# Clicking ankles



## cking (Jul 1, 2015)

Hello - I am new to the Goat Spot and new to goats as well. I have 3 Nigerian Dwarf goats, one which is 10 1/2 months old - Hazelnut is her name. I am a bit concerned about her because when she walks her ankles click/ crack almost every time. She seems too young to have this happening. However, it doesn't seem to bother her at all. I recently figured out a copper deficiency problem I was having, but now they are all back to normal and their coats are black and sleek again. Would this clicking be due to a deficiency of some kind? I feed them Manna Pro goat minerals on a daily basis. I'd appreciate any information anyone could give me. Thank you!!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Is she the head of the herd?


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## cking (Jul 1, 2015)

No, her Mama is.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Here's an old thread about clicking/popping joints:
http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f191/crackly-popping-joints-156720/

I have a packgoat whose toes have been snap, crackle, popping for 13 very active years with no signs of related lameness and no health issues his whole life. For some goats, this is just normal.

Edit: Karen, what's the significance of pecking order?


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

Our herd leader Luna, the matriarch, clicks whenever she walks with the herd, but walking alone or with me, she doesn't. I don't remember where I saw or read it, but I heard something about when they posture or want to show leadership they do it.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

My dominate female always clicked her joints. Her daughter started also doing this, and eventually the daughter took over. No one else that I know of does.

Of course it is a good idea to have everyone tested for CAE to make sure that isn't the problem, but most likely it's just a goat thing.


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Wow, that's very interesting about the dominant goats being the ones with the noisy joints. I'm going to have to keep an ear on my herd to see if this rings true for mine too. My clicking old goat is the Big Cheese of our herd, but his joints always clicked even during the 10 years he spent as an "only goat." I don't know if any of my other goats' joints click because I've gotten so used to hearing that sound behind me on every hike that I've come to tune it out entirely. I'll have to be more observant when we take them walking with us.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

CritterCarnival said:


> Our herd leader Luna, the matriarch, clicks whenever she walks with the herd, but walking alone or with me, she doesn't. I don't remember where I saw or read it, but I heard something about when they posture or want to show leadership they do it.


That is a extremely interesting ! WOW !


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Ehehe ... my herd queen wants to be herd queen of everyone and everything. :lol: Her knees are always clicking.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Well , i noticed my herd queen does that too ! 
I thought i was hearing things , but sure enough i heard the clicking , lol. No one else has made that sound. Very interesting indeed


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

It's a placer noise. In every goat herd you have a Queen, a Disciplinarian, a Princess, and a Caller. Any one or more of these goats can make the clicking noise but, the purpose is to keep the herd aware of where the lead goats are. In the wild it allows the goats to spread out and browse while still keeping tabs on the center of the herd. If danger presents they can all run to where they know the leaders are grazing to group up. 
Elk do this as well...


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

WOW ! Now i have to listen to them all walking around…I should let them out to graze/drive me crazy and see if i can find out who the queen and caller is……pretty cool stuff  Thanks Jill .


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## FloatnRockRanch (Feb 7, 2015)

goathiker said:


> It's a placer noise. In every goat herd you have a Queen, a Disciplinarian, a Princess, and a Caller. Any one or more of these goats can make the clicking noise but, the purpose is to keep the herd aware of where the lead goats are. In the wild it allows the goats to spread out and browse while still keeping tabs on the center of the herd. If danger presents they can all run to where they know the leaders are grazing to group up.
> Elk do this as well...


What is the difference between them? How do you tell who is who?


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

FloatnRockRanch said:


> What is the difference between them? How do you tell who is who?


Ummm , yeah , that would be good to know first , lol&#8230;
I would've been back sooner or later asking that question :lol:


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## FloatnRockRanch (Feb 7, 2015)

Trickyroo said:


> Ummm , yeah , that would be good to know first , lol&#8230;
> I would've been back sooner or later asking that question :lol:


:laugh:onder::type:


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

FloatnRockRanch said:


> :laugh:onder::type:


:ROFL: :hi5:


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Okay, most people think that the goat that butts everyone out of the food and is very aggressive is the queen. This is in fact not true. The one goat she does not butt away is the queen. The butting goat is the disciplinarian. The princess is usually the daughter of the queen or the disciplinarian, but, could be from a higher doe who proved her worth while pregnant. She is allowed to eat with the queen. The caller is the one who watches the herd. He bahs to let the herd know they are spreading out. He stays with the slower group and leads them back to the main herd when needed.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Wow!


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

goathiker said:


> Okay, most people think that the goat that butts everyone out of the food and is very aggressive is the queen. This is in fact not true. The one goat she does not butt away is the queen. The butting goat is the disciplinarian. The princess is usually the daughter of the queen or the disciplinarian, but, could be from a higher doe who proved her worth while pregnant. She is allowed to eat with the queen. The caller is the one who watches the herd. He bahs to let the herd know they are spreading out. He stays with the slower group and leads them back to the main herd when needed.


Very cool Jill, thank you.

Our queen is Luna, the princess is definitely her 4 month old daughter Angel, who _absolutely_ knows she's a"little princess". Our disciplinarian is Cleo, who is an adult daughter of Luna.

We don't appear to have a designated caller, everyone hollars if they get out of sight of the herd. But we have a bunch of spotty wooded areas around the pasture, so it's easy for them to lose sight of each other. They just call, wait for a reply, and go back to eating.

I'm so looking forward to cooler weather so I can spend more time outside with them. It's been so miserably HOT lately, they don't want to be outside either!! :sun::faint:


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

Very cool!! I have two that click.. One is my queen, and the other is my little ND, her dam was queen while she was here, the two of them are the only two I've noticed to click..


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Our princess doesn't click ... Current Queen (former princess) does, and the former queen (her mother) does too. So does caller Xena. But the princess who is on good terms with the queen and is allowed to eat with her does not click. She comes from a doe who was bottom of the pecking order, but idolizes the queen. :lol: 

Wow, goats.


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## Bree_6293 (Aug 4, 2014)

Can you explain the role of the caller please? This all explained about the different roles explains my herd so much better! I know the queen and the disciplinary but not sure about the caller. What about in a buck herd? My older buck clicks even when he is in with the girls...


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

The caller is usually a wether or a middle ranked doe. She always is near the rear when the herd is walking together and if someone falls behind she stops and waits for the lagging goat, calling for the leaders to wait. Her job is to make sure that the herd stays together and watch for danger from the rear. The bucks are the most expendable members of the herd so, the herd is run by the females. The females lead, and the bucks follow. The dominate buck clicks to show his superiority over the lesser bucks.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

This is all very fascinating! It also explains why MY ankles click. ;-)


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

groovyoldlady said:


> this is all very fascinating! It also explains why my ankles click. ;-)


:ROFL::sadhappy:


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## cking (Jul 1, 2015)

This is very interesting! Anise, the queen of the herd, does not click - at least I haven't noticed it. Hazelnut clicks all the time - and I was concerned because she is so young - but maybe it's just the way her joints are. I was worried it was some type of vitamin deficiency, but I was concerned about giving her too much of any vitamins or minerals since I already give them a daily dose of Manna Pro goat minerals. So I guess unless she shows signs of pain, she is ok. Thanks so much for the information everyone!


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Several of mine have clicking joints, most are no where near being queens! The herd queen doesn't click.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

I have a disfunctional herd! My queen is the one who disciplines. She allows no one else anywhere near her except her newest kids. No callers, no princess! They just sort of all do their own things, wander in and out of the barn.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

lottsagoats1 said:


> I have a disfunctional herd! My queen is the one who disciplines. She allows no one else anywhere near her except her newest kids. No callers, no princess! They just sort of all do their own things, wander in and out of the barn.


Maybe they have a union , lol...


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## Damfino (Dec 29, 2013)

Yeah, my herd is different too. I have a herd King (or should I say Dictator-For-Life) in my 13-year-old wether. No one disputes him and no one shares his shelter or his food. He's my goat that clicks, but he did that for 10 years before I had another goat on the place. 

I separate boys and girls at night, so that's when my girls do have a queen. She's pretty mellow and only got to be queen by default when her mother had to be put down. All my girls are pretty mellow and I don't think they have a disciplinarian. My former herd queen was was more like a herd tyrant. She would chase down other goats from 30 feet away, knock them clean off their feet, and trample them. She would even take on boys who were twice her size and horned (she was polled). She was by far the fastest goat in my herd so no one could outrun her. She could even outrun my LGD and sometimes trampled the poor dog just for a laugh. The only goat she was terrified of (and remained terrified of to her dying day) was our old Dictator-For-Life. 

So yeah, I guess not all herds are the same. My boys are indisputably in charge when the herds are together, and the Old Man usually leads them. When he's not with the herd (he spends a lot of time on his own), one of the other boys takes charge of them. All of my girls are wimps and none of them are in charge of anything when the boys are there.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

I have one gal , Blondie who only gets along with a certain few other girls. I always put some hay out away from the others especially for her since i know she will get chased away most of the time.


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## PearlandOpal (Jun 12, 2013)

I've never heard of that, going to be listening closely to our Opal to see if she's a clicker. Interesting!


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## puckles (Apr 2, 2015)

that's nuts!! My herd queen does the same thing. I kept wondering if I should be worried about her joints or something, but it doesn't happen all the time. Just another way in which goats are total weirdos I guess!! My queen Millie is DEFINITELY also the disciplinarian- and her 5 month old daughter Griselda is clearly the princess and the only one allowed to eat with her. sometimes she'll let her full grown wether son share, but if it comes down to it, she'll butt him out of the way too. I just love watching the goat hierarchy. of course I'm a sucker and feel bad for the lowest goats and sneak them treats while the queen isn't looking!


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## F-A-R-MdotUS (May 18, 2015)

I had a lot of doubts about this whole thing reading it the first time - but, we have a boer doe that was kept alone with no other livestock for just about her entire life (8 years) ... when she came into the sanctuary her ankles clicked, we thought it was due to severe neglected hooves, but the clicking continued after we trimmed her .... the clicking went on until just recently, when she finally accepted her place in the herd and stopped being such a loner. She is now completely quiet! It is really a weird thing!!!


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## ShireRidgeFarm (Sep 24, 2015)

I know this is an older thread, but I just wanted to share my experience with this - it is all so interesting! 

I recently bought a new buck, and my original buck did NOT appreciate this new 'friend' I had brought him. They fought almost constantly every time a put them together. It was then that I noticed my original buck's joints were clicking a lot - like he had arthritis or something. I was surprised - I've had him since he was a baby and have given him all the care he needs - and a bit concerned about some sort of deficiency. But, after reading this tread, it all makes sense now! My original buck was just trying to be dominant over the new guy - he had been 'herd king' for a month and he wasn't about to give up all his girls.  My bucks are buddies now, and I don't think I've heard any clicking... I'll have to listen more closely!


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