Recommendations for Buck Housing

Filas are Prima · #1 09/06/08, 09:49 AM

I would like all your opinions and suggestions on housing a buck.
I do not want him with the does, just nearby them for the feeling of companionship.
Does he need a companion wether?
What ammount of space will be enough, year round?
Will I be able to turn him out in the field with the horses? Or, if I do, will he push the fences trying to get in with the does? (after they are bred)
I want to create a happy, safe, environment for him, as he sure is nice to keep for stud duty again next year.

Leo · #2 09/06/08, 05:58 PM

I don't know what area your in so I can't give any recommendations on space, as that depends on how lush your area is.

My bucks don't try my fences, if you raise them right, it's as if they just don't know that they can climb that fence. And it certainly helps if a tree falls on the fence, and your boy is just standing there waiting for you to fix the fence.

And they do need companionship, I don't know about large breed horses, but we had a donkey(our landlord's) with our bucks, he was mean and dangerous. I just recommend a wether or animal of similar size like a sheep, or maybe a mini horse. So if someone gets rough, no one gets hurt.

For shelter a nice shed(I made mine about the size of a van to fit two bucks) with a ramp to the roof so they can play and check out the view. Also with a narrow opening( about 2-3ft. wide) on the far end, so the boys would stay dry during hurricane season.

Karenrbw · #3 09/06/08, 07:36 PM

Our buck is in a pen right next to the does. He doesn't work too hard to get to them. They have access to pastures up to 1/4 of a mile away and so we kept a wether for him for company. We also keep the horse in with the boys through the winter. This doesn't cause a problem for us - she doesn't mind them and they don't mind her. We had a 2 year old a couple of years ago that would pick the goats up by the nape of the neck and toss them. We had them sharing a stall that was about 14' by 14'. To make sure the boys had their own hay, grain, we put a panel up in one corner of the barn that the horse couldn't get past. We fed the boys in there and hayed them in there so she wouldn't eat their food. It also ensured they had a private area away from the horse. The buck and the weather have a pasture that is a little larger than an acre. They are hayed in the winter and we put the young bucklings in there in the late summer to wean them.

Feathers-N-Fur · #4 09/07/08, 12:51 AM

I keep 2 bucks and 2 wethers in a pasture with our one horse. They only push on the fence, trying to get to the does, when they are in rut and the does just love to tease them. The rest of the year we have no problem. The goats and horse have become good friends, even though the horse had never seen goats in his 23 years before coming here. Yesterday my daughter was riding around in the pasture and the little pygmy wether was following, yelling like he wanted us to rescue the horse.

manygoatsnmore · #5 09/07/08, 04:43 AM

Our horse shares pasture space with the bucks, too. I know that some thoroughbred breeders used to keep a goat with a horse for companionship (for the horse, although I'm sure it worked both ways). The horse is a lot harder on the fences than the bucks have ever been. When we had a bad patch in the fence from the horses pushing on it, the boys stayed in, even with the lush browse on the outside of the pasture. Wish my DOES would stay in that well!

Shazza · #6 09/07/08, 06:09 AM

I have 3 bucks that live with the Dexters....in about a 15 acre paddock....they never touch the fences...I have one strand of electric wire at Dexter nose height all the way around the paddock. They are fed every morning and night oaten hay with the cows..well fed animals are happy animals...even in rut the boys didnt try and escape. They use the shelter shed that the cows dont use.

Patty0315 · #7 09/07/08, 02:10 PM

I am in Northern New York my boys have a calf hutch shelter. They have 4 16 foot cattle panels for an area.

Patty

Filas are Prima · #8 09/07/08, 04:16 PM

Thanks for sharing all your methods.
If anyone has any more, I'd sure like to hear them, too.

Do the bucks seem happiest with room to roam? Or, do they seem just as content with smaller worlds, as the 4 cattle panels?

delphinium · #9 09/07/08, 04:41 PM

My bucks are in a pen of cattle panels (4 right now, but usually 6) with a hoop shelter made with another panel and covered by a tarp. Works really well, doesn't look great, though. On really cold or snowy days I make a 3/4 high wall of straw bales held in place by fencing and posts ... really keeps them cozy. And I have a dog-igloo-style-house in with them but they seem to use it more as a toy.

My does use big cedar doghouses that are big enough to hold 4 nigies with room to spare. Their pen is made of cattle panels, too.

RiverPines · #10 09/07/08, 06:49 PM

What breed?
I cant see even one full sized buck in only 4 cattle panels!
A mini, maybe, but not a full sized breed.
Goats need exercise just like all animals.

I have had one buck alone. With the buck pen being next to the does, he was fine and not alone with all the girls teasing him by the fence.

Remember they can breed through fencing!!
We build pallet fencing in between the bucks and does pen so that doesnt happen.

Filas are Prima · #11 09/08/08, 07:46 AM

This fellow is a huge Boer, maybe way over 300#, but I'm only guesing weight.
He's a lot bigger than a mini horse, anyway.
My main concern is that he remain tranquill and content in his houseing. I sure don't want him getting cranked when I take his wives for milking. I want to avoid situations that will get him brooding his angst in my direction. My set up is adaptable, and I'm in the figureing and rearraingeing stages before I bring him home. You've all given great input, thanks!

Cara · #12 09/08/08, 09:14 AM

Some of it depends on the buck and some on the season.

The buck I have right now wants to be in a pen where he can see the girls all the time. He is happiest in the buck pen that shares a fence with them. The one that is leaving my friend's place is a complete idiot if he's near the girls at all. If he is in the pen that only shares a fence with the other buck, he is docile and fine. If they switch he becomes feisty and nearly unmanageable.

Also when they are in rut, they need to be very near or their singing/crying/mooning will make you pull your hair out. Or they need to be where they can't see or smell a doe.

One more thing, and this from experience, the pen furthest from the house is best, though on a still morning you can smell Mr. from almost every corner of our 53 acres.