At what age is it normally safe..

[countrykids]

to put a buckling in the buck pen? We've only ever had one buck and he has a whether friend. We'll be acquiring a new little guy (about 10 weeks old) and I'm not sure if I need to buy a whether to put with him for awhile or not? I can put him in a pen adjacent to other goats so that he won't be totally alone until he's big enough to go in with the "guys". They're all ND's.
Thanks for your thoughts
Kim

 

[elevan]

It really depends on the attitude of the individuals involved. 3months (12weeks) would be a starting point in my mind but I'd do it in stages. Test them together for 15-30 minutes while I observe to see how they do (are the larger animals aggressive toward the smaller?). If the little guy is able to hold his own and the older boys aren't overly aggressive I'd go ahead...but it takes time to observe or knowledge of your animals and their attitudes to gauge when the time is right.

 

[ksalvagno]

I had a young male in with my boys. When they went into rut in July, he had to be removed. They were beating him up too bad. He is now in a pen with a wether. I will try again after everyone is out of rut. He was 6 months old when I put him in with the boys and 7 months old when I had to remove him.

 

[Livinwright Farm]

My boys get along great Marly is a little over a year old, HighNote is 3 months old, and Reuben & Benjamin are 2 roughly 2 months old.

Introductions were easier when there was plenty of hay and brush for Marly to chomp on... occassionally Marly will have enough of HighNote shoving his horn nubs right under Marly's jaw and will give him a quick hook and shove to the side, but nothing even close to hurting HighNote or the younger boys.

 

[countrykids]

OK - maybe we'll try it without a "friend" for awhile, and have him adjacent to the boys before a full intro. takes place. Thanks to everyone for the input. Will let you know how it goes.
Kim