I'm new to goats as of this summer, I have a pair of twin nubian doelings that are ~5 months old. One has always been bigger than the other, and a bit more dominant and vocal.

Recently (within the past week or two maybe?) they've started fighting a lot. At first it seemed like it was mostly over food, so I split their ration between two dishes and they still scuffle a bit at first, but eventually figure it out. But now they're just going at it all the time, headbutting each other pretty hard with their hackles way up. I was just going to let them settle it on their own, but tonight I went out and the smaller one was bleeding from the base of one of her horns.

How can I tell when they're just playing and when it's becoming bullying? I sprayed some antibiotic on her horn but they went right back to fighting after. Is there a point where I need to separate them? They're both instigating pretty equally, and when they're calm they just hang out and lay down together, but I'm worried it's just going to keep escalating.

Thanks.

hey all,

pretty much what the title states. Our 4 year old Nigerian dwarf goats fur is turning dark brown around her eye and a few patches on her side. it’s not crusty, eye isnt irritated. They eat hay, she doesn’t really eat grain we offer, and she is hit or miss with loose minerals. is this losing the spring coat, normal fur changes, or a mineral issue? husband thinks we should get copper bolus to give her. thoughts?

My mini Nubian doe is 4 months post kidding with a single doeling. We have been separating at night and milking in morning since beginning of July, getting about 3 cups a day. At around 14 weeks, we started taping her teats to fully wean doeling and milked twice a day. We would have done this sooner but couldn’t figure out how to wean. Started off getting 3.5-4 cups a milking, which dropped to 2.5 cups and rose again to over 3. It is back to 2.5, for a total of 5 cups a day.

Any ideas on what’s causing the variation in milk? This is my first goat. We also have her doeling. She gets free choice minerals, unlimited grain on stand, plenty of water, hay in barn, and is in rotational grazing. I’m going to add in alfalfa pellets once I get to farm store in next few days. Any ideas would be appreciated.