In the spring, I plan on getting a buck for my girls. I have a few questions. We have a barn, and on the south side of it, the girls are housed and they have access to their yard out of the door. How far away does the buck have to be to 1) not be so close that he is trying to always get at the girls and 2) not so close as to make the girls milk taste bad. In our barn there is a middle aisle. We could house the buck on the north side and he could have a yard out his own door and they wouldn't be able to see each other. Is that good enough? Also, can I put a buck and a weather together for companionship? And when I first get the buck, is it ok to temporarily house him with the girls since I want them pregnant anyway?
Thanks,
Anna
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Yes, I have tried for a little while. The buck doesn't seem to mind, but the wether tries to head butt the buck quite a bit. So I'm not sure about it.
Jane Wagman said:
Have you tried putting them together for short periods? None of my bucks have horns and my oldest buck is a pretty mellow fellow that doesn't mind it at all when the even the babies wander over to say hi.
Tammy said:
How old should a wether be before he is put in with a buck for companionship? Our buck is 16 months old with partial horns and the wether is 6 months old.
Have you tried putting them together for short periods? None of my bucks have horns and my oldest buck is a pretty mellow fellow that doesn't mind it at all when the even the babies wander over to say hi.
Tammy said:
How old should a wether be before he is put in with a buck for companionship? Our buck is 16 months old with partial horns and the wether is 6 months old.
How old should a wether be before he is put in with a buck for companionship? Our buck is 16 months old with partial horns and the wether is 6 months old.
Thank you. I will look into the panels and the electronet. We have to do something different. Thanks so much.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I keep my bucks in pens make of 54-inch tall livestock panels or use Electronet. Woven wire or strands of electric do not work with bucks. There is the rare yearling buck who can jump the livestock panels.
As for the horns, you need to get a vet to take care of it. You might wait until fall, because there will probably be blood, which will attract flies this time of year, and you don't want to deal with fly strike. That's just nasty!
Good luck!
Tammy said:
Our buck has escaped three times in two days. He always tends to come inside the barn loose. It is so frustrating. We thought our horse was helping him, but it didn't. We have electric wire on the second strand, but what he is doing is picking the lower fencing up and going under it. We have really pregnant female does and wonder if I need him at this time. I know this is not nice, but he is more aggressive with my husband the older he is getting. He also has 1/2 horns and need advice on how to get rid of them. Unfortunately, he had these horns when purchased. Our other Nigerian Dwarf goats do not and have been properly disbudded. Any advice?
I keep my bucks in pens make of 54-inch tall livestock panels or use Electronet. Woven wire or strands of electric do not work with bucks. There is the rare yearling buck who can jump the livestock panels.
As for the horns, you need to get a vet to take care of it. You might wait until fall, because there will probably be blood, which will attract flies this time of year, and you don't want to deal with fly strike. That's just nasty!
Good luck!
Tammy said:
Our buck has escaped three times in two days. He always tends to come inside the barn loose. It is so frustrating. We thought our horse was helping him, but it didn't. We have electric wire on the second strand, but what he is doing is picking the lower fencing up and going under it. We have really pregnant female does and wonder if I need him at this time. I know this is not nice, but he is more aggressive with my husband the older he is getting. He also has 1/2 horns and need advice on how to get rid of them. Unfortunately, he had these horns when purchased. Our other Nigerian Dwarf goats do not and have been properly disbudded. Any advice?
Our buck has escaped three times in two days. He always tends to come inside the barn loose. It is so frustrating. We thought our horse was helping him, but it didn't. We have electric wire on the second strand, but what he is doing is picking the lower fencing up and going under it. We have really pregnant female does and wonder if I need him at this time. I know this is not nice, but he is more aggressive with my husband the older he is getting. He also has 1/2 horns and need advice on how to get rid of them. Unfortunately, he had these horns when purchased. Our other Nigerian Dwarf goats do not and have been properly disbudded. Any advice?
I have used electric fencing for the last 12 years of raising goats. It is time consuming to run all those wires and mark them with white strips of cloth, but it can be moved and the wire can last for years. I would wind it up and move on to the next location. It give the land a rest where they were last fenced in. I first had a small area fenced in and test one goat at a time, they will gain respect for the fence and stay away. That way they did not spook the whole herd and run through the fence. One zap and they ran back into the barn and did not go near it again. Once the goats are trained they will stay away from the fence, as long as it is turned on! An old farmer told me the animals can smell when the fence is on. This year I had white electric rope left over from our horse experience and that is easier to see and I think it has helped. I also did not have to tie on the white strips of cloth. I did run 4 & 5 wires for my Nigerians and the fence is about 3.5 to 4 feet tall. This is the first year I have two bucks, one was born here in the spring and the other I bought at 3 months. They have both been sweeties so far, starting to smell like bucks now. I have them fenced right next to the does sharing 1/3 the little run in barn we built. At the front of the barn I ran a cattle panel a couple of inches right along side the electric fence, secured with metal posts so it will not ground out the electric. Those bucks have not tried to get near it once they were zapped a couple of times. I would like to get them into their own space though. That is the next building project.
I have used electric fencing for the last 12 years of raising goats. It is time consuming to run all those wires and mark them with white strips of cloth, but it can be moved and the wire can last for years. I would wind it up and move on to the next location. It give the land a rest where they were last fenced in. I first had a small area fenced in and test one goat at a time, they will gain respect for the fence and stay away. That way they did not spook the whole herd and run through the fence. One zap and they ran back into the barn and did not go near it again. Once the goats are trained they will stay away from the fence, as long as it is turned on! An old farmer told me the animals can smell when the fence is on. This year I had white electric rope left over from our horse experience and that is easier to see and I think it has helped. I also did not have to tie on the white strips of cloth. I did run 4 & 5 wires for my Nigerians and the fence is about 3.5 to 4 feet tall. This is the first year I have two bucks, one was born here in the spring and the other I bought at 3 months. They have both been sweeties so far, starting to smell like bucks now. I have them fenced right next to the does sharing 1/3 the little run in barn we built. At the front of the barn I ran a cattle panel a couple of inches right along side the electric fence, secured with metal posts so it will not ground out the electric. Those bucks have not tried to get near it once they were zapped a couple of times. I would like to get them into their own space though. That is the next building project.
Unless the scurs are sharp and pointy, it is probably not a problem. The reason your doe was butting heads with him was to show him that she is not interested. It's good that he backed down and didn't persist, so don't worry about him not looking interested. He should not be interested unless she is in heat. Otherwise, they'd be fighting all the time.
Tammy said:
I have a new buck that is around a year old. He has scours. The lady that I purchased him from said, that they will fall off after applying rubber bands to them. What is done when a buckling is wethered. Does anybody have any advise on what to do? We want to pen breed and our dominate doe started her head butting and he didn't back down to her. He head butted her back. Really afraid my does will get hurt, but the lady convinced me that they are completely saft. So please give me advise. Since, tonight is the first night we put him in a stall by himself. However, we have a wether that will be put with him after he has times with the does. Is a year old buck old enough to breed with my does? He didn't show much interest tonight.
Unless the scurs are sharp and pointy, it is probably not a problem. The reason your doe was butting heads with him was to show him that she is not interested. It's good that he backed down and didn't persist, so don't worry about him not looking interested. He should not be interested unless she is in heat. Otherwise, they'd be fighting all the time.
Tammy said:
I have a new buck that is around a year old. He has scours. The lady that I purchased him from said, that they will fall off after applying rubber bands to them. What is done when a buckling is wethered. Does anybody have any advise on what to do? We want to pen breed and our dominate doe started her head butting and he didn't back down to her. He head butted her back. Really afraid my does will get hurt, but the lady convinced me that they are completely saft. So please give me advise. Since, tonight is the first night we put him in a stall by himself. However, we have a wether that will be put with him after he has times with the does. Is a year old buck old enough to breed with my does? He didn't show much interest tonight.
Replies
Jane Wagman said:
Tammy said:
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
As for the horns, you need to get a vet to take care of it. You might wait until fall, because there will probably be blood, which will attract flies this time of year, and you don't want to deal with fly strike. That's just nasty!
Good luck!
Tammy said:
Susan Landoll said:
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Tammy said:
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