Buck and doe?

[MrsFarley]

I bought 2 does and a buck in July. They were 2 weeks old. I bottle fed them. They are so sweet. Today, I saw my buck butting a doe repeatedly in the side. I separated them and picked her up. I think she is pregnant. My husband does too. We have them separated tonight and he is trying to get through the fence.
I don’t know why we weren’t paying attention and separating them before. I guess bc they were cute. I’m worried now. She’s young. And why is he butting her so hard?

 

[lalabugs]

Welcome to byh.

What breed of goats are they?

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH from NE TX! So glad you joined us. There's a wealth of info, knowledge and experience shared in the multitude of threads. Browse around and see what interesting stuff you can find. By all means post away when the desire strikes you, especially if you have questions (provide as much detail/info as possible and pictures truly help)... With all the great folks here, generally someone will respond in no time at all. Please make yourself at home!

When in July did you get them (at 2 weeks of age)? What is their actual birth dates or as close as you can get? What breed are they? If they were born the very beginning of July, they could have possibly come into season from the beginning of September onwards. If they got impregnated the beginning of October then it is NOT too late to abort the pregnancy and potentially save the doeling's lives. I suggest you talk with a vet and see about getting lutalyse shots for each. www.harrisequinedvm.com/pdfs/goats/medications-2.pdf When you give the shot, they will come back into heat so be aware. They are really too young to be allowed to get pregnant. You need to keep the buck removed from them and if you do not intend to breed them down the road, you should get the buck castrated. Just a reminder, even after his balls are gone, he will still be locked and loaded for up to 6-8 weeks after... so they need to stay separated at least that long.

PLEASE put at least your general location in your profile. It could be very important if/when you ask for or offer help or advice. You know, climate issues and such. I recommend at least your state as most folks won't be able to figure out where if you put anything more specific (county, town, street, etc) by itself. Old folks like me will never remember from this post & look there first. To add it, mouse hover over Account top right and a drop down will appear. Click on Personal Details and scan down. You'll see the spot for Location. Then go to the bottom and save changes. Thanks! Hope you enjoy the site!

 

[MrsFarley]

Welcome to byh.

What breed of goats are they?

Nigerian Pygmy dwarf

 

[MrsFarley]

July 13 and July 22. The younger is actually a little larger, more solid than the older one.

 

[Southern by choice]

You need to get lutalyse from the vet and fast!
Way too young to be bred. Bucks & Does should not run together if they are Nigerian Dwarf. Males are fertile by 8 weeks and doelings can cycle anywhere from 9-12weeks.
He is probably rutting and is being a butthead.
Wether him. Once wethered, 6 weeks after he can live with the does again.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

You don't want to go through what i just went through with two ND that i bought at five months olld...unknowingly they were pregnant, lost one and her kid....and stressed for three more weeks to see if other doeling would make it. Happy to say we lucked out with the second one...they are on my avatar. ...wishing good luck to you and your goats....you came to the right site for experienced answers, i am so happy i listened to the advice i was given here....

 

[Latestarter]

One more important point... Nigerians are year round breeders... They come into heat every ~21 days and can be bred any month of the year. Just because the buck only goes into rut in the fall doesn't mean he isn't "paying attention" to the does. When they go into heat, he will try to breed them. I'm not certain, but believe pygmys can also be year round breeders...

 

[MrsFarley]

Thank you for all the advice. My husband will contact the vet tomorrow. He was under the impression they wouldn’t come into heat until 7-8 months. Oh, the learning curve. We are going to look for a whether to put with our buck as we would like to breed in the future.

 

[Latestarter]

You can make a smaller pen for the buck adjacent to the doe's pen. As long as they can see each other and "talk" they'll be fine. But I would recommend against using welded wire for the fencing as he will climb up it and they'll all rub on it and break the welds. I'd recommend a woven wire such as 2"x4" sheep & goat fencing or 2x4 no climb horse fence. I'd go with those dimensions as when you eventually do breed, the kids will be so small, they can go right through typical field fence with 4" x 4" or larger openings.If you wish to do a semi temporary enclosure for him you could also use cattle panels... They are very strong and since they're only 16' long, they are relatively easy to move when changes need to be made, and can be stored and re-used. Again, not ideal when you have kids as the openings are 4"x6" above the 1st 2 horizontal rows. You could use a sheep panel, but they are much more expensive.