Buck services

[Griffin's Ark]

I just had to sneak in on this one... A lot of people in our area get a buck in July and get rid of it in November. That is normally the guys doing Meat goats. Then you have idiots like me who have more bucks than they know what to do with cause I don't want to sell them to just anyone. I am not allowed within 10 feet of DW after morning rounds. Bottle fed bucks just love to rub up on you. It is quite a smell. I would not worry about having a small breed buck offending the neighbors, they are not nearly as smelly as a large breed. Also if you keep bucks only during rut and you keep yearlings the smell is even less. A mature (3 yr) buck is pretty much unapproachable from August to December. Getting 2 bucks for that price is OK, but you only need one.

Chris

 

[ksalvagno]

Well, see that is my problem. I can't buy a male and then sell it in 2-4 months. I'm just not at that point. Maybe someday but not right now. Also the person who wants to sell me these goats contacted me because she wants them to go to a "good" home because these boys have a special place in her heart. So in good conscience, I could never buy them and then sell them fast. Just from the pictures and his bloodlines, the one buck looks like a really nice one. The other one I'm not sure. The owner wants them to go together because they are buddies. For the price, I wouldn't feel bad about wethering the one. They are young but I'm not sure of their age. I know they were born some time in the spring. I'm going to see them next week.

At this point I'm leaning toward going ahead and getting a buck to use instead of finding outside breedings. I'm worried about what I could bring home but I also don't want to spend a lot of time trying to figure out cycles and getting the does over to the farms. One of the farms that is a clean farm and willing to do outside services is 2 hours away and I don't want to be making a lot of those trips. The people that I have talked to that are clean farms and willing to do outside breedings to other clean farms only want to do driveby breedings where my doe doesn't even come into their barn. So this would be a breed and go home thing. If they don't get pregnant on that try or if I goof up on signs that she is ready when she isn't, then I'm looking at watching the female and driving back over.

I can make the space for the bucks. It was just another thing to add to the list of jobs that have to be done this fall so there lies the hesitation. We already have fenced in pasture for our current goats and I'm still working on painting our chicken shed to get the chickens out of our garage. Not to mention the normal fall activities to get ready for winter. Plus I birth alpacas for a living and still have to watch for crias being born. Not a huge deal but some days I'm feeling overwhelmed with adding chickens and goats and a garden this year. My brain is on overload with having to learn so much.

 

[kimmyh]

I don't think there is any reason to buy a buck, and then ship him off like taking out the trash, so for me, you need at least 6 does before you buy a buck, and then you really need two bucks, one for this year, and a second one for next year. With two bucks you can go on for quite a few years, but that's just me. I love my goats, bucks and does, and hate to see the bucks have a horrible life, just to make things easier for a small time breeder.

 

[broke down ranch]

If you don't want to deal with having 2 bucks (as is my case) have a wether to keep in the billy pen so your main man will have company during off-season....

 

[cmjust0]

Why must a buck be shipped off "like taking out the trash?"

When we sold our last buck, he went to a very nice man with a small herd of clean, happy, healthy Nubian does. We were happy to see him to go to a good home...the buyer was happy with his new buck...the buck was happy to have ladies...the ladies were happy to have a buck.

I really liked and cared well for that buck, and saw him off as well as anybody could..

What's wrong with that, if anything at all?

 

[kimmyh]

Goats are creatures of habit, they hate a change in their routine, and every home change is hard on them. I'm not saying you sent your buck out like the trash, I'm saying there is no reason for anyone to have a buck who doesn't have at least 6 does. Think about it, biosecurity is not possible when you have a new animal coming in each year. A driveway breeding is a minor risk, and recent testing should be required on both the buck and the doe. There is a lot less risk in a 60 second breeding than a 5-12 months of having a new goat on site.

Having a wether for company is great, but unless you plan to breed daughters to their father, you are done with the buck after one breeding season. So he doesn't get to have a loving home, he get shipped down the road to a good/or not so good home.

 

[ksalvagno]

I think everyone has to do what is right for their farm. I really think that anyone who bothers to be on a forum on a regular basis and contributes and learns from others is more than likely someone who is taking very good care of their animals. Unfortunately, there are plenty out there who aren't but certainly that isn't everyone. We have a livestock auction place close by and all you have to do is go there and see the shape that most of the animals are in to know that there are bad breeders out there. That being said, I have visited a lot of great goat breeders who have very clean farms, all their animals look very healthy and most even test their animals every year for the common diseases.

It comes down to personal choice. I will have 5 does to breed next year. I'm being offered a couple of bucks at a very good price. I'm new to all of this and don't have the experience of breeding goats. I don't have tons of time to be driving around for breedings and don't think I want to leave my does at someone's farm no matter how clean and disease free. Plus I do need to keep costs down while still breeding to quality males.

Also, no one seems to have a buck service price so I don't even know what people are going to charge and if they even guarantee a pregnancy. In the alpaca world we get a live birth guarantee but that doesn't seem to be the case in the goat world. So I'm sort of under the impression that outside breedings don't happen as often for goats as they do for alpacas. Which makes me want to lean more towards getting my own buck. For this year, the 3 does that I bought will be bred before I bring them home. So this year is taken care of. It is next year that I will have 5 does to breed in the fall.

 

[cmjust0]

So, just out of curiosity...why is 6 your magic number?

 

[kimmyh]

Ya know in horses they do a live foal guarantee too. But in goats it is a little trickier. I used to guarantee live babies, but soon found out it is not possible to control how a doe is cared for during her pregnancy, or to even know if she has has a hard delivery prior to breeding. Scar tissue is a huge issue in does, and having a doe back every 18-23 days for a breeding only to discover she had lived with a couple of bucks for years, and never conceived, tends to sour a person. People get three tries with my bucks, after that, they pay another breeding fee and we try again. Since I instituted that policy I have not had a single doe fail to conceive.

The magic 6 number is based upon the cost of a good buck, and feeding him for a year. It is usually cheaper, and easier on people starting out to go to that top buck, that one someone else has spent a fortune on showing and promoting, than it is to try to start from the bottom up. That winning buck makes your babies worth more money, and you didn't have to invest in the equipment and expense of promoting him.

 

[broke down ranch]

Goats are creatures of habit, they hate a change in their routine, and every home change is hard on them. I'm not saying you sent your buck out like the trash, I'm saying there is no reason for anyone to have a buck who doesn't have at least 6 does. Think about it, biosecurity is not possible when you have a new animal coming in each year. A driveway breeding is a minor risk, and recent testing should be required on both the buck and the doe. There is a lot less risk in a 60 second breeding than a 5-12 months of having a new goat on site.

Having a wether for company is great, but unless you plan to breed daughters to their father, you are done with the buck after one breeding season. So he doesn't get to have a loving home, he get shipped down the road to a good/or not so good home.

I do not plan on keeping the offspring. I let the girls get pregnant for one reason - milk production. If the time comes I need to replace one of my other girls then I will buy another one that is unrelated.

And not to open a whole 'nuther can of worms but this is seriously something I don't know - is there such a thing as line-breeding in goats like there is in horses, dogs, chickens, etc, etc...?