Rarin' to go!

[Southern by choice]

Poultry-
We at one time had 250+ free range ( I mean that as in go anywhere you want range) chickens...we bred 17 different varieties. Mostly heritage but also rare breed. Out of all our roosters we have had to send 2 to freezer camp for being mean. We send lots to the freezer but only 2 because of aggressive behavior.
One was a Buff Orpington ... mean as $%$#$!
The other was a very loving sweet (my baby) D'uccle. He was a wonderful bantam and beautiful. His name was Clyde. Clyde was awesome! One day a hawk came down and this is before the guardian dogs... Clyde fought off this hawk for 40-50 ft defending his full size hens. When we realized what was happening we ran out Clyde laid there dead... or so we thought... he had driven that hawk off and his feathers were everywhere... as I picked up Clyde with tears in my eyes ready to bury him I realized he was not dead but seriously injured and in shock. The hawks talons had pierced through the back of his neck ... Clyde stayed in our house until he was nursed back to health. After that our sweet boy became so protective of his hens that he would flog and attack anything that got close to them. When he attacked my children it was time to go. I loved Clyde but any animal that thinks it can mess with children... is GONE!

We do not coddle our roosters... but rather make sure they have respect. Some of our favs are roosters (can you tell I love roosters ) . Most roos do go through a stare down phase (we ignore them) during their "puberty" if you will. We have very mature roos here that will kick off a young roo trying to mate an unwilling hen. Mature roos court the hens and don't just jump on them every second. Adolescents nake hens crazy... The mature roos run a tight ship!
The RIR (Rhode Island Red) is notorious for being mean... we haven't had a single RIR that was. Ours can be picked up and carried around.
We have WAY too many roos really but I really do love them and they are eye candy!

We drastically reduced our poultry because our goats take time. Chickens are expensive to raise. Goats are the most cost effective animal we own.

Goats-
I know there are many that will start with a doe in milk but honestly if you can raise goats and learn their care, about parasites etc and go through all the seasons before you start getting into milking it is best. Reading and researching is one thing but hands on experience is key.

As far as bucks. ... I LOVE BUCKS! LOVE LOVE LOVE me a buck!
We have raised many bucks on our farm... all wonderful, sweet, and NO problems. That is everything from Nigie Bucks to huge 300 lb Kiko Bucks. Key is WE raised them.

Only one buck has been a problem for us... not to say in the future we may not have one but this buck WAS NOT raised by us. He is the meanest thing I have ever seen and he is 225 lbs. He has to be alone and we cannot go in with him. Of course it is rut right now but even when not in rut I would never turn my back on him. As soon as he breeds his last doe he is going to slaughter. Great genetics but mean. It could be that his previous owner mistook some of his attentions for being loving but they were really "marking" signals. When bucks are young we teach them manners so they understand what is ok and what is not.

Our bucks are simply wonderful. They really don't stink when not in rut just a bit of a musk smell. Over time when they do go into rut your idea changes... IOW the first years were
Then it started to change... after so many years we now say... "ooooo LOVE is in the air" Now we tell them they are sexy beasts!

We do not recommend our ratio... we have 13 does and 14 bucks currently.

 

[animalmom]

A big welcome and howdy from the Great Lone Star State, where the stars at night are big and bright!

Ditto on what @Southern by choice says regarding chickens, goats and I love my bucks. We have rabbits, chickens, geese, goats, dog dogs - not LGD, and the amount of love/entertainment/food we get from these animals far outweighs the amount of work put into them.

We started with chickens, went onto meat rabbits, added the goats and threw in the geese as an experiment. The dogs learn that they can visit the rabbits but not touch or lick, and otherwise their job is to keep what is in a pen in that pen and to keep anything not in the pen out of the pen. We're working on it.

All of us have some point in our wanderings where we did something that didn't work as it said it would in the book/neighbor's advise/blog/website. Ask questions and then as why if you don't get it. Honestly we all can save you time, money, exasperation and a few tears. Just ask! Oh, and pictures, lord love a duck, we live on pictures!

 

[InspiredtoHerd]

I know there are many that will start with a doe in milk but honestly if you can raise goats and learn their care, about parasites etc and go through all the seasons before you start getting into milking it is best. Reading and researching is one thing but hands on experience is key.

Very good advice. Would you recommend starting with 1 buck to 2 does, or do they do ok 1 to1?

 

[Southern by choice]

LOL I am a buck HOARDER!
You want to keep does and bucks apart if you are looking at Nigerians. We keep all our bucks separated regardless of breed.
Nigies can breed year round and Nigie bucks can get the deed done at 8-9 weeks old and Nigie does can cycle as early as 12 weeks so not a good idea to keep kids together. Never breed a doe too young.

If you get 2 does then get 2 bucks (unrelated). Some get a buck and a wether but the reality is you cannot do anything with a wether so why not have an intact buck to breed the does the following year or any offspring you keep. The buck needs a companion so either way another buck or wether.

Often people keep one or two bucks for an entire herd.

Some will send their does off to be bred or buy bred does.
There are pro's and con's to both.

I have a lot of bucks because I am basically wanting a closed herd and keep different genetics to be able to have diversity in my herd.
Every goat you add into a herd brings in a bio-security risk.

 

[babsbag]

Hello from California and welcome to BYH.

As @Southern by choice said "she is a buck hoarder"

I have never kept more than one buck until this year when I decided to add La Manchas to my herd of Alpines and a Nigi when someone ( @Goat Whisperer ) suggested I raise some mini Alpines. The reason I only had one buck was simply a matter of housing. The bucks can get gnarly which each other during rut and you can't just toss a doe in with two bucks if you want to know the sire of your offspring. I have three bucks right now to breed 30+ does and I play a lot of musical pens. I did have a wether with my buck for a few years but when he died I didn't get my buck another buddy. He lives in a pen right next to the does and he is fine with that. He will lay right next to a doe with a fence in between and he thinks he is just part of the herd. When they aren't in rut I will put all my bucks in the same pen, well maybe not the nigi, I have to think about that one, he is pretty little.

Goats are addicting so be careful (so are chickens)

 

[InspiredtoHerd]

It could be that his previous owner mistook some of his attentions for being loving but they were really "marking" signals. When bucks are young we teach them manners so they understand what is ok and what is not.

Could you expand on what can be regarded as a "marking" signal? And how do you go about encouraging good buck manners?

 

[InspiredtoHerd]

Do y'all keep specific breeds out of necessity? Is there such a thing as a mixed goat?

 

[InspiredtoHerd]

Sorry if the above are dumb questions..

 

[Southern by choice]

Sorry if the above are dumb questions..

There are no dumb questions.

Could you expand on what can be regarded as a "marking" signal? And how do you go about encouraging good buck manners?

Kind of hard to explain really... there is a difference between them being sweet and coming up to you and them trying to rub their head on you ... that is where their scent glands are. When they start rubbing with their head that is a no no. Mostly we just push them away and say NO. This of course is when they are very young and growing up. We did have a six month old we brought in that was challenging with his head... he got "flipped" he never did it again and he is the most gentle sweet docile buck ever.
If I rub their neck and scratch their face and head they should just take it all in... if they start rubbing that is dominance and marking.

Do y'all keep specific breeds out of necessity? Is there such a thing as a mixed goat?

I keep a lot of bucks because we have many breeds and we also do Miniatures.
We breed Nigerian Dwarf, Miniature Lamancha, Miniature Nubian, Miniature Alpine, Standard Lamancha and we have the possibility to breed for Standard Nubian, Standard Alpine if we bring in more bucks.

I have -
Nigerian Dwarf Bucks - they breed to my ND's and my Standard does to make Miniatures (f-1's) So they are used on my Alpine, Nubian, Lamanchas, and Dwarfs.

Miniature Lamancha's Bucks- They breed to my Miniature Lamancha Does

Miniature Nubian Buck- will be bred to future Miniature Nubians

Lamancha Bucks- Bred to our Lamancha does

Kiko & New Zealand Bucks- Bred to our Kiko does


Hopefully I explained that well enough. We will retain offspring from specific breedings and those offspring need to be able to be bred to unrelated bucks. Personally I am not into father daughter brother sister stuff... I don't even like Uncles and grandsires being bred. I think you better know what you are doing with genetics before you breed close... fine line sometimes between line breeding and inbreeding. That's why we have alot of bucks.
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There are all kinds of mixed goats. Sometimes people will mix the breeds for specific reasons.
To add in genetics-
A registered Lamancha may be bred to a Registered Alpine to bring in other genetics. However that would produce an "Experimental" and that is how they are registered... then they would breed to whichever breed to bring up the percentage to an "American"- but it takes several generations.

Improve a particular trait-
Many will use a Kiko or New Zealand meat goat and breed to Boers. Boers have parasite resistance issues and hoof issues and many cannot raise twins, does have problems kidding... the kiko brings some great things to that. Of course it is not all Boers but the Boers East of the Mississippi and in the South ... well lets just say they drop like flies. On the other side it can be reversed to bring in heavier goats.

Work toward a breeding goal- Miniatures
The miniature Dairy goats are developed through taking a Standard Dairy Doe Breed and using a Nigerian Dwarf Buck to create and F-1 Generation of 50/50 and from there it continues on... generation after generation until a true Miniature Lamancha, Nubian, Alpine.... etc.... is produced.

To breed a doe just for milk-
Sometimes the person may not care what the buck is they just need the doe to come in to milk ... often the kids are strictly raised up for the freezer.

Some are simply accidents.

 

[InspiredtoHerd]

@Southern by choice Thank you so much. What a fantastic response! I'm definitely getting butterflies now, dreaming about future goating prospects!