Goats do some pretty strange things. They paw at the ground, pee on their beards, and ram each other with their horns. These behaviors, however strange, all serve purposes that make genuine sense. There are a lot of good reasons goats butt heads though.
Goats butt heads in order to establish dominance. Being more dominant comes with many perks and responsibilities the goats want to make sure that whoever wins is up to the task. Goats will also display this behavior as play and in defense.
How they establish dominance and the practice they get in for fun as kids will be explained as you continue reading. These behaviors are life-long, and knowing about them will satisfy your curiosity.
Headbutts For Dominance
So goats butt heads for dominance. That’s great and all, but, how does that work? What determines who gets to be in charge and for how long? What are the responsibilities that go along with that?
In short, the longer a goat can headbutt the higher it ranks in the hierarchy (herd). Goats will do this with every male they see in order to keep a functioning social group. Male goats live separate from the females for the entire year. Except for mating season. This happens during the winter months. It is during these months that ramming will really pick up, though it does go year-round.
Goats will determine the order before breeding season. This is possible because they live separate from the kids and sheep. Their separate herd is called a bachelor herd. Bachelor herds live anywhere from one mile to many miles away from the regular herd.
Here is where they will start their ramming and work out the pecking order. Some of this will need to be reestablished during matting season though. This is because testosterone levels become very high, which makes the males more aggressive. So the younger goats will get excited and might want to fight the older goats again for a second chance.
These battles will go on for hours. Since the goats have super thick skulls often one of the goats will just get tired and give up. Sometimes though these battles result in the death of the weaker goat. This result is bad for the herd as a whole though, so it doesn’t normally happen. Goat deaths reduce the overall strength of the herd, opening them up to predators. So the more common result is that one of the goats will get tired and stop before any permanent damage occurs.
Being higher in the hierarchy means you get some perks and a lot of responsibilities. Some of the perks are that you are more likely to get the mates of your choice (though this is not a guarantee), and you get the majority share of the best food. What comes with that though is you have to protect the herd. You get the better food so you will be healthier so you can fight off predators better.
Little Kid Play
Little kids will butt heads for kicks and giggles. They think it’s fun. This means that they will ram everything they can. You, their friends, fence posts, cats. To them, it’s how they explore the world. They are learning what things are by headbutting. They also explore the world by tasting lots of things.
If they learn how to headbutt in play while they are young then they will have an easier go of things when they grow up and have to headbutt for food, mating rights, and position. It’s like practicing an instrument. The more you do it in play, the better the performance.
This is actually very cute. They will sort of jump up on their back two legs, then fall forward and maybe run a little bit. It looks like they are going to fall over, but this is the same way adult goats headbutt. Both male and female goats will exhibit this behavior, though female goats will eventually become less likely than males to do this. This is because female goats don’t get horns as big as male goats.
It’s not that females headbutt less as they grow older. It’s that males start to headbutt more as they grow older.
The same stands true for dehorned goats. They will still headbutt and ram things. Less so than horned goats. It hurts them more without horns than with horns. Their heads are strong enough they can still hit you pretty hard even without the help of horns. So just because a goat doesn’t have horns doesn’t mean you are safe from them ramming you.
Dehorning is a mild deterrent, not very helpful, but better than nothing. It will make them a little less likely, not much though.
Designed For Defense
The horns on male goats grow very big. Fully grown horns (called coils on male goats) will weigh up to thirty pounds and be as thick as thirty inches. For some reference, the average coil weight is about one-tenth of the total goat weight. Goats’ skulls are also three times as thick as human skulls. Meaning that they are built for this. They evolved to ram things.
These massive horns are used in defense. Not only for determining how they fit into their herd, but also how they protect themselves and the herd. If a goat rams anything it’s a big deal. They pack enough power in their headbutts to fall an animal much larger than them. Even full-grown bulls can fall victim to the mighty goat headbutt.
To help illustrate this point, I have included a video of a goat ramming a cow. It’s pretty short and worth the watch. These animals are just amazing.
Goats have been known to defend themselves by attacking motorists and people. They will defend themselves with their horns anytime they feel threatened or are being challenged. They will even knock people off of motorbikes if they get the chance and are feeling threatened enough.
Headbutting Deterrents
If you are looking to stop your goat from headbutting there are a few ways to help put a stop to this.
The best way for you to control headbutting is to be the one in charge. You have thumbs, use them when goats come to you to stop them and change the motion of their headbutt into something else. This won’t stop them from headbutting things, but if the goats constantly see that you are in charge they will learn to leave you alone. Mostly.
Another good option is for you to spray the goats with water every time you see them headbutt. Goats hate water. They hate being wet, so spaying them is a great way to stop them from headbutting you, and if you do it right you can train them to stop headbutting. This would take time and constant effort with endless diligence because headbutting is such a part of their natural state. But it is possible.
The third option would be to dehorn them. As said above, this won’t put a stop to it altogether. It will minimize damage and act as a mild deterrent to the behavior if they hit something that hurts them bad enough.
Every time you introduce a new goat, headbutting will start up again because you just changed the pecking order. To minimize this the best thing you can do when introducing a new goat is to do it slowly. Introduce goats one at a time and let the headbutting die down before you bring in another. This can drag the process out quite a bit. Doing this won’t upset the herd too much at once though.
If you add a lot of new goats to an already established herd then there could be some mass headbutting that goes on. This isn’t the worse thing. It could cause some damage to your goats and it will be very obnoxious for a couple of days. So adding only one at time will keep this from happening.
Keep your males separate from the females. This won’t stop the behavior, but it will save your does a headache. Or just have one male mixed in with the herd. This will also keep the ramming down. Don’t do this if you don’t want little goat babies though. Goat babies are cute, but you should want them and be prepared for them before you start breeding your goats.
Wrapping Up
Your adult goats headbutt because they are establishing dominance. Your baby goats headbutt because they are playing. The rams can have massive horns that make headbutting terribly destructive. Goats will engage in headbutt matches for hours at a time. The sound of these fights can be heard up to a mile away.
If you don’t like your goats headbutting spray them with water when you are around. Dehorn them when they are young. Show them that you are the boss by using your hands to stop the headbutting. Keep your males and females separate. Try not to mess up your goat’s hierarchy by adding goats too fast.
Remember these things as you deal with your goats and you’ll do just fine.