Well, my goat-finding journey is finally over. We just bought a 3 yr old purebred Nubian doe (unreg) & will bring her home in a couple days. She had 1 set or triplets last year & was milked and has not been bred this year. However she does come w/ a breeding. The sellers have a pure Nub buck and a Nub/Boer buck. I can choose either, but the purebred is for sale and may not be available. Of course, I'd breed to the purebred if possible. These folks had a CLEAN back-yard facility & the goats are CAE neg, closed herd, etc. They are older & hubby had a heart attack so they are selling most of their stock. By the time I called and made it out there they only had the buck & this doe left to sell! I bought her for $100, which is less than 1/2 the going rate for dairy does in my area. My only concern is that she is not very friendly (which they were very honest about). My hope is that I can tame her down with gentle handling & food bribes! My plan is to put her in a fairly small pen for now so that I can get hold of her easier. She seemed to be Ok, although nervous, after being caught. If I can't get her tame enough to milk I plan to breed her & bottle raise a doe kid to replace her with. I have had goats years ago and do know how to milk. Any advice of suggestions for taming her would be helpful! Thanks!

-- elle (eagle-quest@juno.com), February 12, 2001

Answers

Hi, take a look at what I wrote on the thread, "I'm getting two new goats on Friday, help!" It is in the archives under goat, general. I think you should be able to tame your doe down. At her age, she may not be lovey dovey, but you should be able to get to where you can handle her and she will look forward to seeing you.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 12, 2001.

Your idea of starting her in a small pen is a good one.Put a collar on her so you have something to get hold of.I leave collars on mine so I can clip them to a fence to trim hooves etc.I use animal crackers for goat treats.They love um and a huge bag at Walmart is less than two bucks.You may have to put a couple in her mouth until she gets the idea.Holding her by the collar and hand feeding some grain will do wonders. PS...don't leave collars on the goat if there are things,such as brush,that she can hang up on.

-- JT Sessions (gone2seed@hotmail.com), February 12, 2001.

My first goats were quite wild when I brought them home. You have the right idea keeping her in a smaller pen until she gets used to you. I don't know that you need to worry about "catching" her for awhile. She will come at feeding time. Stand as close as she will let you and let her warm up to you gradually. Of the four wild goats I brought home, three became very nice tame animals. The fourth never did get to where she wanted to be petted, but to my surprise, went on the goat stand and milked with no problems from the first day she kidded with us. And she had never been milked before. I know a lot of people don't believe in letting the babies nurse, but I have found that even those nursing babies will be quite tame if you keep them at the barn for awhile after they are weaned and pet them at feeding time. Good luck and have fun. mary

-- mary, texas (marylgarcia@aol.com), February 12, 2001.

As an "only child" your new doe should bond to you fairly soon. They are very social animals and thrive on companionship. Putting a collar on her is a good idea so you can guide her without a struggle, but please use one with a breakaway link so she can't hang herself. Build or buy a milking stand and put her in it twice a day like you would if you were milking her. Give her grain and treats only while on the milking stand. Use the time she is eating her grain to brush her coat, check her hooves, etc. With daily handling associated with favorite food, she should tame up quickly. Please visit our herd at www.sundaycreek.com/nubians

-- Skip Walton (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 12, 2001.