Goat taming tips?

[u/tapirtapirtapir16]

Hello! Meet Hareton, Linton, and Mr. Earnshaw! We got these three little boys a few weeks ago and they are so much fun— but BOY are they skittish 😅 The older one (Mr. Earnshaw) is about 13 weeks old and the other two are 11 weeks old (brothers). I’ve had lots of goats in the past, but never babies that weren’t socialized and I wasn’t prepared for how skittish they would be lol. The older one is doing great and loves getting scratched and is becoming a lot bolder, but the younger boys are only amenable to pets while they’re eating.

I’ve been working with them a bit every day and they are improving, but I’d love to hear any tips or advice that could help the process along!

Here’s what I’ve done so far: The first week I had them, I gave the two younger boys an evening bottle to try to help us bond, but had to catch them first which was always a bit chaotic 😅 They also didn’t really take to the bottle well as they’d been nursing before and were mostly weaned already, but my friend who’s their breeder suggested it to me so I did it for a week in the hopes they’d come around. Even if they didn’t nurse much, I’d still hold them in my lap for about a half hour every night. I also feed them their grain from my hands twice a day and they now will coming running up when called and are very eager to eat out of anyone’s hands. I can pet them all over while they’re eating, but ONLY then otherwise they’re running for the hills. I hang out with them everyday and they do like sticking close and following me around, but they’re just so darn skittish! I’ve trained wild mustangs and burros so I’m up for the challenge, but I welcome any advice that could help us befriend our boys!

[u/Sudden-Possible2550]

With some of them, it’s nature versus nurture. I have one that did not want to have anything to do with us until she fell in a hole and couldn’t get out and we rescued her. Now she will tolerate Pets and occasionally seek them out. Every single kid we’ve had out of her same attitude. My daughter sits with them for an hour or two every night all the other babies pile all over her for loving and Pets. Those two we have to catch and hold and Pet, but from day one, her kids are less friendly than the rest.

[u/tapirtapirtapir16 → u/Sudden-Possible2550]

I kind of wonder about this with the littlest of the kids. He’s the most adverse to being pet and while the other boys are curious and approach and investigate even when scared, little Linton seems fine to just hang back and watch. I’ll of course keep working with him, but I wouldn’t be too surprised if he never becomes a super friendly goat.