# Rotating Head



## dyode (Apr 3, 2013)

2 year old female Boer constantly throwing head back over shoulders and rorating her head. Occures constantly throughout day whenever she in not grazing or moving about. Cause? concerns? treatment?


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## alliecat23 (Jan 25, 2013)

I had a goat do this and it got worse within hours it ending up being that one disease ( I forget the name) but it is correlated with deer and the worm in there spinal cord we ended up putting her down but it's not contagious


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## still (Mar 16, 2013)

Are you talking about meningeal deer worm infection?


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## still (Mar 16, 2013)

Sometimes my goats will try and "climb" the wall on the side of their shed and while they are up on their hind legs they throw their heads back.....it looks strange and I've often wondered why they are doing that!? We have lots of whitetail deer out here and now I'm worried about this meningeal worm .........ugh


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

More than likely it is just self entertainment. My buck does it all the time.
As long as she walks straight she is fine. If circling while walking it would be a cause for concern.


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## still (Mar 16, 2013)

Thanks nancy.......my goats are healthy and happy but since I've been on the goat spot I've worried about them more than usual......it's the webmd for goats LOL!! Don't get me wrong I love this site and am very glad I found it!!


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

For some goats the head roll thing is very normal. 
If you have a goat pulling its head back to one side with a stiff neck that is also having issue walking then there is more going on. At that point look to deerworm or Listeriosis but my guess is this is normal head roll behavior.


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## still (Mar 16, 2013)

Yes she's perfectly fine as far as walking and behavior.......so other goats do that too? I have watched her thinking "is she trying to fly or what?"......from what y'all have said it sounds like normal goat behavior.....phew


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Yes still, perfectly normal.
Having said that, methinks worry if some didnt do it.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

LOL, yep, I have some that do that, I think they want to view the world from a different angle.


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## still (Mar 16, 2013)

I think it's very odd to say the least LOL


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## dyode (Apr 3, 2013)

Thanks for your insight. Have not seen this behavior before. Goat is stable, Happy, in good health and loves personal attention. Appears to be more of a self induced habit. Just seemed a little out of the normal.


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

My yearling does this all the time. She puts her front feet up on the wall of the barn, tilts her head back and looks at me! LOL


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## clearwtrbeach (May 10, 2012)

I agree, just being silly. I have one boer who does it too, we call it looking out for flying saucers.


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## Jewls819 (Mar 27, 2013)

This post is older but I had to comment. I reciently bought two half Saanen/Lamancha cross goats and the 2.5 yr old rolls her head around every once in a while. Nothing wrong with walking and the prior owner says she has always done it. The doe is also dehorned and I suspect it is an instinct to scratch but she has no horns..I see my horned goats do it too but their horns scratch that itch. Today when I was out with them I scratched between her shoulder when she did it and she actually leaned into me..like ahh thank you..lol. I was worried at first and looked up stargazing and watched a video of a goat with polio and it was not the same movement. It does appear strange when you first see it though.


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