Where do you house your bucks?

[smilesx4]

So I have just about bought my first buck for my ladies, luckily the fella I am purchasing from is willing to hold until August when I am ready. He told me to just house him in a cow hutch (or the like) with his own area to graze in. I have a few questions...

1. how do all of you house your bucks?
2. will he be more determined to escape than a doe?
3. I thought goats were herd animals, can I house him alone?
4. how close should I have him to the barn where the girls are?
5. will my girls try to get to him?
6. can I leave him out in the hutch all winter?

sorry so many questions, but I hate to go into any new venture without some idea of what I am doing!

[nehimama]

A calf hutch is fine for housing. With lots of bedding, it should be fine in winter as well. He needs a companion! A wether or a second(!) buck. I found myself very fortunate in that I have a second barn, several hundred yards away from the main barn. The bucks are housed in the second barn with plenty of pasture. They are content there, and do not try to escape.

[Alice In TX/MO]

We are here to answer questions.

1. how do all of you house your bucks?
My bucks have a fortress made of corral panels lined with cattle panels. There's an old chicken house (large) inside that for shelter.
2. will he be more determined to escape than a doe?
During rut and when the does are in heat, they are all determined. Bucks are bigger and stronger.
3. I thought goats were herd animals, can I house him alone?
He needs a wether or another buck with him. They will be mounting each other in dominance displays regularly. It doesn't mean they go both ways.
4. how close should I have him to the barn where the girls are?
At least two fences between. I've had through the fence breedings when there was only one net wire fence between.
5. will my girls try to get to him?
Yes. I had a doe OPEN THE GATE to let him out.
6. can I leave him out in the hutch all winter?
Depends. If he has a buddy, plenty to eat, and deep bedding, he ought to be ok.

[Cyngbaeld]

I had a doe that climbed a fence to get to the buck. Two fences with hot wire on the inside of each fence so nobody starts climbing.

[hiddensprings]

I have two bucks that have a small pasture with a shelter my hubby built.There is another pasture between them and where the girls are. They have only gotten out once but that was when I let them in the another pasture that was close to the girls. My bucks are wild as sin for the most part. They work 60 days a year and then lay around the rest of the time.

[Awnry Abe]

Just so you know, I went through a similar process. The best lesson I learned was to keep my fencing options "footloose and fancy-free". I have re-configured pens a couple of times. I love cattle panels....

Originally Posted by smilesx4

So I have just about bought my first buck for my ladies, luckily the fella I am purchasing from is willing to hold until August when I am ready. He told me to just house him in a cow hutch (or the like) with his own area to graze in. I have a few questions...

1. how do all of you house your bucks?

In a small 3-foot high A-frame goat-sized shack made in an afternoon from repurposed construction lumber and and barn tin. (Inspired by Alice, by the way...)


2. will he be more determined to escape than a doe?

No. They are equally determined to escape based on goat-minded motivations. Run your does low on food in a dry-lot and watch the escapes...Bucks are more able to bust through, things, though--but are less able to go under things. Build your fences accordingly.


3. I thought goats were herd animals, can I house him alone?

I am in the dissenting opinion, here. Yes, you can house him alone, most likely, depending on your pens. You don't need to give him a companion, if it cramps his living quarters. However, you can't have him in total isolation. I keep my buck in a pen adjacent to the herd. He gets his social fix a few times a day and doesn't seem to need a shrink. At the moment, though, he has a couple of bucklings in with him, so all is completely peachy. I guess what I am saying is if you have a wether, and the living arrangements work out, by all means use him for buck companionship and "practice". But don't go through with the added expense of buying/raising and carrying one just for buck companionship, --if your pens are in very near proximity.

4. how close should I have him to the barn where the girls are?

My opinion is directly adjacent to the girl's pen. It will make chore-time and other management tasks more convenient. You'll be less apt to overlook an issue if he is nearer. This arrangement definitely makes breeding easy. I have a gate between the two pens. In the fall when I see one of the girls wagging her tail through the fence, I just direct her to the gate and toss her in for an hour or so.

5. will my girls try to get to him?

Yes, when properly motivated (in heat). As stated above, the motivation works for your advantage. You definitely don't want the fence between these two pens to be your weak link, though.

6. can I leave him out in the hutch all winter?

Yes. They can deal with the extremes. Deep bed is nice. Face it south. If you can get his drinking water temp up into the mid-40s or better, he'll love you even more.

sorry so many questions, but I hate to go into any new venture without some idea of what I am doing!

[Squeaky McMurdo]

I house my buck in a dog house in a cattle panel pen next to my does. The side that adjoins their pens is lined with 1/4 inch hardware cloth. If he can get his business through that I will be thoroughly impressed. LOL

He is housed alone. He used to share with a doe that wouldn't get pregnant but I sold her. He may end up with a friend since my husband is getting fond of one of the Pygmy wethers I brought home intending to eat.

[Backfourty,MI.]

My buck pen/pasture is about 50 yards from my does' & the barn.
We built them a nice big house & use plenty of bedding in the winter.
They have a lot of woods & pretty big pasture area. I have 2 wethers & 2 bucks together & no one has ever tried to escape yet.

[smilesx4]

Oh my goodness, I think it was easier getting set up for my girls than it may be getting set up for my boy, 'er I mean boys. Lots to think about before I make the leap on this one.

thanks so much for all the great advice!!!

[dozedotz]

Yep! Our boys are in a 100 x 100 paddock with their own shelter built with painted plywood walls and a sheet roofing. They have a 2 acre area adjacent to their "home" for browse. The very good fencing is 5' tall and about 100 yards from the girls' area. Noble (one of the bucks) went over TWO of those fences to get to a girl that we were "saving" for later breeding. Doug now owns one of the twin does she kidded after this event! Trust me when I say that bucks are actually able to FLY when they feel the need...

[togg75]

Get two bucks that both cover different trait sets...