Which buck to stud and which to wether?

[wornoutmomto3]

I have two young bucks in the pen right now and two doelings coming this spring. The bucks and does won't meet-up until the does are at least 1 year old. So, I have time to decide. However, I am having a hard time deciding which buck will be my breeder and which will be wethered.

These goats are crossbreed for pets more than for milk or meat, and I want to pick the better temperament as well as quality body shape to pass on. I just can't pick between the two or if I should keep both intact and swap them out.

(A little back ground. The bucks are half-brothers and will be completely unrelated to the does. The does will either be full sisters or half sisters, and unrelated to the bucks.)

Here is a picture of the bucks.

 

[Latestarter]

It's very difficult to answer your question... more information would be needed.

I don't own my goats yet, but you basically have already stated that you want the best temperament and body shape. Decide which is more important and start there... Both bucks look very nice and since they are cross breeds, you need to look for the traits of their parent stock to determine which traits they possess and which are most important in the kids they will produce. You are getting does to breed them with and THEIR traits will be passed along as well, so they need to be taken into consideration as well.

Are the does going to be full sized goats or cross breed "minis", or smaller goats? You should be careful about breeding a large sized buck to a small sized doe as she will likely have birthing difficulties of a larger sized baby. What size kids do you wish to produce? Do you want the does and kids to be pets? meat animals? dairy animals?

I guess the best thing would be to leave things the way they are until you determine what your end goals are and then go from there. Sorry I couldn't be more specific...

 

[wornoutmomto3]

It's very difficult to answer your question... more information would be needed.

I don't own my goats yet, but you basically have already stated that you want the best temperament and body shape. Decide which is more important and start there... Both bucks look very nice and since they are cross breeds, you need to look for the traits of their parent stock to determine which traits they possess and which are most important in the kids they will produce. You are getting does to breed them with and THEIR traits will be passed along as well, so they need to be taken into consideration as well.

Are the does going to be full sized goats or cross breed "minis", or smaller goats? You should be careful about breeding a large sized buck to a small sized doe as she will likely have birthing difficulties of a larger sized baby. What size kids do you wish to produce? Do you want the does and kids to be pets? meat animals? dairy animals?

I guess the best thing would be to leave things the way they are until you determine what your end goals are and then go from there. Sorry I couldn't be more specific...

You were quite helpful in putting the issue into more perspective. The does parent stock are similar in size to the brown buck, maybe even slightly taller. Although these boys aren't quite done growing. (They will be 1year this coming spring.)

The buck and doe will need to pass on a docile temperament as their primary use will be small petting zoos at local churches and 4H instructional lessons for young children.

The size goal is a good median range. Large enough for good quality meat, but small enough for easy handling. These two are right above knee height for me. So, about 26-30 inches at the shoulder.

 

[Latestarter]

Just based on that, I would consider using the brown buck (larger) as the potential herd sire for a number of reasons (excluding the dairy aspect as you didn't mention that as an important aspect):

1. First and foremost that has to be based on his temperament. If that's good, the rest will hopefully follow.
2. He'll be about the same size as the does, so easier breeding/kidding and similar sized offspring.
3. He looks "meatier" than the tan buck, so if meat is a desire, that would be beneficial. He's much stockier than his 1/2 brother from the pictures provided.
4. Since to my understanding, 4H kids and shows is about showmanship and therefore you don't need to have purebred animals, so the offspring can be used. However, I also believe that shows require the goats be de-horned, so the kids produced (or any animals to be used) would need to be either polled (born hornless) or dis-budded shortly after birth. You would have to check/double check this.
5. By my understanding, bottle babies are much more docile and people friendly than those that are dam raised. Though this is NOT cast in stone, it seems to be the consensus. (tough subject, not trying to cause a fight) Therefore, you should plan on removing/"pulling" all kids as soon as they are born, before they see mom and vice versa, so they will bond to humans rather than mom, and so they all don't scream bloody murder when you eventually do remove/separate them. Of course this means more work for you, as you are now "Goatie Momma" and will now have more than the three you already have, to worry about... they'll need to be fed, and you'll need to milk the actual momma goat to get their food.

If dairy is a consideration at all, you might want to consider buying does that are dairy breeds. If dairy is not a huge concern, and meat is, then you'd most likely want to focus toward meat breed does. Crosses of Kiko, Boar, or Meat Master goats (primarily pure meat breeds/crossbreeds), and there are others. If you want both meat and dairy, you can look for crosses between the above and (full sized) Nubian, Lamancha, Alpine, Sannen, etc. Or minis of any of the above (pure breed crossed with a Nigerian Dwarf buck or Pygmy buck). Nigerian Dwarfs have one of the highest butter fat contents, Sannen's usually have the highest production (gallons). So much to decide.

I mean a book could be written just about this subject, right? I've gone through all of this myself trying to determine which/what would work best for me! There's so much info available here on the site and so many with years of experience that can provide information, guidance, help. And all have their particular favorites ... but really, I mean, all you gotta do is ask Just by reading through some of these threads between now and the time of eventual decision making, you'll be able to form opinions based on your own experiences and what you've learned/heard/read.

Edit to add: Both bucks and the pup are very handsome (or pretty for the pup)! I really like the color of the tan buck.

 

[Southern by choice]

Because they are a cross and not purebred I would use one buck on one does and the other buck on the other doe... keep all doelings and see what they produce. Then switch bucks with does the following year. Wether all bucklings.

We generally retain anything out of a new breeding line up to see what the buck produces. Yes it means holding the goat for a year or two but that gives me a great deal of information.

This year my Lamancha had triplets (mini-manchas) 2nd freshening and we knew the goats would be remarkable... they were... but in the first few weeks the one buckling really looked great the other nice but I thought I might want to wether him... only wanting to keep the best intact (the other triplet was a doe) anyway I am SOOOOO glad I did not wether the one... he ended up absolutely spectacular! Truth is he is just a bit nicer than the other.