Using Young Bucks

[Kare]

I was wondering if there is any reason to not use a young buck to breed a doe?  Will it hurt the buck?  Is there less chance of healthy kids being born?  Any reason not to do it?  If it is  not a good idea, what is the age that it is ok to use a buck?

 

I was hoping to use a local mature buck, but am having a hard time contacting his owner and I do have a 10 week old buckling...  but wanted to check first. =)  I have about 3 more weeks left to breed and then I have to wait until fall breeding.

[Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres]

I'm interested to see if the young buck I'll be breeding my FF (a 2010 summer baby) will settle her and be a success!! Here's hoping! Otherwise, we wait. The other buck I have access to is the sire of my FF so no breeding there.

[Deborah Niemann-Boehle]

Can't think of any reason not to use him. However, he may not be ready. Goats mount each other starting when they're a day or two old sometimes, but there is a big difference between that and breeding. Some lines seem to mature earlier than others. I had a couple of Rosasharn bucks that did not breed any does until they were seven months old. I was putting them with does a lot when they were six months, and they couldn't do it. It really messed up my breeding plans that year. I've heard a couple other people say that Rosasharn seems slow to mature. On the other hand, I've seen Jobi goats on milk test at 10 months of age, so I'm assuming the bucks would mature equally as young. In my herd, I've only seen one three-month-old doe in heat. Otherwise, I normally see spring does in heat in the fall. I have a buck that is 100% Jobi genetics for several generations, and he successfully bred a doe when he was five months old, but she didn't get pregnant. She did settle the next heat cycle with another buck, and the buck did settle several does when he was six months old.

[Adrienne]

I don't see any issue with breeding to a young buck, actually I have read that many prefer it this way. My first goats (bucklings) were ready for breeding around 3 months old. I was planning on using them until I realized the registrations did not match with my does. I sold them, and I recently received an email that one of them is a Dad now. :)