The New Goat Times - Bucks

When fall comes on down the road, and you got some randy does on your hands, there is only one cure for the 'buck fever'. A stinky, horny, nasty ol' Buck-a-roo. 

Breeding season is a fun time on the farm. It means the coming of little lovely goat babes, it means the entertaining display of goat courtship, it means getting dry humped while trying to change the water bucket of a reeking doe-crazed man-goat.

Here are some things to be considering when thinking about the different ways to get your does impregnated!

Plan ahead when breeding your does

• If you are planning on selling the spring kids consider these different options. 
• Pure-bred and papered - This is an huge advantage when selling kids in the spring, people trust papered goats more than non, and will pay a lot more for them. That is definitely merited, but the best thing someone can do to insure they are getting a quality animal is visit the breeder and ask the right questions. 
• Pure-bred and not papered -  These animals are sold at a much lower price, and tend to be kids that don't meet breed standards or are from a breeder who does not take part in the American Dairy Goat Association. They are sold at a moderate price and tend to be just as easy to sell as papered.
• Mutt - This kind of kid is going to be the hardest to sell to a good home and will have to be sold at a discounted price. Cross breeding genetics can be a great way to diversify your gene pool, but you have to understand that along with incorporating good traits, you can create bad ones as well. You should be prepared to have all kinds of results.

Choosing a buck is very important - Own your own or get a loan?


There is an old goat husbandry saying that goes "The buck is half your herd" - which is so very true, not only in terms of genetics, but also in regard to responsibility. Bucks require an entirely different management, so to some it is not worth the infrastructural costs and smells to own your own. Yet, owning your own offers many advantages and security in breeding success.

Zeus is our La Mancha buck

• Owning your own buck
• Investing in a quality animal is essential, and a healthy pure-bred buck can cost anywhere from 300$ and up. Pure breeds are not a must, but more reliably healthy. If you choose to go with non-pure bred animal make sure you know and trust the breeder. Before you purchase an animal go to the farm and meet with the breeder and the buck you wish to buy. When you meet the buck look for these qualities.
• Sturdy legs and walk, no limping, no swelling in the knees or ankles
• Friendly temperament, no aggressive reactions to your presence  
• Healthy coat with no lice or mites
• Run your hands over his body and make sure he has no lumps on his neck, around his head, or under body
• Clear eyes with no discharge
• Penning up a buck can be tricky, especially when he goes into what we call 'rut'. Or in other words 'horny goat mode'. The fence should be able to hold up to lots of standing on and be at least 4 ft tall. However, our little Nigerian buck that comes up to my knee is able to easily clear a 4ft fence when he has the urge to find the ladies. SO, some fellas need a 5-6 ft. fence! 
• When a buck is in rut they get very very stinky from peeing on their face and legs constantly. Housing them away from your home is a good idea. Just keep in mind that the stinkier the buck the more the ladies love them.
• Feeding a buck is much easier than feeding a doe and they can be very useful for clearing brush and dreaded poison oak. You do not need to feed your bucks grain, they don't need it and too much in some cases can be fatal. A quality mold free grass hay and forage will suffice. Feeding them a ration of alfalfa can boost their testosterone as well, which is useful during breeding season. 
• Loaning/renting a buck 
• This is a great option - however - it is very hard to find quality bucks on loan, there are all kinds of diseases that goats pass on to each other, and a lot of quality breeders do not want to risk infecting one of their animals and bringing it back to their herd after the loan is over.
• If you find a buck to loan or rent you usually pay for a month or two of time to have the bucks live at your farm. This is useful for spurring the does into their heat cycles as well as being able to easily detect when they are ready for breeding. You also then don't have to house and feed the buck for the other 10 months of the year when they aren't "needed".
• Then once the signs of heat are obvious, you can just put them in a pen together and watch the magic happen. 
• Some choose to house the buck with the females, not separately. there are many disadvantages to this in opposed to the convenient benefits.
• The bucks can be relatively aggressive and some people believe they can cause aborted pregnancies with their constant butting. 
• If you're still milking your does, the odor of a buck in rut can taint the taste of the milk and make it very "goaty".
• You cannot tell when exactly they breed, thus planning for kidding in the spring tends to be a surprise, in stead of an expectation. 
• If you have more than one buck, you cannot selectively breed them with the does you wish to see them with.
• Find a breeder in your area that you have visited and trust. Inquire with them if they rent bucks - if they do not - sometimes they allow on-site breeding.
• On-site breeding is another option that people without a buck on their farm choose. If you only have a few does this can be the best option. But, you end up with the least likely possibility that they will get pregnant. 

Thor the Nigerian Dwarf buck contemplating jumping the fence.

That is a preliminary run-down of some things to consider when it comes to owning and utilizing bucks for breeding your milk goats. There is much more information available out it the internet ethos, so don't stop here and any questions or comments are welcome!