To keep a buck or not?

kimmom · #1 04/12/10, 01:36 PM

We had a BEAUTIFUL little buckling born last week. We are now deciding if we should keep him as a buck or sell him or castrate and keep him as a pet. Our children do not want to sell him! We have 2 other non-related does that we want to breed to kid next Spring. So in the fall we will need a buck, wasn't sure if it would be better to just "Rent a Buck", I have heard it is really hard to catch the does in heat and I also don't want to introduce any disease into our herd! On another note we don't have a seperate shelter/barn for him, but would be able to fence an area for him but it would share a fence line with the does.

**mygoat** · #2 04/12/10, 01:49 PM

Depends on his quality, honestly. They'll all be cute when first born, but you need to look at their structure and production pedigree to make decisions on breeding stock. You can't keep 'em all, and the only ones you should keep intact and breeding are the ones you truly believe will improve your herd. Using outside bucks will allow you to incorporate different bloodlines/genetics that you admire, and also give you the chance of breeding to proven bucks and know their dam's production, etc. Of course, you'd want to test your does for diseases and only breed to tested bucks with clean herds.

If you do decide to keep him, you will want to make his pen like a state penitentiary - he will break the fence and get in with the girls, if he can - giving you unknown duedates, inbreeding to his sisters, or even breeding very young does that are very likely to die in kidding. Cattle panels work good. To catch does in heat, you can build the pen (still fully lined in cattle panels!) along a fenceline. Does in heat will flirt with him through the fence, so you can either put the doe in with him or cart her off to the buck of choice for breeding - I used to use my miniature buck as a 'teaser' through the fence, so I could cart my alpine does to the buck for breeding.

You could keep him as a wether, for your kids to show or to train to pull cart - which they can also compete in 4-h with. But keep in mind, a wether is essentially 'worthless' and will take up the space in the barn/pasture and take up the food that a productive doe could fill instead. This is something your daughters may need to learn - I usually eat my wethers around here.

. That being said, I have a big goofy 'worthless' wether who now has a yearly job pulling a ceremonial keg of bock beer into a dining hall... He's my buddy so I'm willing to put up with him and his antics and his worthlessness in exchange for his companionship.

shiandpete.1 · #3 04/12/10, 02:33 PM

Well put Mygoat! Another thing to look at us the udder quality of his dam if he is a dairy breed. If the dam does not have a quality udder, is not an easy milker, or a high producer then do you want to pass that on to his offspring. We kept 2 boys as bucks this year, we have sold one, we may keep the other and breed him to a couple of young does or if we can sell him he will go, but the only reason we are leaving him a buck is because of the bloodlines and all of the above reasons.

Heritagefarm · #4 04/12/10, 03:34 PM

Depends what you want to do, really. If you don't want to hassle with the buck, don't. If you're not breeding for profit, you could just do driveway breedings. But if you have a herd like us, you need your own buck - you cannot be driving around for 13 does! Does he have a good escutcheon, or do you not care about conformation and production? Like I said, depends entirely what is best for you in your situation. I can't see your farm.

Backfourty,MI. · #5 04/13/10, 05:27 AM

I like keeping my own buck around. I would definately keep him fenced seperately from the doe's, cattle panels for the fence line would work fine. Keep in mind though that most folks that keep a buck also keep a wether in with him for company. I think a lonely or bored goat can become a trouble maker.
I Love the wethers though, useless as they are. Most of the time they are the most lovable & sweet temperments so I can put up with them eating hay & pasture cause I just Love them.

Jay27 · #6 04/13/10, 09:04 AM

On the shared fenceline - my shared fenceline was plenty strong, but I got sick of touching my does and then smelling like buck.... PHEW! They would both rub on the fence / each other and that STANK would get on my does. We put up some galvanized sheet metal to solve that problem.

SueMc · #7 04/13/10, 09:14 AM

I agree with all here. We used to freshen 25-30 Nubians a year so kept bucks for our breeding program. If I only had a couple of does for milk (which is all I want now), I would not keep a buck. We did some AI at the time too and that is a good alternative if you have a large animal vet who will store the semen and perform the insemination.
We never kept a wether to adulthood so I don't know if one will act "bucky" (pee on his beard, ect) or not.

shiandpete.1 · #8 04/13/10, 09:31 AM

Our wether doesn't pee on himself but occasionally humps the air...at unoportune times no less...lol

ozark_jewels · #9 04/13/10, 10:20 AM

If you can find someone who will let you take your does to them to be bred, then you have the option of not keeping a buck. First make sure you can locate a person such as this who has a good quality buck, free of disease, and whom you feel you can trust. Ask if they will board your does for you or just do driveway breedings. You need both options open if you cannot tell when your doe is in heat.....which can be a real problem if you do not keep a buck. You can try a buck rag, but even then, sometimes its hard to know.

Driveway breedings are what I like to do, but I have some customers who do not have a buck and cannot tell when their does are in heat for sure. These ladies like me to board their does for them until bred. They supply all feed and hay, their does are kept in a separate pen from my herd, and I charge $1.00 a day per goat for their care.

If you cannot find someone to breed your does for you who is easy to work with(can you call them up out of the blue at 7:00 am or pm to say your doe is in heat, can you bring her over?), then I would say you should certainly look for a buck now. A lot of people make the mistake of waiting and looking for a breeding buck in the fall when they MUST have one......problem is, everyone else unprepared is also looking for one at the same time! Most breeders do not keep unreserved bucklings till fall, so the number of bucks available at that time is small. Spring is when a lot of breeders sell bucks they no longer need and there are always bucklings available. I get more calls for bucks in the fall.....and I never have any available.

Me personally, no matter if I only had a couple does, I would always want to keep my own buck. I just hate being at the mercy of someone elses schedule, and the does whims. And I have to admit, I love my big boys.

That beautiful buckling you have, would make a nice wether companion for a buck....??

shiandpete.1 · #10 04/13/10, 11:29 AM

We all love pictures Kim......hint hint...

billooo2 · #11 04/13/10, 12:05 PM

Breeding season is so much easier if you have a buck. I like to do pen breeding (just leaving the buck in the same pen with those does that I want bred to that particular buck).
Another option would be to lease a buck just for the breeding season.....that way you do not have to worry about taking care of him for the rest of the year.