# Tips & What to Look for When Purchasing a Wether



## Junebug1994

Hello All!

Hope that you're all having an excellent Christmas Season. My name is Julia Wade. I'm 17 years old and live in Eastern Kansas. I have been in 4H for 11 years and in the goat project for 5. I show boer does and last year was my first year competitively showing a market wether. My market wether last year was home grown, and while there's nothing wrong with that, I will be going out and purchasing this year. An ABGA breeder has me as the first person on her list to come and look at her wethers. What are the top qualities what I should look for when I go out to pick out a kid. I'm not asking about health or vaccinations etc. I want to know what the most important physical attributes I need to look for. The wethers will be less than 8 weeks old when I go to look, and while I can pick out a good goat when they're older, I'm unsure of what the most important attributes to look for in a baby that's younger. 


Any suggestions, or questions to ask would be awesome!
Thank You,
Julia Wade


----------



## Dani-1995

I'm sure you already know this but with wethers its about muscling ability. You need length (esp in the loin), width (front, back and top) and a straight topline. You want them to have some depth of rib and some spring of rib. Basically the same as does or bucks, just think about feed ability.


----------



## goatnutty

Dani hit the nail on the head there, the three biggest things are length, depth, and muscling ability at that point. You wont know what they will really turn out like but you can see if they have potential!


----------



## GoatGirlMO

The great Gail Christian wrote this article for some of us over at Mylamb.com (a great resource for both club lambs and show wethers!!!)

At about three months they will be as wide in the pins as they will ever be...overall size will increase but not the distance between pins...little lou...I look for basically the same thing in a market goat as I do in a lamb...I really put a lot of emphasis on the front..when looking from the front I want a long neck that sits on top of the shoulder..I want the point of shoulder to be at a correct angle to the top of the shoulder..I want the goat to be clean in the brisket area(some may have the breast plate extended a little..be sure it is plate instead of fat)..I want them wide in the chest floor(between the front legs)..I want to see a lot of forearm as viewed from the front and a lot of dimension of bone..when viewed from the side I like balance..from the top of shoulder to chest florr i like it to be lavel with the top of hip at hip/loin juncture to the top of the rear flank...long and as level in the hip as possible, wide in the pins and deep and full in the twist with a lot of muscle through the stifle carrying down toward the hock..looking over the top of the shoulder I like a wide rack(pretend you are looking down at a shoe box..put a neck and head on it..that's pretty much how I like for them to look and getting wider as you go down the rack and loin)...I sure don't want them being narrow over the top of the rack..I like it wide and the top muscle extended...The lowest part of the back should be the backbone..I like for them to be wide and flat over the loin...and good depth to the loin edges...we sometimes say color doesn't matter but I think it does..on a goat stay away from solid black or red..paints are stricking, however, the majority will be the traditional red and white...not sure if this is what you had in mind but hope this helps a little...yeah, forgot to mention...long sided...Gail Christian

Mr. Christian is a fabulous mentor and has raised and sold many, many, many  lambs and goats. Very humble and always, always willing to offer a word of advice.


----------



## Burns Branch Boers

good advice from everyone here. This was our 1st year picking out a wether. We have had fun and he is long and built "ok" but they thing that has gotten me is his top line-it dips. I did not know anybetter when we picked him out--as you said it is so hard when they are so young. Next year I will know better though and hopefully pick better. I have also considered buying a more expensive wether from a ranch/farm that competively raises them.


----------



## toth boer goats

I agree...great advice given.... good luck with your search... :thumb:


----------



## brbn

When showing if you rub or give a little pinch on his under belly it should help to raise is back up. It will not stay up but will for a bit. It will help him look nicer on a side profile.
Anna Burkholder
www.freewebs.com/brbn


----------



## Junebug1994

Thank you all for the advice! I am still a bit shakey on looking at wethers that will be so young... but i guess thats how you learn. What do you all think when it comes to looking at the lingeage... if a wether has a good sire and dam is that somethin to go by..


----------



## brbn

I think bloodlines are important but dont get so caught up in them that you miss a good wether. Some wether breeders I like are Fowler, Fleming, Kelly, No Step, Harbour. But there are good breeders outside of Texas too. I like to look at bloodlines and see if that line consistantly throws something, like Length, muscling, poor feet and legs, and so on. We realy like our buck he has Fowler and Fleming in him. Kid Rock is his maternal Grandsire and he was real long and our buck throws that wich is something we needed to add to our herd. He has Da Vinci on the fathers side and he has gotten his width over the hip from him and he carries the color gene from him too :leap: . So yes its good to know your lines but dont get carried away there are good wethers with "unkown" wether bloodlines.


----------



## Dani-1995

I look at lines to a degree. You want the lines to be known for growth. But since it is a wether if you don't know everything about his lines its not but so critical. Really as long as he has good conformation and the lines are known for growth then I would buy it. When you get into breeding stock is when you have to look more at lines.


----------



## Junebug1994

Ok thank you so very much! I will look at the parents, but not make my choice based upon their characteristics alone. Maybe I'll have some photographs when I go to choose that you all could help me make that decision! Thank you guys! If you think of anything else - please let me know! I won't get to go look at wethers until they're born and I can hardly stand waiting! I want them to
come now!


----------

