# Just had a funny idea: wool "pants" for bucklings to prevent breeding!



## kristenm1975 (Dec 25, 2012)

I was just thinking, I knit and could easily custom make little modified wool diapers to cover up the little parts in order to keep a buckling from breeding before he's sent off to freezer camp. Our local butcher charges $90 per animal and I would hate to pay for that PLUS the cost of extra fencing just to get the guys up to a decent slaughter weight, if there was some other cheap way to avoid unintentional breedings.

Is this totally nuts (no pun intended) or have people been doing this for years??


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Dec 25, 2012)

I would feel bad for the buck. haha He doesn't know that something is in the way and then...well you get the idea.  bet that wouldn't feel to good.


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## WhiteMountainsRanch (Dec 25, 2012)

*Wait, how would they pee?*


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## Pearce Pastures (Dec 25, 2012)

I remember reading about something called an "olor" that is basically an apron that keep the buck from actually doing the deed.  If they are headed for the freezer though, seems  a $10 bander would be easier than having to make pants or aprons.  They will grow out just fine and no worries about breeding.


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## Pearce Pastures (Dec 25, 2012)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7648860.stm


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## Southern by choice (Dec 25, 2012)

It would not remove the instinctual breeding behaviors. I think my goats would chew it off in minutes. Considering what bucks do.... like pee in their mouth  it would be easy for them to chew off. 
Why not just castrate them so they don't end up with that intact buck taste that happens when you don't castrate. Around these parts no-one wants an intact buck for food.


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## Alice Acres (Dec 25, 2012)

WhiteMountainsRanch said:
			
		

> *Wait, how would they pee?*


That was my thought too - just from reading the title line!!


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## Southern by choice (Dec 25, 2012)

Pearce Pastures said:
			
		

> http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7648860.stm


Ok that is... cool? strange? both I think!


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## elevan (Dec 25, 2012)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> Pearce Pastures said:
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x2  I'd add interesting too.  I find it a little odd that something so simple would work with a determined buck.  :/  I guess you'd have to give it a try to find out though.


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## kristenm1975 (Dec 25, 2012)

I love the apron idea!! I'll have to research that more. On the other hand, if meat tastes off as a result of a buck being intact, it makes sense to castrate early. I have a sensitive animal-loving, non-farmer hubby who will likely have a fit if I suggest such a thing though, especially since I'm still trying to imagine how I'm going to smuggle loads of fresh goat meat into the freezer and simultaneously explain where the bucklings all went. 

As far as how the buckling would pee with his diaper on, he'd do it into the diaper and have it washed daily, just like with babies in cloth diapers.  Much easier to castrate, I agree.


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## elevan (Dec 25, 2012)

Taste is of course subjective.  Some cultures will eat only intact male goats.

I'd worry that the diaper would hold too much moisture in a sensitive area which could result in an infection.


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## cindyg (Dec 26, 2012)

I've done the "olor" and it works.  Only have one ND Buck, and made it very quickly, am working on another design now, so will post pics when it's ready.  It's just a barrier to keep them from actually penetrating the doe, doesn't stop them from mounting, stops a bit of the mess they make on their front legs and beard.


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## HB Sheep & Goat Farm (Dec 26, 2012)

If I were going to have him slaughtered, i would just castrate him.


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## SaanenMom (Jan 3, 2013)

Southern by choice said:
			
		

> It would not remove the instinctual breeding behaviors. I think my goats would chew it off in minutes. Considering what bucks do.... like pee in their mouth  it would be easy for them to chew off.
> Why not just castrate them so they don't end up with that intact buck taste that happens when you don't castrate. Around these parts no-one wants an intact buck for food.


Considering that I have butchered over a dozen intact AND in RUT bucks and NONE have a "buck" flavor to the meat, I wonder what is happening with yours. My husband was a beef boner for 16 yrs and a deer, antelope and elk hunter and he taught me to butcher goats. The main thing is to keep the peed on hair off the meat. I've even served the meat to company and no one realized it was goat meat, much less a buck. 

Here in south central ID, where I just found out the local college has brought in people from 27 different countries, most of those people want intact males. Now, I won't let an intact "meat" animal off the place, so they can either butcher on my place (cleaning up after themselves) or they hold the buck and I use a burdizzo on the cords. If they butcher in a day or two, they can still eat the nuts. I do realize that the bucks are still fertile for 2-3 weeks, but I find they don't want to breed for several days afterwards & usually they are butchered by then as most of these people live in the city...so can't keep a goat in their yard for long.
IDLaura


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## Stacykins (Jan 3, 2013)

kristenm1975 said:
			
		

> I love the apron idea!! I'll have to research that more. On the other hand, if meat tastes off as a result of a buck being intact, it makes sense to castrate early. I have a sensitive animal-loving, non-farmer hubby who will likely have a fit if I suggest such a thing though, especially since I'm still trying to imagine how I'm going to smuggle loads of fresh goat meat into the freezer and simultaneously explain where the bucklings all went.
> 
> As far as how the buckling would pee with his diaper on, he'd do it into the diaper and have it washed daily, just like with babies in cloth diapers.  Much easier to castrate, I agree.


Considering how much they urinate if they are drinking enough, it wouldn't work, I think. It would create an environment that screams infection. Urine may be sterile at first, but is an excellent medium for bacterial proliferation once it is out of the body. So the first time he urinates in the morning means he'd stew all day with a warm, moist bacterial breeding ground against his belly and genitals.



			
				SaanenMom said:
			
		

> Southern by choice said:
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Butchering an intact buck for eating isn't just about eating the testicles. An intact buck is 'unblemished'. The simple act of castrating is seen as damage to the goat. There are other reasons as well, I just forget them at the moment.


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