# Introducing buckling to older buck



## AmyJoe (Jun 10, 2015)

We bought a 3 month old buck to add to our herd...we had two bucks, both 3 years old and had been together since birth...we were gonna house them beside each other and gradually introduce them. One of our's passed away before getting the little one. Johnny seemed ok, was still eating and drinking but we hated that he was alone. We brought new boy home. He had been separated from his mom and had not been put in with their new boys yet. he was last to go so had been alone for alittle while. They must have spent alot of time with him, feeding him treats of twizzlers and dried bananas because he is very tame and loves people. The problem came when we put him in the barn stall and left him...we were tying them out at the same time so they could smell and see each other. The young one just stands and screams when we leave..paying no mind, or being scared of johnny. Johnny is not aggressive at all. His smaller brother was def the boss and he always backed down from him. 
So this morning I put Johnny in the stall with the little boy, Ranger. Ranger stands on his house and screams all day...we thought putting him in the stall with him would make him feel better not being alone. As I left the barn Ranger was on his house screaming. He has screamed so much he sounds like he's losing his voice. Should i leave them together and Ranger will just learn that he's a goat and Johnny is his herd buddy or does anyone have any better ideas to get them use to each other? And is this safe, leaving a 3 month old..who is a large boy for his age, with 3 year old? Neither have horns


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

How big is the stall? Is it all closed in or does it have an outdoor pen or possible a pasture attached?


----------



## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

it depends on the adult, I ween all my baby boys with my 300lb buck he loves it and is SOOO gentile with them! they stay with him until they are sold.


----------



## AmyJoe (Jun 10, 2015)

its a 10x10 stall...its not their permanent home...the pyrenees had been breaking in and sleeping with the older buck and i'm afraid this little one will need some supervised visits first so for now they are hanging out in our horse barn. today they grazed together and did good. the new boy cries all the time though still..even with Johnny in there with him. he just wants to be with humans


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

You never know until you put them together on how it is going to go. If the older buck is too rough and trying to hurt the buck kid, they cannot be together until the kid is big enough to defend himself. Light head butting is OK, but slamming, penning up legs, blood is not OK. 

Have a big enough area and a place for the buckling to get away if he has to as well. 

Do not feed in one area, have 2 different area's far enough away.


----------



## AmyJoe (Jun 10, 2015)

we moved them back to the buck lot. i'm feeding them in three spots so no matter what the new boy can get to grain. i think i'll add another dog house to the lot too. the whole lot is covered but if we get cold weather again I'm afraid for him to get ran out of the house. 
Last year was pregnancy/birthing questions...this year is adding new goats and getting young does to gain weight....will I ever know what I'm doing?


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Sounds like a good plan. 

You will be OK, you have us if you need guidance.


----------



## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

Don't worry, as soon as you get goats figured out, something puzzling and new will come along! They like to keep us guessing!


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Goats Rock said:


> Don't worry, as soon as you get goats figured out, something puzzling and new will come along! They like to keep us guessing!


So true.


----------



## GodwardGoatGang (4 mo ago)

This is driving me nuts! I can't believe how many people are talking about how sweet their billy goats are with little ones. I'm on my third billy goat and so far he's the sweetest I've had! The ones I had before were either destructive to my fencing and Gates and his male yard mate, and the other one was aggressive towards trying to mate with humans! He wouldn't throw his horns at you or anything but he was constantly trying to rut at you! Both of those boys are now gone and I have this sweet darling Nigerian dwarf mini Nubian mix Billy. He's probably about the size of a full grown pygmy and I don't imagine he'll get much bigger and because he's mixed with Nubian his breed is more docile and he's not going to get huge and he doesn't have horn so he's easier for me as a human to manage. Now! I have a buckling that is a month away from 12 months old, he's starting to at his little sister who I'm also keeping, and I have tried to put him next to the buck to see how they do obviously because I don't want him to breed with his sister... So while my Billy is not super threatening because he's not super huge and doesn't have horns, he's huge next to my buckling who barely has horns that are an inch long, and wouldn't you know it, he aggressively chases him around making rut sounds... So shocking once again I keep experiencing boys that either want to rut each other, or are mean to each other. Is there a proper way to introduce a buckling to a billy so that he doesn't get violated?? This is his future. My buckling is going to be living with this Billy for the rest of his life. Someone please! I thought about making him a wether, but he's my goat for life and I don't want to risk prostate underdevelopment or kidney stones in the future and other health problems. So I thought I could let him live his life as a buck for just a little while maybe breed of doe or two and then get him fixed after he's a fully developed male surgically. I do not have a huge herd, I only have five goats two or male three or females and two of those are babies a month shy of weaning age. Can somebody please help me with what to do with my buckling as he's growing up there's just not that many places to put him and I need to protect his sister and I also need him to learn to be with this Billy but don't want this Billy to hurt or violate the baby! Goats are crazy! Thank you for listening LOL any advice it will be much appreciated


----------



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

It is not a good idea to introduce intact males during rut. Even males of the same size and age will posture for position to enable them to be the dominant buck for breeding. Mine who have been raised together and are of the same age still chase, mount and head butt each other. It’s to be expected.
If the you don’t really need the younger bucks genetics, I would wether him. You can try a buck apron to prevent breeding with siblings for a while.
And a friendly reminder… we have young kids on this website so we try to keep it family friendly.
Best wishes


----------



## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

I’ve only had goats for a few years, but I’m pretty sure it should be safe to wether him at 11 months old. With any wether, keeping the diet balanced is very important, but you’ve given him plenty of time for growth and development in order to stack the odds in his favor. If it were me, I’d wether him and put an apron on him until 30 days after he’s neutered. That way he doesn’t have to be with a buck in rut. As stated above, you don’t want to introduce new bucks during rut. It’s just asking for trouble. If he’s super high quality genetics and you really want to add his offspring to help improve your herd, he’ll likely have to be kept separate until rut is over. The bucks can share a fence line until then so that hopefully, when rut is over, introductions will go a bit smoother.


----------



## GodwardGoatGang (4 mo ago)

goatblessings said:


> It is not a good idea to introduce intact males during rut. Even males of the same size and age will posture for position to enable them to be the dominant buck for breeding. Mine who have been raised together and are of the same age still chase, mount and head butt each other. It’s to be expected.
> If the you don’t really need the younger bucks genetics, I would wether him. You can try a buck apron to prevent breeding with siblings for a while.
> And a friendly reminder… we have young kids on this website so we try to keep it family friendly.
> Best wishes


I'm sorry about that I didn't even consider that kids would be on here reading this stuff. My apologies! I went through and edited anything that sounded too harsh or vulgar. Apologies and thank you for bringing that to my attention. And thank you for your advice. 🙏


----------



## GodwardGoatGang (4 mo ago)

FizzyGoats said:


> I’ve only had goats for a few years, but I’m pretty sure it should be safe to wether him at 11 months old. With any wether, keeping the diet balanced is very important, but you’ve given him plenty of time for growth and development in order to stack the odds in his favor. If it were me, I’d wether him and put an apron on him until 30 days after he’s neutered. That way he doesn’t have to be with a buck in rut. As stated above, you don’t want to introduce new bucks during rut. It’s just asking for trouble. If he’s super high quality genetics and you really want to add his offspring to help improve your herd, he’ll likely have to be kept separate until rut is over. The bucks can share a fence line until then so that hopefully, when rut is over, introductions will go a bit smoother.


When does rut end?


----------



## goatblessings (Jan 6, 2015)

It depends. Mine are usually out after all the does stop cycling a month or so out.


----------

