# Why wether a baby if you wanna breed?



## rochelle (Jul 10, 2016)

My question is...why whenever you show or mention having a new baby male goat the very 1st thing you all say is..."get him banded!" WHY? If we have thoughts of breeding him with our females? Or aren't we suppose to do that? I'm not understanding the concept of this then...I have my gorgeous male that is only 2 months-2 weeks old right now and a female that is 5 months old now and I'm thinking by next spring they will both be ready? Am I wrong? Pix #I is my male "Pieces" and Pix #2 is my female "Ginger"












I think these 2 would make beautiful babies...so I'm just wondering why all the hype about getting the baby males wethered? I understand they get nasty...I have 2 that are both 1 years old & were given to me, pee on themselves & their faces...they are penned up together cuz they are brothers & I don't want them getting my 5 month old females pregnant! I'm just asking a serious question & thank you for your time️


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I think it's just a general question to go with whatever question is being asked. A few questions that I have seen that get that question in return is 'my baby is challenging me what to do' he's hunching up what's wrong with him or simply he doesn't feel good. Well if he's hunching up and he is intact that's just something they do, if he was a wether it might be something else. Wethers are also known for stones so that's why the question come in handy. As for the whole pet thing a lot of new people don't understand what comes with having a buck, not just the peeing on themselves but the macho male I am king attitude that comes with it. 
If you are wanting to use your buck as a breeder I see nothing wrong with that, the only thing I will say is what is cute now will not be later. Be very strict with him. I was even strict with my bottle baby buck and we had some 'words' once he hit about a year old. He hurt me and well my hotshot explained to him that is not expectable and he's been great ever since.


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Well. 50% of kids born are males. 1 male can impregnate a gazillion females. So it makes sense to me to only use the best of the best and band the rest.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Those are really cute goats! It's entirely your business if you don't want to wether your males. 

My dairy goat book makes a few good arguments for not having a buck, & I thought I'd share them, just as food for thought, not to try & convince anybody one way or the other.

It's a lot cheaper to pay to take your girls on "dates" than to feed & care for your own buck. Almost always, bucks need their own pen & shelter, which also costs a lot of money.

You can usually borrow much better genetics than you could afford to own, improving your herd with each generation, making your herd more productive & increasing the value of the kids you sell.

Bucks are disgusting. Your neighbors may even be bothered by the smell.

If you have limited space or funds, wouldn't you rather use them for a productive doe?

That said, I do have my own buck, the reason being that there was nobody in my area who had a buck of this breed. He's beautiful, interesting & funny--but a pain in the behind. I'd much rather have been able to have another doe.

Here he is--a real character. Always entertaining but VERY hard on the fences & buildings. He likes to rear up, hook his horns in the 6 foot chain link fence, & then dangle there! Fence repair is an ongoing thing. He also ground 2 holes in my house's siding "polishing" his horns on it!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If he is with the does, you need to separate him now.


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

Breed the best, band the rest
- the buck is half your herd so you want one that is going to make improvements to your herd or you will end up with a lot of low quality offspring. The reality is not many bucks are needed so only the best should be kept intact. 
Is this buck going to make improvements in your herd?
Will you get good use out of him as a buck?

Whethers make better pets than bucks so if you're looking for a pet than banding is your best bet.

If you're going to band you need to do it when their testicles are small enough to fit in the band so it is time sensitive. If you wait then you would have to use another method or even have a vet do it.

For the sake of health problems on this forum it's important to know if we're talking about a whether or buck.

It's also important to separate bucklings from doelings as they can get pregnant very young and it's dangerous.


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## rochelle (Jul 10, 2016)

Oh my catharina he's a big boy! Wow and those horns are huge! My Bully hooks me, it hurts like heck! I have him and his brother Bing BOTH I got free a few months ago from a lady cuz she didn't want them and they aren't wethered, now they pee all over themselves and yuck so they are penned up together until I can get them de-balled but I really didn't want to get Bing fixed cuz he is a mellow loving goat but he has picked up bad habits from his brother...so I am going to just keep my baby not wethered or maybe I should fix him too then find a buck to get my girls pregnant, you ppl really make some awesome points, I like to keep my goats together cuz they seem happier...thanks ️


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

You need to separate the baby buckling from the girls...and soon or he will have your 5 month old pregnant


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Everyone has great advice, I don't need to add more.


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## rochelle (Jul 10, 2016)

NyGoatMom...even if my buckling is only 2 months 3 weeks old? He's still a baby! Geez! Too bad us mama's can't instill ethics in these boys & girls! It's just wrong the way they act! LOL


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Yes. Even at that age.


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

I have two beautiful newborn Oberhasli buck kids whose daddy was a 2-1/2 month old baby. As soon as they can extend, they are able to breed. I had left the 2-1/2 month old Ober baby on his mom because he was just going to be sold as a pet or whatever at the auction. Since he was the only male in a barn of females, he was the daddy of the current twins born last week. So, yes, baby bucks can breed young. (3 months old was my previous cut off now, earlier!)


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Are you judging his gorgeousness on his coloring/sweetness? Or, are you judging it on his very good conformation, breed type and sire and dams production records/history? Does he correct any faults the doe has? 

Breeding should be about improving the breed. You want a quality buck for your herd, even if you never want to show. Breeding based on flashy color, blue eyes, cute beard, etc is not going to better the breed or the species. My bucks are the best quality I could afford, are strong where the does are weak and sire kids who are an improvement over both parents. I shop around when looking for a new herd sire or doe. I want an animal that will improve my herd. I love flashy coloring and blue eyes and stuff like that, but I will take a plain colored goat with excellent body and breed type and great production over a mediocre, flashy, blue eyed moonspotted goat any day.

I'm not saying that is what you are doing, I am just making a statement. Up here I see so many people oooing and awing over flashy goats with horrible body type, wanting them for breeding so the babies will be "beautiful". Unfortunately, beauty is as beauty does. The breed type and over all conformation is there for a purpose. The strong, straight legs mean that the goat will have a better chance of not going lame throughout a long life. A strongly attached udder means fewer injuries to the teats/udder tissue, easier sucking for the kids, a longer milking life. A level back and rump means easier kiddings. Greater width in the rear means more room for a full udder and more room for a kid to pass. Each characteristic has a reason. 

I had some wildly colored, moonspotted, blue eyed bucklings born this year, but I sold them for meat because they were not up to my standards for bettering the breed. I had so many people wanting to buy them for breeding based on nothing but the color. While they were not horrible, one did not have his sires worm resistance, one had a poor quality scrotum and one did not have the strong Nubian profile. These are not something I feel should be passed along. I band almost all my bucklings or sell to a dealer who I know will ship them for meat. 

Only a small % of bucklings born should be saved for breeding, that's probably why you see so many posts or are asked if or when you are banding.

That


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

A three month old can not only service his twin sister but will give Mom a good try as well.

I like to keep my herd together as much as possible because they are happier when they can be a family. Unfortunately, unauthorized breeding is always a concern and must be addressed. Brothers and Daddy will go after them when they are way too young.

Due to wasting money on several unsuccessful breedings; we made the decision to keep a buck. But we knew what we were getting into and made sure we were ready for him. Luckily we have a "right to farm" act cuz he could be smelled a block away.

So my only advice is, do not neuter your buck just because everybody tells you to. (We did that to keep a neighbor happy and it turned out to be a big mistake.) But do *not* keep a buck unless you are prepared.
He will be strong, disgusting and smelly.:ram:


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## rochelle (Jul 10, 2016)

lottasgoasts 1 I totally understand and I think that's why I lean more toward only keeping my other 2 bucks not wethered because they are the best of the best! And what so funny about it is I got those 2 for free because the lady didn't want them after she had them for 1 year, didn't take proper care of them either and I love them so much! So thank you all for your expert opinions and advise! I love this forum️


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## wndngrvr (Dec 10, 2011)

Sounds like your buckling and doeling are related - linebreeding isn't always a good thing to do. Also cute and sweet babies aren't really the prime thing to look for in a buck - pedigree - the strong points they have to improve your offsprings. Gets involved. Bucks are harder to deal with - If you only have a couple of girls - would be better if you have a good buck elsewhere you can breed to till you have more girls. But of course all these things are your decision. 
I have a mature buck, father of all my little ones this years and have just recently bought 2 bucklings - with great bloodlines. Hopefully they will be what I need to bred any retained girls from this year. Still no guarantee though.


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