Goatbody language.

Curious, clever and social, a browser that climbs, explores and tells you clearly when they have had enough.

81Signals mapped

45Science-backed references

148Unique scenarios

Start with the animal

Who the goat is.

Goats are curious, clever and social. They are browsers and climbers, and they explore the world with their mouths, noses and very mobile ears.

They are also more attuned to people than many expect, looking to humans for help and even preferring happy faces to angry ones.

What FaunaVera looks at

The signals we read.

A few of the channels FaunaVera watches and listens to in every goat video, weighed together with context and checked against a goat-specific ethogram.

Ears

Position and movement.

For exampleEars pointing backwards are linked to negative states such as frustration. Ears pointing forward show the goat is focused on something.

Tail

Carriage, one of the clearest goat mood signals.

For exampleA tail held up is linked to positive situations. A tail held down can signal stress or discomfort.

Head and stance

Head posture, height and where the goat is facing.

For exampleA goat standing tall and facing you with their head up is usually curious. A lowered head with the chin tucked can be the start of a challenge.

Face

Tension and expression.

For exampleA goat in pain may grind their teeth, hold their face tense and stop chewing their cud.

Herd behaviour

Distance, hierarchy and who stays together.

For exampleA goat that is repeatedly pushed away from the feeder or stands alone may be low-ranking or unwell.

Voice

Bleats, and what changes in them.

For exampleBleats tend to get more frequent and more varied in negative situations, such as being separated from the herd.

Did you know?

Goats prefer to look at happy human faces over angry ones, and they look to people for help when a problem gets too hard.

Common misreads

“A bleating goat just wants food.”Goats bleat to stay in contact, when separated from the herd or their kids, when frustrated and when distressed, not only for food.
“Head-butting is just play.”Kids head-butt in play, but between adults it is often competition over food, space or rank. Watch for one goat backing away.
“A goat that stops exploring is just resting.”Goats are naturally curious. One that stops exploring, eating or chewing their cud may be unwell.

Being around a goat

Stand calmly at the goat's side and let them come and sniff you. Goats are curious, so patience usually wins, and a calm, friendly face genuinely matters.

See it for yourself

Your goat, read in seconds.

Upload a short video and FaunaVera reads the whole picture for you: an Interpretation, Voice of Animal, practical Tips and Ethogram Insights that explain exactly which signals it saw.

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Where this comes from

A few of the studies.

FaunaVera's goat ethogram draws on 45 science-backed references. Here are a handful of them.

C. Nawroth et al. (2018). Goats prefer positive human emotional facial expressions. Royal Society Open Science, 5(8), 180491. Read
C. Nawroth, J. M. Brett & A. G. McElligott (2016). Goats display audience-dependent human-directed gazing behaviour in a problem-solving task. Biology Letters, 12(7), 20160283. Read
E. F. Briefer, F. Tettamanti & A. G. McElligott (2015). Emotions in goats: mapping physiological, behavioural and vocal profiles. Animal Behaviour, 99, 131-143. Read
L. Baciadonna et al. (2019). Goats distinguish between positive and negative emotion-linked vocalisations. Frontiers in Zoology, 16, 25. Read
E. F. Briefer, M. Padilla de la Torre & A. G. McElligott (2012). Mother goats do not forget their kids' calls. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 279(1743), 3749-3755. Read
G. C. Miranda-de la Lama & S. Mattiello (2010). The importance of social behaviour for goat welfare in livestock farming. Small Ruminant Research, 90(1-3), 1-10. Read