# Buck is driving me crazy



## Sage Albright (Oct 23, 2015)

hello! 

My buck is now almost 7 months old. He is starting more "buck behavior". Peeing all over himself, peeing on me, tongue flapping, stinking, head butting everything, and mounting me. 

Most of this I can deal with until he is castrated this winter. However, I can not deal with him mounting me. He was a bottle baby so he's always been very attached to us but this is is getting to be too much. I can't be anywhere near him because he just chases after me. He's also becoming more aggressive with our 5 month old buckling. He will not let me or the other bucking near the food when he is eating. If you get too close, he charges. Thank god he is dehorned. We only have him and the other buckling. Is there anything I can do to help him be less aggressive with me until we can get him fixed? My vet refuses to do it until January because he says doing it too soon can cause problems with the urethra later in life.


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## Goat Whisperer (Oct 23, 2015)

He needs to be taught respect. This should have been done since the day he was born. I have raised many bottle baby bucks, they are very sweet but I teach them to respect me.

Hopefully he is young enough you can get this out. During the first rut is when I really show them who is boss. They start a blubber I tip them on their side and hold them. Same goes with any bucky behavior towards people. I don't allow bucks to rub their heads on me to get me smelly either, that tends to lead to bad behavior. The bucks are still very sweet BUT they have manners. To many think one thing is good and friendly but once her grows up that isn't the case 

If flipping him doesn't work try a cattle prod. Sounds mean but its not going to damage him and gets the point across.


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## frustratedearthmother (Oct 23, 2015)

If he's 7 months old, peeing on himself, and in rut - he's old enough to castrate!  My vet says that when the testicles gain size that the urethra is growing too.  He feels that when you see major testicle growth it's safe to castrate.  In the case of my guys about 4 months is sufficient.


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## Sage Albright (Oct 23, 2015)

Thanks Goat Whisperer. I will try holding him on his side! Hopefully it works because I need to be able to go outside!

Frustratedearthmother - My vet doesn't think he has gained enough growth yet. They haven't changed much in size since we got him at 4 months old and they are still fairly small. He wants to make sure he doesn't do it too soon. I like that he's being cautious but with the buck's behavior, I'm ready to chop him myself. Hahah.


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## HomesteaderWife (Oct 23, 2015)

Very curious to see how this goes, especially with the advice given by Goat Whisperer. We don't have goats at the time, but want to get some again in the future once our cabin is built. I grew up with goats and our one billy goat was not terribly aggressive....BUT...I feel like that would be my luck somewhere in the future. Haha! I am interested in learning how to raise them and teach them to be respectful little guys


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## goatgurl (Oct 23, 2015)

is this goat just going to be a pet or is he going to be dinner?  I've been raising goats for a lot of years and have never had a vet or anyone say that 7 months is to early to castrate a buck.  if he is that much trouble now imagine what he'll be like in another 3 months.  bigger, stronger and hornier .   you can try the squirt bottle trick on him, get a squirt bottle that has a heavy stream adjustment on it, fill it with half water and half vinegar and when he heads toward you give him a loud aanntt and squirt him in the face.  yes the vinegar may sting his eyes but it won't do him any real harm.  it may take more than one squirt to do the trick then every time he starts to misbehave do the aanntt thing and squirt him.  he will learn to associate the aanntt verbal queue with the squirt and stop when he hears it.  good luck and please be careful, he could really hurt you at some point


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## Latestarter (Oct 23, 2015)

Reach underneath his chest and grab the opposite side front leg and pull it toward you while shoving hard. Once he's down, hold him there by weight on his neck until he submits. Be careful of flailing sharp hooves and horns if he has them.


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## Mini Horses (Oct 24, 2015)

If they have testicles they can be banded.   I used to do most of mine within a month of age.    Have let some get older, then you need a strong helper to hold them.  They holler like you wouldn't believe  (OK, I would too if it were me!) but, the immediate pain is short lived as it numbs.   Then, a few minutes suckling mom takes care of it.   Some tender for a few days but no real issues
seen.   I felt the younger were less affected by any discomfort, as it seemed to be short time for that.


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## Goat Whisperer (Oct 24, 2015)

I though waiting this long was a little odd too. But when it comes to strong willed vet it can be hard to change their mind.


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## Latestarter (Oct 24, 2015)

Might be hard to change their mind(s), but is _normally_ relatively easy to change vets... justsayin


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## Goat Whisperer (Oct 24, 2015)

I know, but finding a vet that will do caprines can be difficult for some. Thankfully we are lucky in that area!


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## bonbean01 (Oct 24, 2015)

That mounting is why I do not have goats or llamas....my brother does and his males pick me out to mount...all think it terribly funny, except me!  I say band him...he has to be old enough.


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## Baymule (Oct 25, 2015)

Dinner.


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## sadieml (Nov 2, 2015)

Our wether was banded at 8 weeks.  He has suffered no ill effects.  Just about everything I read said if you can feel the testicles have "dropped", i.e. there is a noticeable space between the body and the testes, the urethra should be fine.  With pygmies, which are potent any time after 6 weeks,  8 weeks is sufficient.  I can see no reason for waiting until they are 10 or 12 months.  They now snip cats (male and female) any time after 4 months.  Old enough to breed is old enough to fix.


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## Goat Whisperer (Nov 2, 2015)

bonbean01 said:


> That mounting is why I do not have goats or llamas....my brother does and his males pick me out to mount...all think it terribly funny, except me!  I say band him...he has to be old enough.


Many bucks don't do this. They need to be taught respect. Genetics do play a factor but a great deal of it is how you raise them. You could go in with our bucks here and not have any issues. (except 1, we got him at two years- I don't think boundaries were enforced in the manner that it should have been) Rams are what scare me, I have heard they can be pretty evil lil snots!


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## Latestarter (Nov 2, 2015)

They get pretty big too from what I've heard...


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## Goat Whisperer (Nov 2, 2015)

The buck that I'm having some issues with is 38+inches at the withers and is over 200lbs. He is long, TALL and has a very "dairy" appearance so not much muscle. I have no idea what he would weigh if he had the muscling of a meat goat! Thank goodness for hotwire, he can practically step over a 4ft fence   Sadly he will be leaving when we are done using him. Hoping he gives us some nice, well uddered daughters!


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## MMWB (Jan 22, 2016)

Be very no nonsense about disciplining him.  Tipping him will probably do it, though you will probably need to do it more than once.   I had a whether that was new to me who got me good with his horns the first week.  It startled me and without even thinking I just rabbit punched him in the muzzle (it is not my regular approach to discipline).  He blinked, stepped back and walked away. About a minute later he was gently nuzzling me for some affection, which he of course got.  He's never attempted to horn me in the year since.   Goats are one of the more intelligent prey animals.  This can work in our favor--if we are willing to train; or very much against us--if we aren't...

I bottle raised a buckling a couple of years ago.  He started getting bucky at 5 months, both in terms of behavior and smell.  We cut him then.  No need to wait.  Vets are generalists. They can't be experts on every animal.  At least not until they've been doing it a couple of decades.


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## MMWB (Jan 22, 2016)

On a more humorous note. We were looking for a buck to breed a couple of dairy does several years ago (about 14) and found one in the area. He was a monster of an alpine that stank to high heaven.  He was ill disciplined and a handful. I asked the guy what he wanted for a fee, he said there was no fee, just take it. I told him I'd bring him back in a week.  He said no, that I was welcome to take him, but then I could not bring him back.  Further conversation denoted that this buck had been passed around several times.   Hense the the term, "passing the buck."     He was an ornery critter and after the does were bred, we passed the buck unto another hapless goat raiser...

In hind sight, he would've made a great packer after being cut, if one could find a vet to do it on an adult goat.   A couple of months and he would've calmed and the lack of hormones would've cleared up the odor...


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