# Weight



## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

I am wondering. Bout how much should a pure bred Nubian Buck weigh at 24 weeks old?
Do any of y'all have any idea? 
I know there is no firm number, but maybe, there is an average.

Mule


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

I have yet to have a Nubian buckling at that age, but my lil' Nubian buckling at 15-16 weeks was weight-taped last night at 40ish pounds. He has been a little on the down side lately though (getting thinner) and so last night we had to weigh him and give him a dose of dewormer.


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

I'm gonna be in town tomorrow and I'll get a weight tape. I think it was designed for equine, but it seems to me that it might be close enough for a goat. 
I could pick him up and then step on bathroom scales, but we might be over the weight limit. I ain't light, over 230 pounds. But, I'll try that too.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

I would think right around 70#. Based on weigh ins for wethers at about that age for shows....


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

I got my Bride to get on the scales. The scales are not like the average "bathroom scale" that I am use to. These operate sorta like old doctor scales. We did it three times and came up with 30 to 31 lbs. This goat was born March 30, 2017.
We have a half Nubian and Half Boer wether, he is out of pure bred parents all the way around. He was born May 13, 2017. He weighs right at 33 lbs.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Did you do coccidia prevention for him? Sometimes the only sign is stunted growth.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

As a comparison, I have a Nubian doe born March 3rd of this year who weighs in at 83#. He is very small. I would get a fecal done on him, something has stunted his growth.


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

ksalvagno said:


> Did you do coccidia prevention for him? Sometimes the only sign is stunted growth.


Yes. Both have been done.
My Bride and I think the buck was near starved to death when we got him. They had weaned him at one month old. We bought him on May 25, and he looked very weak and skinny. He did not eat grass or hay very good. When we got him home we started him back on a bottle. It turned out that he took it out of a bowl like he was starving. If my memory serves me right we gave him 16 oz per sserving. I may be wrong cause I did not get the milk ready. We gave him milk twice a day till he stopped drinking it. Course all this time he had access to hay, grass, and brush. He did not show any interest in feed [Purina Goat Feed]. Now he eats hay, grass, brush, and feed like it is going out of style.
Our vet says we must be living right cause none of my animals show any signs of any kind of worms. He checks the poop at least 4 times at each testing. He says that in our part of the country that is almost unheard of.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Ok. Then he is stunted from his rough beginning. That is great that you took him in and cared for him.


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

We bought him to our herd sire for our two older Nubian Does. Will his being stunted affect his offspring?


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

Let me tell the rest of his horror story.
The people we bought him from tried to disbud him. They used the chemical method. He still had two big sores on his head when we got him. Now he has horns. I don't think they will turn into skurs. They may be ill shaped but hard and firmly set. To go along with that the owner said that he slung his head and got the chemical on his ears. He has streaked scars and a ragged hole in each ear.
We were pretty certain we threw away $200.00, but we could not help it. Well, she could not help her self, I went and got in the truck, my way of saying let's go. I don't guess she noticed that I was no longer beside her till after she paid the lady. 
Oh well, we have the sweetest little pure bred registered Nubian buck we have ever been around [course we ain't been around but a couple others].


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

It won't affect size of offspring.


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

More importantly - what are his genetics and what does he bring to your breeding plan? Your buck contributes to the overall conformation, milk production, thriftiness and outcome of your herd - I would heavily weigh my decision on that information.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Nothing that has been done to him so far should affect his sperm. Were he mine, (I'm not criticizing your care, you've been awesome) from now on he would have free choice excellent minerals ( like Cargill's Onyx) and free choice Kelp meal, and free choice alfalfa pellets. Congratulations on keeping him alive.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

confederatemule said:


> We bought him to our herd sire for our two older Nubian Does. Will his being stunted affect his offspring?


His offspring will be fine but if he is just flat out a slow grower he will pass that into his kids. Beings that the boer is also smaller I wouldn't think that was the main issue though with him being smaller. I do agree that you should sit back and think what he has to offer to your herd. I'm assuming that he is your baby and you have a emotional attachment to him? Take it from someone in your shoes think about keeping him as a buck or making him into a wether. I had a bottle baby buck that was my baby. I kept him as a buck because I love the guy! Don't get me wrong he had a lot to offer as a buck too but ultimately he was my baby. I now have a 6 year old buck that has worked himself out of a job but no way am I getting rid of him because I still love the stinky dope. Looking back on one hand I love what he has done for my herd, on the other I really kinda wish I just had him as a pet wether.
Also he may be small now, smaller then he should but if fed well he should grow to be a good sized guy. I've had a few with a rough start but after time matured to be just fine


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

I weighed him today on a friends L W Measurement scale. He brought it over and we weighed all five of my goats.
This buck weighed 32.7 on his scale.
I took a few pictures of him today. It was just me and him and it was not easy to get him to pose and say "cheese".


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

He is cute!


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## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

He has nice coloring. He does have some fishtail going so I would copper bolus if you haven't already.


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

I told my wife, this mornin, that he needed more copper. He gets about a tablespoon of Mana-pro goat minerals at every feeding, once a day. We are gonna start feeding him twice a day so the minerals will increase also. I will be checking into copper bolus.
My friend with the scale raises boer goats. A couple of months ago him and his wife copper bolused three of their goats. The goats got deathly sick. They took them to the vet. The vet said they were overdosed on the copper bolus. So we are a little nervous about copper bolusing. I'll be talking to our vet before doing it, but I magine all five of our goats need it.


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

There are no local sources for Cargill's Onyx nor Kelp meal. I do have a source for Vigortone Goat Pro, Sweetlix Meat Maker, and Manna-Pro Goat Minerals.

We have been feeding Manna-Pro Goat Minerals with the goats feed for at least a year. They will NOT eat it without feed.

Are there any opinions on the Vigortone Goat Pro, Sweetlix Meat Maker. The feed store that sells them says that dairy goat raisers ask for Vigortone Goat Pro. And that meat goat raisers ask for Sweetlix Meat Maker.

I keep a mineral blick out at all times. We feed Purina Goat Feed.


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

confederatemule said:


> .. My friend with the scale raises boer goats. A couple of months ago him and his wife copper bolused three of their goats. The goats got deathly sick. They took them to the vet. The vet said they were overdosed on the copper bolus. So we are a little nervous about copper bolusing. I'll be talking to our vet before doing it, but I magine all five of our goats need it.


That is not normal. Did they use copper oxide or something else? Copper bolus is slow release and almost impossible to OD.


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

The first chance I get I will ask the lady. She is the goat person in that family.

A young lady has 3 videos out that do an excellent job of explainin this process. In my opinion. The links are below.


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## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

He is a handsome guy, and looks good! You are doing a great job with him.


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## confederatemule (Jan 19, 2016)

Thanks to everyone for sharing your knowledge and experience. 
Hopefully, we've made some changes that will make a difference, in time.

Mule


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