# Wether questions



## ausash (Apr 8, 2014)

I recently bought four Nigerians. Two of them were born in December and one is a doe and one is a wether. The other two were born in mid February and are both does. The question I have is would it be horrible to get rid of the wether or would his sister be totally miserable? The older doe would still have the younger two to hang out with. I really did not want a wether but the lady really wanted us to take all of them and even offered to give us one free and I find that I just really don't want to deal with the constant male behavior. He is humping my littlest one who is literally 1/3 his size and I don't have a means of separating them.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Was he actually wethered?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I agree with Karen, and ask the same question. Is he truly a wether?

And, if he and his sister are bonded, which I'm sure they are, the other 2 does may not want her in their group as they are buddies and may bully her.


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

Makes me wonder if they did wether him, if he could be a cryptorchid?


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## ausash (Apr 8, 2014)

I asked the person we bought him from and she stated that she witnessed the surgery and was sure all of it was gone. I checked underneath and there is only a small sack there not a large one which I see in pictures. Also, Liz, the other two does are 5 pounds and 7-8 pounds and the sister is around 15 - 20 pounds and has definitely asserted herself as the head of the herd. The wether is around 15-20 pounds also so you can imagine my concern with him trying to mount my 5 pounder.


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## Riverside Fainters (Feb 6, 2013)

Just because the scrotum is gone doesn't mean a testicle didn't get up into the abdominal cavity. You could have a vet check it out


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Um, wethers don't have sacks... Well, I band mine and I have 2 ober wethers and they don't have sacks at all. So, I'm thinking taking him into a vet, or you could possibly band him yourself. Not sure if you should do the banding yourself especially after he "had" surgery. I would keep him though.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I would see no problem getting rid of him. The sister will adjust just fine


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## happyhogs (Oct 12, 2009)

janeen128 said:


> Um, wethers don't have sacks... Well, I band mine and I have 2 ober wethers and they don't have sacks at all. So, I'm thinking taking him into a vet, or you could possibly band him yourself. Not sure if you should do the banding yourself especially after he "had" surgery. I would keep him though.


Wethers do have sacks if they have surgery (orchidectomy) opposed to banding. I have two wethers, twins, one was banded at a few days old but his brother got 'missed in the crowd' so had an orchidectomy at five months. He has a scrotal sack, about the size a large walnut and you can clearly feel that he has nothing in it. Have you tried feeling his sack? Does it feel squishy or like it contains marbles? Maybe you should get a vet to check him out? x


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## 4-HGoatGirl (Jul 5, 2013)

Wethers are great goats in general simply because they have no hormones and no "male" behavior. Did he have a vasectomy or something? Him mounting a goat would be extremely unusual. If possible post some pictures and we can get a better look at what you see. You could go to a vet if more convenient. Wethers are cool to use in place of teaser bucks or good as companions or labor animals. It would be easy to find a place for him in the herd as long as his "bucky" behavior dies down.


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## ausash (Apr 8, 2014)

As creepy as this was for me  I did feel the sack and it is just squishy extra skin with nothing hard in it. Unfortunately, the house with the large acreage that we were supposed to move to fell through and so I can not separate him at this time and my herd consists of only the 4 goats. He is constantly mounting the little ones at this point.


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## Stacykins (Mar 27, 2012)

janeen128 said:


> Um, wethers don't have sacks... Well, I band mine and I have 2 ober wethers and they don't have sacks at all. So, I'm thinking taking him into a vet, or you could possibly band him yourself. Not sure if you should do the banding yourself especially after he "had" surgery. I would keep him though.


Aye, as Happydogs said, some wethers are 'cut' rather than banded. It is exactly what it sounds like, the scrotum is cut open, the testes removed, and the sack is left hanging. Wethers who are also castrated using a burdizzo to crush the spermatic cord often have a sack left, too.

So banding isn't the only way to castrate goat


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

Stacykins said:


> Aye, as Happydogs said, some wethers are 'cut' rather than banded. It is exactly what it sounds like, the scrotum is cut open, the testes removed, and the sack is left hanging. Wethers who are also castrated using a burdizzo to crush the spermatic cord often have a sack left, too.
> 
> So banding isn't the only way to castrate goat


I learn something new each day on this forum...


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## pdpo222 (Jun 26, 2011)

I have a pygmy wether and he never mounts anyone. He has a sac, but it is empty. One that is mounting ALL the time seems odd to me. Does he have that buck smell? I keep a wether with one goat that can't be bred just to keep her company and I have never seen him try to mount her. A trip to the vet should be thought about. This just doesn't seem normal to me. But as for rehoming him, there should be no problem. Just remember, that could be why the previous owner wanted him gone. So you will just be passing the problem on to someone else. Make sure you tell the new owners why you are re homing him or he could end up at the end of a chain the rest of his life or worse yet stuck in a stall and never being around other goats and alone. I know money can be tight, but when I take an animal and there's a problem I have to find out why. They didn't ask to come to me, I chose them. Please don't just re home him and give someone else the problem or he may never find a real home. He has a problem that needs to be solved. It's a shame the previous owner didn't tell you about it and just passed the problem on to you.:-x


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