Keeping a Breeding Buck Mannerly and Compliant

[bbredmom]

A halter does make a world of difference. We put them on all the goats, but especially the boys. It gives us something to grab onto.

We also put pipe across their horns starting about 6 mos when the aggressiveness can kick in. We leave the horns on our goats, and more than once when Zeus was trying to establish dominance over my husband, those horns came in handy as a way to lay him down and settle him.

We never strike or whip our goats, but we don't coddle zeus's bad behavior. He has had his nose nipped and beard tugged. But at two years old, he is the sweetest, most gentle buck.

We also use olors on our bucks, so they can stay with the entire herd. Zeus (and his daddy before him) are so incredibly gentle with the babies, and I have to think that is because they know them from almost a week old.

 

[allanimals21]

I also have a yearing buck, mounting is something to definintely watch for. I missed the early signs(following me with head cocked to the side, tongue out, snorting and snuffing). This was his first breeding season, and he was quite excited about it. Well I was bent down clipping hooves on Willow(my quiet goat) and Bob Marley made his move, before I knew what was happening, I was half under Willow with a buck on my back....go ahead laugh....

Well I quickly got up and stared him straight in the eyes and made a BBBBRRRAAWWWW noise(similar to what my herd queen does to him, he lit out in the opposite direction...right into the herd queen, who quickly picked up where I left off and broadsided him...

From that day on, he has remained a nice sweet lovable buck, but never again did he try any funny business with me.

So I've lucked out so far with the 2 bucks I have owned. The first one who passed was the sweetest thing ever. He never acted bucky at all. Not even with the girls. He was a dream. The new buck Gauge so far so good. He was a head case the first few days to a week he was here and I was worried. Screaming and running everywhere he could to get away from me. Now at about 6 months old I can touch him anywhere, open his mouth, pick up his feet anything. He yells for me when I'm outside and follows me like a puppy. I'm worried he could be a potential problem when he is older...

Anyways the issue I wanted to bring up is my bottle baby alpine wether has recently started the same behaviors listed above. He has never mounted me. He has my sister. LOL ok not funny sorry, Anyways he was wethered at...I'm think 4-6 weeks? I can't remember but it was done young. He has never acted "bucky". I've noticed I guess that it started after I brought more goats into the picture. I noticed it seemed to happen when he realized I was approaching a buck we had bought at the time. This buck was a horrible horrible buck. He had attacked me a few times to where he had to be pulled off of me. The alpine wether witnessed the worst of the attacks and I thought maybe his behavior was him trying to keep me from this other buck. Well we have since sold that buck and I've noticed this behavior a few times again. I'm pretty quick at catching it and stopping it on the spot. However he did catch me off guard the other day and got me in the back with his front hooves. Any ideas what this could be about?

 

[CTChick]

We also use olors on our bucks, so they can stay with the entire herd. Zeus (and his daddy before him) are so incredibly gentle with the babies, and I have to think that is because they know them from almost a week old.

What is "olors" ?
Laura

 

[breezy B ranch]

I want to thank you for asking this question and for all the info!! We have a buck that we helped bring into this world after a long and horrible pregnancy. Mom was down for 3 weeks before giving birth to 2 still born does and 1 big healthy boy. Mom remaind down for 2 more weeks so we left him with her but bottle fed him as she couldn't get up to feed. Well after all that we would like to keep him intact and use to breed but were afraid to because we didn't want him to become aggressive and then have to be sent away. He is like our own child after all the work to get him into this world!! After all your info I feel much better about keeping him intact, part of the family and still productive! Thanks!!

 

[redtailgal]

We also use olors on our bucks, so they can stay with the entire herd. Zeus (and his daddy before him) are so incredibly gentle with the babies, and I have to think that is because they know them from almost a week old.

What is "olors" ?
Laura

An Olor is pretty much a goat condom.

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

 

[marlowmanor]

We also use olors on our bucks, so they can stay with the entire herd. Zeus (and his daddy before him) are so incredibly gentle with the babies, and I have to think that is because they know them from almost a week old.

What is "olors" ?
Laura

An Olor is pretty much a goat condom.

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

Alright. You learn something new everyday!

 

[CTChick]

"We also use olors on our bucks, so they can stay with the entire herd. Zeus (and his daddy before him) are so incredibly gentle with the babies, and I have to think that is because they know them from almost a week old."

Can you post a picture or tell me how to make one of these - checked out the Africa link, that is amazing! My boy is very sweet, I'd love to be able to keep him with the girls and not have to worry ...

 

[bbredmom]

A quick and dirty olor is to take and old pair of mens jeans (and since i'm married to an electrician, we go thr jeans at a rapid pace), cut off at the knees, fold up the legs s the olor will be about 1-2" off the groud, and sew the bottom of the legs to the jeas. Then we sew the two legs together in the middle. We put halters on our goats-easy to grab, no chance of choking- so we attach the olor thru the jean loops. Wa-lah!

I'll post a picture when I'm at a real computer.

 

[CTChick]

Thank you - I think I "see" what you are doing but a picture would be really great! And this really works, eh? Amazing!
Laura

 

[bbredmom]

I hope these help