The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: colliewoman on October 12, 2011, 09:25:05 am
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lets start off by saying i have SUCKER written on my forehead ::)
i have just taken in a rescue billy, he has been 'running wild' and is terrified of us. he got delivered at gone 8 last night, so arrived in the dark.
the people that delivered him dragged him out of the van on a rope halter, it took 4 of them and he was so scared. they wouldn't let me try.
we penned him up next to the girls on a nice soft bed, gave him some hay and water and left him alone till this morning.
this morning he was in with my sheep, no broken fences, no open gates. he really really likes the sheep, and is doing the whole mating ritual thing with them. though i wanted to leave it a few days, i have put him in with the girls as he was getting distressed being on his own. all he does is stand next to the fence looking at the sheep.
enid is literally offering herself on a plate to him and he is not interested ???
he is too big to go in with the sheep, if he tries mounting one he;ll break their back :o
he is at least 4 and never lived with another goat :'(.
now i'm not that worried if he never does the job with the girls so to speak, he can be castrated (that will happen at some point anyway) and have a safe forever home. but i need him to be happy with his own species, the sheep arent always in goat proof grazing so he cant live with them.
any ideas?
will he work it all out when he settles down and realises i'm not a monster?
thanks in advance
donna
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Can't offer any advice but hope Billy manages to work it out, if only for Enid's sake ;D
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thanks!
i might have guessed there would be something up with him. i expressley said to make sure he was here in daylight, and assumed that when i hadnt heard anything by 5pm that they werent coming (they wanted to deliver him to save us the hassle of hiring a vehicle) so when we got a phone call to say they would be here at 8 ish i was in a state of panic!
i've been caught out in the past with deliveries in the dark of rescue animals, i almost didnt want to go see him this morning!
but he isnt wearing aladdins slippers, he's not mangey he is covered in musk and stinks but they knew that i was expecting that. i havent been able to see his boy bits yet. are theirs as large as rams?
please dear gods dont let me have taken on a botched castration!
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From experience with our Billy his tackle is definately as obvious as a ram's our wether whereas our has nothing as obvious - will give you a call for a catchup soon
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hey cuckoo :wave: :wave: sundays are probably best for catching me in.
tonight after an hour i got him to take food from me, and have discovered that;
he does have boy parts and his scent glands are most definitely in full working order. it seems unfair they put them on the front end ;D
he does in fact have very overgrown feet, i at first thought they weren't too bad, when in fact the have folded over and click when he walks ::)
enid doesn't care and just wishes he would get on with it :love:
wish me luck!
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Aah Geeps (or is it Shoats? Look out for abhortions about 6wks before they are due :(
Seriously,Leave him alone (after castration)and just get him used to a set routine which involves no touching,no trapping(i.e,round or square areas,no corriadors) then let him relax and come to you...it'll take a while but trustworksbetter than trapping :)
What Breed?
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at the moment all i can tell you is big and greyish with large swept back horns.
when he isnt covered i pee and grease i will have a better idea.
i suspect he is a scrub mongrel.
the lambs aren't in season fortunately and he hasn't got back in with them fingers crossed so he hasn't got to them.
how long can i leave his feet? i dont want to scare him by catching him, but i dont want permanent damage done (if its not too late).
they are terrible, i wish they'd let me see before taking off the rope they brought him on :-\