I've observed some interesting behavior from the other goats during this episode. Buttercup, the head honcho of the Boer herd, has shown little interest in the sick goat. She came over and checked her out once, but the number three goat has shown much interest.
While I was out there, she hovered a little bit and sniffed the sick goat. After a while, she gently nudged her with her head, first just kind of rubbing heads, then nudging down her neck to just behind her shoulder blades. She pushed and nudged until the sick goat got up and walked towards the shed. She made it about halfway and let the kids nurse for just a couple of seconds, then she laid back down.
The way it looked to me was that #3 was trying to get sick goat up on her feet to feed her kids. But she could have just as easily been telling her, "Go off and die somewhere else, we don't want your dead body in our shade."
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Maybe they've bonded alittle? I think animals have more feelings than we give them credit for. I know that's kinda hard to deal with when it comes time to eat them..but when they live in a herd, surely, they have some type of feelings for each other? I'm gonna go with your first opinion about #3 helping her.
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