to use it one time and he got the point.

I myself wouldn't keep an animal that would be aggressive and butt me. It would either become dinner...or go to auction. My kids are always in the pen with the goats, so safety first. Our buck is laid back and friendly, he's pretty much out with the girls 24/7 right now. If he wasn't so laid back, that would never happen.

Hopefully your boy changes when they do fall off, I've never had any experience with before/after wethering. I do know that we bought 2 wethers a couple of years ago for meat, and the first one to go was one that wanted to butt...


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

If all else fails, I've flipped a goat over with success. I had am alpine buck that started getting egotistical and starting to challenge me. Water didn't work, and yelling didn't do jack diddly, so when he got the nerve up to actually hit me, I flipped him on his back and sat on him. Soon as he quit wiggling I let him back up. Never even looked st me funny again.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I forgot to mention the ear thing does work, at least on our buck. He's friendly but sometimes he gets a little ego going on, he likes to be stuck to you like glue and being a 15mo old boer with horns, someone could get hurt if your doing something and hit a horn, yelling, pushing him away, nothing works....so I remember Pam posting about telling them 'I'm gonna get your ear!' and that's what I do, I tell him I'm gonna get his ear and I grab it and he backs off.
Of course if I am aggravated and yell and stomp my foot he knows I mean business and he better back off LOL But he's not aggressive, just thinks he has to be permanently attached to us when we are out there.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

Congratulations Mixed Bag, on successfully flipping a goat over! LOL!!!


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## TheMixedBag (Oct 16, 2010)

I got lucky he was only 170. Much bigger and I never could have done it. I just grabbed both opposite legs and shoved him with my shoulder.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

So far the ear is the only thing that has worked for me. I had one wether the kids loved him, and he was a bottle baby and was such a jerk to me, I did all except the ear and nothing worked so after he hooked me in the chest and tore my shirt he was gone. Gizmo, bottle baby buck, was off to a bad start as well and I wanted to keep him so bad and when I saw one of the does grab a kid by the ear I tryed it and worked great. It took a few times but I have to say he is 5 months old now and such a sweet guy. He walks up to you, you pet him, you stop and he walks off.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

It reminds me of an oldschool teacher grabbing a student by the ear and leading them out of class :ROFL: I only had to do it once or twice with one of our kids that was getting into the butting habit.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Behaviors are "bred" into an animal the same as coat color.... if the sire or dam of an animal has a dominant personality, the kids can be the same way.

My current wether Teddy was banded by me at 2 years old because he was just a very domineering buck, never nasty to me but very bad to other goats. Wethering him has settled him down but he still has some of those habits that had been much worse before.

Grabbing an ear and "making it hurt" when your boy acts up towards you may help and because he is just a baby, reprimanding now will help him be a better adjusted adult. Be aware though that it just may be in his blood to be a brat.


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