# How do you prep your wethers?



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I know there is all kinds of information about getting wethers ready, but I am curious how you spend the time prepping your goats?

I know my 5yo would have to do a market goat since she can't do breeding does until she's older.
Hoping to get my oldest 2 kids into doing market goats as well as breeding does.
I know grain and plenty of exercise are a big part of market animals.
But what if you have 'flat' land and don't have much land or a way of exercising them? Biggest problem is getting them muscled up and not flabby LOL

I thought depending on what happens later we could get a cheap-o treadmill and make a pen around it/train them to walk on it, but I wasn't sure how crazy that would be? I've met a couple of people that did this so I was curious... I know the chariots are popular, but no way we'd do that, we just don't have a big enough area for that.

Anyway, thought it would be interesting to see how you all exercise your animals. 

Also, at what age/weight do you prefer to start working with them? I know in KY the minimum weight for market goats is 35lbs. So far we've been kidding in Jan-early March. Our girls are 70-90lbs that were born Feb/Mar.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

The age you work your wethers depends solely on whats winning and when your shows are. Personally I buy wethers born around Christmas. they're about 3 months old when I get them and I feed them for about 3 months. This gives me time to treat for cocci, deworm and see how they all grow and what their needs are. My shows start in August but I want my goats to stay fresh until the state fair in October. So I didn't start running them until June and that was more training to behave on the chariot/treadmill/running with me. Also if you work them alot your going to need to add protien to their diets... thats the purpose of adding supplements. I try to sue inexpensive stuff so I'm not spending big $$$ on feed. 

As for excercising in general a treadmill works good but make sure you change it up. I use a chariot and run them by hand. I have a lunging whip like they use on horses and crack it in the air and on the ground and they'll run circles in the pen. I never hit them with it but make the noise to scare them. The weaving helps alot with chest muscle as well as forearm and belly. Also for a chariot you don't need a huge area just somewhere you can get them going at a good pace. I don't have a huge yard either so I have a track if you will that I pull them on. 

This is just stuff I've learned on my own so it may or may not work for you but hopefully it does.


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## goatgirlzCA (Mar 9, 2011)

We start teaching them to walk and brace right away, since that's a very important part of showing wethers. This is our first year breeding them, and my daughter started them setting and bracing at about a week old!

We don't have a very good exercise area either, so I make my daughter run back and forth across our long yard, and they chase her. I leave them loose for this, unless they get distracted, them we use a lead on them and she pulls them along. I have thought about the treadmill idea too, but am not sure how to retrofit it. I do like Dani's idea with the whip to make them run. Might try that! 

Also, the more stuff you have in the pen to climb on, jump on, etc., and keeping their feeders up so they have to eat on two legs, helps too.


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

Oh yes definatley train to brace early that way they'll be good and no jump come show time. Just keep in mind that not all shows allow bracing... I went to an ABGA show and they wouldn't let us brace and mine only knew to set and brace so make sure to train them both ways.


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## Wild Bug Ranch (Nov 19, 2021)

HoosierShadow said:


> I know there is all kinds of information about getting wethers ready, but I am curious how you spend the time prepping your goats?
> 
> I know my 5yo would have to do a market goat since she can't do breeding does until she's older.
> Hoping to get my oldest 2 kids into doing market goats as well as breeding does.
> ...


so i raise/breed show wethers and what i’m seeing in a bunch of wethers is not enough butt. i’ve had that problem in the past but i’ve been able to fix it. so when you feed grain have him up on a cinder block for a few months and the last month before fair take him off thay and run him hardcore, twice a day for about 5 minutes or until panting real hard. brace him a whole lot so he can put that pressure on the back end and also more practice/training as well. have an area/pasture where he can jump over things. you want to get as much fat on him as possible and the turn that into muscle. run him every other day so that way he has rest days. saturday and sundays walk him a couple times a day maybe a mile or so each walk. those are extra rest days for walking and training, no running on that. also have him pull a tire, start off slow and get him used to it, there a ton of videos online that help with that. once you see him pulling super easily on the tire go to a bigger tire and have him pull that. walk/run him up hills as well if possible if not do sprints on straightaways. you want to train him like a runner so hardcore sprints and no jogging. you don’t want to push him to to hard where no muscle is going to build. also as a reminder when you start training/workin him out more you need to up his feed. if your feeding lets say 5 pounds a day, up that to 6 pounds a day so 3 pounds/feeding. this is up to you for working out. but you need to increase his grain rate if your gonna be working him harder. also be feeding him a handful of alfalfa a day. not to much but not to little, that’ll help with protein as well! i hope this helps and if you have any questions regarding this, let me know!


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