Thread: Goat behaviour?

Last half dozen goats I've seen have all been lone young billies. Just coincidence or something to do with time of year?

When got my goats a few weeks back they were all in a mob of about 10. May go out again soon just to see what they are up to.

Yes, I've always seen them in a mob previously.

Maybe goats are like monkeys, or some other social mammals in that the young males get kicked out of the natal group when they reach maturity. So you might be seeing a generation of young adults awkwardly trying to figure out what to do with themselves. Honestly don’t know much about goats so I’m trying to find info about their social behavior right now. Goats are cool.

Edit: found some relevant info https://bree6293.wixsite.com/briawel...goat-behaviour

Goats are a flocking species but they don't flock as tightly as sheep.
Feral goats are hard to muster as individuals (especially males) keep breaking back and prefer to escape rather than herd with the mob.
Sheep stick with the mob for safety unlike goats that seem to more keen to take a chance on their own.Males join harems of females in autumn and feral bucks will travel up to 20km to find does. But the rest of the year they are in bachelor groups or live as solitary males. They sort out a social order in these groups by bunting and horn wrestling.
So most of the year, an alpha female leads a small family group of females suckling their current kids, with any previous adolescent females still in the group. A dam may suckle a kid till the next one is born.

So I think it is normal to see lone males unless a dominant male managed to get a harem for breeding. Any goat experts able to confirm?

Edit 2: this paper says that “During the rut old males drive younger males from the maternal herds.” so maybe it is rutting time and the young solo males were evicted from their natal groups by the aggressive dominant males. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32947.07202

Social behaviour definitely changes throughout the year. Seen in all the time where the older billies will be grouped up and away from the nannies, and the nannies will only have billies under 1yo with them. Other times its all in family of all ages and sex. Then there will be the one billy and a group of nannies and all the young billies a grouped up.

Our resident goatologist @Barefoot was recently seen swimming with a lone goat so he may well have some insight. Ha ha ha ha

The nannies aren’t in season at the moment so the Billy’s are in there bachelor groups

Varies through the year. They are all mixed in mobs at the moment round here. billies will bunch up at times and equally the nannies will disappear when its time to give birth.

Mostly groups of mixed aged billies at the moment where I hunt on a weekly basis (east Taranaki).

I saw plenty of goats on a recent fallow trip – but never had any interest in them – other than thinking about one big black billy that was standing on a ridge above us each trip along a farm track – “I wish you wouldn’t stand up there snorting your head off” – most small groups had several billy goats with them – family groups