Hi all, I've been lurking here for several months. This forum has been hugely helpful as I plan for my NDGs.
So, I have finally reserved my two doelings and I have a buckling reserved as well. The girls were only born early this month but the buck is already 8 weeks old and weaned. The buck will be held for me until I can pick him up when the girls are ready to come home too. My question (first one!) is: can I put them all together for awhile until I can get another buck or a wether to keep Duke company? He will be almost 2 months older than the girls. I followed Deborah's advice and bought the best animals I could get (registered) but can't immediately afford another buck right now so I've been looking for an inexpensive wether to keep him company. About how long can I keep them together or will he drive the girls crazy right away?
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Thanks Juliana, for the clarification on the fences. I have 5 wire electric fence going around the 3/4 acre perimeter. Then I planned to have a 5 foot fence between the girls and the boys. But after reading the discussions I will have a small pasture between the two pasture areas (between the bucks and the does) and I could run an electric line down the bucks side as a deterrent and tie it back in to the perimeter. That small pasture could be used for breeding in the future.
Also, it's good to know I shouldn't be so freaked out about the polled to polled but I will avoid it anyway. If an accident happens, so be it. But I will make SURE no adolescent/teenagers get pregnant on my watch!
Juliana Goodwin said:
Wow, You are right! They do have a lot of moonspots! they have one Sr. doe that I really like a good bit too!
Margaret Langley said:
Juliana, are you talking about the warrior mountain farms website where Julia is getting her does?
I just wanted to tell you that I love the way you illustrated the fence explanation, Julia!
I agree with I think it was Margaret, I bought a buckling and a wether and we later sold the wether in favor of a second buck. Then you can keep/breed some daughters once you start.
That said, we were not prepared for having a buck and we too had a tragic accidental breeding. You may save yourself some heartache by learning from my mistake: we now use TWO fences between bucks and does if there are does too young to be bred. By that I mean, bucks----> fence --->empty pasture---->fence---->does.
For more info on when you have to worry about baby bucklings and doelings & accidental breedings, read the "bucklings and doelings" thread that we just had discussing that very topic.
Bucks can be a handful to keep away from the girls, I can't recommend enough investing in a powerful fence charger and stringing some mean hotwire at nose level inside the buck pen/pasture.
And finally, don't be too spooked by polled-polled breeding. It's not as likely to produce hermaphrodites as you might think and there are people doing it, including me. There is a yahoo group about polled genetics and you can read breeders' records of polled-polled breedings and what the outcomes were. The only thing I'm bummed about is my first polled-polled breeding produced a horned baby!
I looked at their website, never seen so many moon spots in one place!
Thank you all so much for your input! I did contact my buckling's breeder and she said today she has a friend who is a reputable breeder who has 2 bucklings he is bottle feeding that will be available. Don't know the prices or anything about them yet. The idea of getting a wether for the meantime has been my primary goal for the last few days and I will keep pursuing that idea if a buckling doesn't turn up who is a good fit for my herd and affordable. I like the idea of the Mountain State Fair (thank you Kailyn), and I will keep that in mind as well.
Thanks also for Lisa's comments-- I will definitely have 2 fences between the boys and the girls!
The breeder where my doelings are coming from is Warrior Mountain Farms: http://warriormtfarms.webs.com/ My doelings are listed on the kids page and for sale page. One of the sires is Kids Corral Phantom and the other is Cabin Creek Cloud Dancing.
Thanks again to all of you for your input. I'm SO excited about my new herd!
Something you'll need to consider with timing too, is that if you don't purchase a proven buck, (which usually means they are older) then you have to wait until they are old enough to breed. Neither of my boys were ready to make babies until they were over 6 months old. They went through the motions, and were interested, but they didn't make babies until much older. Depending on the age of your second buck, you may have to grow him up some before he's really ready to do the deed and get the job DONE. lol
See, the more info you can give us the more ideas we can help you come up with!
And you have gotten several really good things to think about thrown out here for you by all these girls.
Lisa, unfortunately had a really bad experience and it serves as a reminder to all of us that we have to be especially careful!
Lisa, there is a bad drawback to waiting to long to get bucks though, especially with her saying that most around her are not registered. It would be easy for time to fly by and be getting ready to breed and being stuck without a buck when you need it.
But the fact is that you could still get them through the early fall kiddings and them be old enough for next year! They are all adorable, Julia. Do you know a herd name for where they are coming from or the herd names for the lines they were bred off from?
Going to chime in here... Sometimes you can put a deposit on a goat and the owner will be willing to transport it to a show and you can pick it up there. For example, the Mountain State Fair in Fletcher in Sept (of course, it's 5.5 months away, but not sure how long you're willing to wait). You can contact a breeder further out if you're interested in something they have or might have and will be at the Mtn State Fair anyway. It's gets tricky with bucks/bucklings, but if you can meet them there the first day it would work better. If you want, I can give you a list of breeders I know are going and you can check out their websites. Just a suggestion I thought might help out a little.
My doe was bred at 7 month and we lost her this spring. It was an accidental breeding and we really didnt know it had happened. I learned the hard way and will never keep bucks with does past the buck turning 8 weeks. You can't watch them 24-7 and you just never know. It only takes once and the outcome can be devastating!
Maybe you could see if the breeder could hold your buck for you until you are able to bring home a second boy for him? Also, your girls wont be ready to breed for at least a year, so you could always hold off on getting a buck right off the bat if you cant find two. If you have already committed and your heart and maybe money is invested it might be a hard decision to consider backing out form the buck - but I think doing it right the first time is important. Two unrelated bucks with good genes are definitely worth the investment in the long run.
When we brought our boys home their barn was not finished so they were in a temp. enclosure divided by only one fence from the girls- which is how they broke into the girls yard and impregnated my doeling. I think if you have a reasonable breeder she may be willing to hold him for you while you save for a second buck, or sell you a second boy as a pal for him.
Rachel's idea is great. If you cannot afford a buck - get even an unregistered pet weather to keep him company. You can always sell him off with a weather out of your does down the road - but I think he should really have a companion and good housing with two fences between him and the girls from 8 weeks onward.
Good luck and have fun with your new goats! They look adorable!
Did you see my idea about a wether for a companion, and then selling him as a set with one of your own from a breeding down the road?
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