housing a buck

SiameseVA · #1 01/06/10, 10:10 AM

Would it be better to have the buck's pen adjacent to the doe's pen (sharing a fence line) or should it be far away?

luvzmybabz · #2 01/06/10, 10:19 AM

I have a portable Buck pen, about 20 of the 10foot long 6 ft high chainlink panels, so I can move it away during milk or move it closer still not right at the fence about 3 feet away during breeding season ( makes it much easier to spot heat (one of my many something new I learned this year). These panels are not cheap but I watch craigslist for them to pop up, they run about 60 dollars each at lowe's but you can move them fairly easily.

FarmerChick · #3 01/06/10, 10:31 AM

For me my buck runs with the herd.

But if you are controlling breedings to hit a certain time for kid sales, then you need to have just a reasonable pasture pen to keep him in while the does raise the kids for 2 month and right back in with the herd.

I give a few months of relief for the does to raise their kids, kids to become strong and right back in to breed.

adjacent is fine....it is best they see and smell and interact with the herd.
I just put mine in a small pasture for a few months and it ticks him off but he lives..HAHA

Wags · #4 01/06/10, 11:03 AM

Mine were adjacent to my herd, but since I built the new shed for the does, they are about 100 feet away. I have a couple of does that have silent heats and I miss having the bucks sharing a fence line. Also I never noticed the bucks odor affecting the milk taste.

Alice In TX/MO · #5 01/06/10, 11:19 AM

Mine are now adjacent to the doe pen. Makes it so much easier to tell.

HappyFarmer · #6 01/06/10, 11:34 AM

You'd need a good strong fence.

My boys get too stressed when next door to the does, not to mention the fighting. I tried it this year, one of them camped out alongside the fence from early August through late September, when I removed him because he was losing condition from not going out to graze. If you have but 1 buck I think it might be easier to manage with fewer worries.
HF

wintrrwolf · #7 01/06/10, 12:24 PM

Have 1 buck his pen is adjacent to the does. At first he was upset that I put him in there but he is still close enough to the girls he has adjusted well. Its nice now because my does are starting to smell normal again, and they seem less stressed than when he was with them all the time. I am going to keep it like this simply because I want to know exactly when my does are bred, no more of this guessing cr*p I got into when previous owners of my doe's said they thought they were bred but didn't see the deed done...

SiameseVA · #8 01/06/10, 10:23 PM

If I put him in an adjacent pen, should I still get a wether to keep him company? I hate to move him, because my does seem very happy since he's been in there, but I can't let them have babies whenever they want!

goatkid · #9 01/07/10, 10:28 AM

I do not house my bucks near the does. I don't want any oops breedings, nor do I want goats getting stuck in the fence. I house them quite a distance away. I watch for the does to cycle or will bring one of them to the outside of the doe pen to check for heats. Then, in early winter, I put a cleanup buck in the pen to breed the doelings and be sure all the milkers are actually bred. I always keep two or more bucks, but if I were to have only one, I'd get him a wether companion.

wintrrwolf · #10 01/08/10, 02:59 PM

Hmm havent needed a pen mate for my buck yet since he is nearby the does he doesn't feel lonely. Don't have room for a lot of goats so have to make use of what I got the best I can. In fact he seems to like it better now..he doesn't have to fight for his food but he still has company around. 2 acre 3 goat homesteader here...