Billy Goat Buck Behavior Normal?

[LamiPub]

Ok I have been researching and studying goats because I want to raise them for milk soon. Originally was thinking of having my own billy with the nannies because getting them bred from someone else just seemed too much hassle. Well the other day I was at mil and observing her billy and I think one female was in heat but penned away from him at the time, he kept urinating but he was DRINKING his own urine as it was coming out. Now I hope I don't sound too naive or rude for bringing it up but is this behavior normal?! If not why do they do that? If it is I am not sure I want to keep a billy around.

[Shazza]

They are the dirtiest male of any of the species I have ever had. You witnessed perfectly normal behaviour for a buck.

[LamiPub]

oh thanks...now i just gotta decide if it is worth it to keep a buck around

[Idahoe]

Shazza is right, that is normal behavior, but try to look at it from a goat's perspective . . . they urinate on their front legs, face, head and beard when they're in rut to enhance their already powerful buck miasma because the females love the way they smell. It brings them into heat all by itself. Like a handsome human dude that walks by wearing a cologne you find irresistable.

I have a dairy herd and just got my first buck on Monday. He is DEFINITELY 'all that'. His behavior is so different than the girls and wethers. I did go back and forth over the issue of whether or not dealing with an intact buck was 'worth it'. They must be penned separately, they may be aggressive and WILL be during rut with other bucks unless separated by more than a fence. And, of course, their rutting behaviors would embarrass Hugh Hefner not to mention the urine soaked front end plus their unique odor. Which can be smelled for quite a ways, gets in your clothes, car (ask me how I know) and all over your does if he's penned with them. And don't think you can avoid handling him and smelling just like him.

After a LOT of thought, I decided to go with having my own buck rather than bringing in a stud buck or taking the girls to a buck. Around here very few test for disease, and the extra this and that needed to house a buck seemed a better alternative. So I found a registered buck from a reputable ranch that maintains a disease free herd. To me it was much safer, but a lot of folks don't want to deal with a buck and go the other route. If you live in an area with serious goat breeders who keep disease free herds, you won't need a buck at all.

[Shazza]

The convenience of having your buck is worth the smell...its not gunna kill ya. Its not that bad...and his actions may be offensive every now and then but it so much easier having your own buck than running a doe to someone elses place.

[Jillis]

I tried not keeping a buck. It is much easier to have your own boy. Not only did my girls not get pg when I took them to get bred, they brought home a pnuemonia that spread through my whole herd. Never again.

They really only stink badly when one of the girls is in heat. When I smell buck, I check to see who is flagging (waving her tail in a come-hither manner) and hanging out at the fence.

We find the bucks in rut extremely amusing.

We have 3 boys. I meant to only have 2, a Nigie for my Nigie does, and a large dairy boy for the bigger girls. When I went to get my Alpine boy with the championship milking lines (mother milked 20 lbs a day at peak in her first freshening), I fell in love with this other little buckling---a gorgeous, perfect chamoisee with the sweetest eyes and personality. They threw him in for almost nothing, because they thought his dam was a little loopy, although she is a good milker. They didn't raise his dam, though, so I thought she might have been a little wild when they got her. I am so glad we got him, he is sooo sweet! And soooo pretty! He is one of the prettiest bucks I have. I was going to wait until next year and breed him to the big, dumb football player type (we named him Kronk) buck's babies. But I have a few exceptionally pretty does that I am going to breed him to in January.

I felt the same way at first---I didn't want a stinky buck around. But I am so glad I got my own boys. I don't have to drop my does off somewhere else for a month and not even know if they ever went into heat or got caught by the buck. This way, I can see (and sometimes hear!) when a doe goes in to heat and put her right with the buck I want to breed her to, watch it get done, repeat that night and sometimes the next morning, and then wait and see if she cycles again. I can write the date on a calander and be prepared at the right time.

Just wear clothes that are dedicated to the goat pen when doing your chores. And remember---when you have farm animals, there will always be a lot of smells the world at large finds unpleasant. I've come to like the smells of a well kept barn.

My advice: get a buck or two, or a buck and a companion wether. Bucks need company too! I don't think you'll regret it.

[MoBarger]

Ah but it gets better!

When you put your buck in with does, he'll drink their pee

And then grin about it for about 15 minutes!

And then come to you for some scritches! And rub his head and face all over your coat. Oh boy oh boy.

And you know what? You'll be grinning too. :baby04:

[Jillis]

That's funny, MoBarger! And so true!

My sons HATE to go into the buck pen. They are constantly saying, "Get away from me, you disgusting stinky buck!"

They just want a little patting, like they got when they were little and cute and didn't stink so much. The hurt, confused look on their faces makes me go, "Awwwwwwww! C'mere baby! Momma still loves you!"

[pourfolkes]

This is my first year of having a buck that went into rut. All I can say is this... the first time he curled his lip, I laughed so hard that it hurt. That made it worth it for me. They are so funny when they are in rut..oh the faces they make..... geez, what a guy will do.......

[ChickenMom]

I love my bucks and I have 4 of them. I really do need to get rid of a couple. Mine are precious even when they stink.

[Jillis]

What I found even more hilarious was my virgin does reaction to him when he stamped, snorted, "WHOAWHOAWHOOOOOED!" and charged the fence as they gingerly approached the fence to meet him. He did his rut dance, and then stood there with his eyes crossed and his tongue hanging out of his mouth sideways!

They had been slowly coming closer but when they got anywhere near he would do this and plunge his head through the fence.

They were like, "EWWWWWWWW!!!" as they recoiled and gathered in groups to stare in horrified fascination before drifting back once again, irresistably drawn in spite of their disgust and dismay...as are all we females to those pesky, nasty, disgusting males...


Reminded me very much of junior high, which is the comparable age of most of my goats and bucks...

[moosemaniac]

Originally Posted by Shazza

They are the dirtiest male of any of the species I have ever had.

You've never met my ex-husband!

Ruth

[jerzeygurl]

Originally Posted by MoBarger

Ah but it gets better!

When you put your buck in with does, he'll drink their pee

And then grin about it for about 15 minutes!

And then come to you for some scritches! And rub his head and face all over your coat. Oh boy oh boy.

And you know what? You'll be grinning too. :baby04:

yes they do put on a show worth the price of admission, the neck nibbling the lip curling, the vocals,

having a billy will get you out of having "the talk" lol (or bring it about sooner than you planned) cause they sure aint discrete.

[full sun]

Originally Posted by jerzeygurl

having a billy will get you out of having "the talk" lol (or bring it about sooner than you planned) cause they sure aint discrete.

That's funny--I brought my 5 year old with me to a driveway breeding thinking this same thought. But it was too much!! I think I will try again when she is 13 and scare about 5 more years into her.

I am so happy for all these animals around: It does make the facts of life so much easier to explain... Same with the issues of God, nature, birth and dying for that matter.

Jennifer

[moonspinner]

If you just have a couple does not worth it to keep a buck. But beyond that it can be a real hassle getting does bred. Particularly if you do a driveway breeding and then they come into a secondary heat a week later. Or if they don't take the first time. I have more of a problem with my bucks fighting during rut and chewing up the soil in their pens than I do with their bodily fluids. But this is with nigerians - I could understand with the bigger boys, bigger smells!

[Terre d'Esprit]

My buck-- a lovely, 8 month old boy in July:



My boy last week-- mid rut. : )

He stinks as badly as he looks! But we love him.

[lyceum]

We have like 8-10 bucks right now. They all pee all over themselves. Then want to love on you. It is getting better. They don't smell quite as bad anymore. It is very worth keeping bucks. So much easier to breed does if you already have a buck. None of our boys have been aggressive with us, just lovey.

Lyceum

[fishhead]

One of the funniest things I've ever seen was a ND buck trying to reach a doe in heat.

The gutteral sounds he made were straight out of a Star Wars movie. He kept running under a large buck to jam his head and neck through the fence. Another larger buck would bite his shoulder and off he'd run dragging the larger buck only to return 5 seconds later.

I really wish I could have captured that on video. I would have put it on Youtube.

[Jcran]

Originally Posted by Jillis

What I found even more hilarious was my virgin does reaction to him when he stamped, snorted, "WHOAWHOAWHOOOOOED!" and charged the fence as they gingerly approached the fence to meet him. He did his rut dance, and then stood there with his eyes crossed and his tongue hanging out of his mouth sideways!
They had been slowly coming closer but when they got anywhere near he would do this and plunge his head through the fence.
They were like, "EWWWWWWWW!!!" as they recoiled and gathered in groups to stare in horrified fascination before drifting back once again, irresistably drawn in spite of their disgust and dismay...as are all we females to those pesky, nasty, disgusting males...

Reminded me very much of junior high, which is the comparable age of most of my goats and bucks...

When my best friend (now a vet) and I would go out for a drink about 20 years and 100 pounds ago, we used to compare the guys in the bars with behavior of bucks-it's amazing what 4-H can do for a girl.

[topside1]

SOP (standard operating procedure)....Got to love um...