When we first brought home our Mini Nubian buck who's name is Finn...He Escaped!!!!
He Jumped off of the ground and over my shoulder in a 12 inch gap.
We were shocked and instantly devastated.
He was still on our 30 acres luckily and not the hundreds of acre woods behind us.
But now...how do you get a goat that you just met to trust you and more importantly come back to you?
On the run we went. All four of us. He hid in a circle of pine trees and the Mothering instinct took over. Everyone sat down and I began to "mehhh" he kept circling back around to me and looking with a head tilt. It was working! That sound was the only familiar thing to him at the moment.
-He had been away from his mom for only hours now.
-He had been debudded a few days before.
-It was over 80 degrees and we knew he needed love and lots of water.
So I began to run back up to his temporary home.
Running away from him, not at him, so he didn't feel like I was a predator.
I began to "Mehhh"
Low and behold he followed me over 200 feet. Thank Goodness!!!!
Then on a daily basis, sometimes twice a day for the first week we would go out and feed him a handful of grain. He started to associate us with something positive...FOOD!
He slowly let us pet him and now follows us like a puppy.
Our advice:
Make sure the gate is closed behind you AT ALL TIMES.
Put your hand inside the feed bowl so they can feel your touch.
After a few times, hold out your hand with feed, hunger causes some need and at this point they should realize you are not a threat.
Talk to them.
After feeding by hand, start to pet them while they are eating.
Go out daily and just sit with them.
The more time you spend the more open they will be.
Sometimes I loose myself in the goat pen and I can understand why people do goat yoga. Something about grounding yourself with nature, looking at the sky and just watching an animal be an animal. They don't get caught up in politics, or gossip,they are loyal like a dog, and they speak to you without words.
Here is a video of how we started getting our goat to trust us.
What tips will you try with your goats today? Wilson Wonders
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