# fair clipping



## wild sage boers

Does anybody know how to properly trim a market wether? And does anybody know how to get the market wether into top shop without to much flab, fat and belly?


----------



## HoosierShadow

My kids are doing their first market wethers this year too. They've shown some percentage does in the past. My youngest daughter did have to show her doe last year as a market doe since she was young and showed novice.
Basically every wether I've always seen & the way we did our doe, the hair from the bottom of the neck/top shoulders down to the knees have to be trimmed very short - some wethers I seen were basically bald.
When I trimmed my daughters doe, it was very easy, that's coming from someone who is lousy at trimming LOL
We did trim her from the knees down most of the summer just because it made her look feminine and clean lol But the last time I had shaved her, I didn't do that.
Trim around the feet to keep a clean appearance - no long/wild hairs hanging down.
I did see some wethers that didn't look like they were touched at all below the knees, and it really was noticeable how wild the hair around their feet was.

Now prepping them is something I don't know. We never got crazy with trying to prep my daughters doe, we just wanted her to have her own goat to show <she trained her all by herself  >.
I know exercising, running them, working them to build butt muscles, are good ways to build them up. 
I know some people who are into this whole wether thing on a professional level use a 'goat chariot' behind their lawn mowers, or treadmills.
IMO that sure defeats the purpose of this being a child's 4-H project if they aren't working with the animal one on one..

I know Dani will have great advice, she always does 

I'll be curious about the flab/fat.

When were your wethers born?

Ours have been born in the last week/few weeks, so we have to figure out when to wean vs. having them ready for the first show at the end of May. Biggest thing I've heard is getting the milk fat off of them from nursing.


----------



## BCG

Hello. So this is just my opinions and how we prep our wethers. I'm sure there are a million other ways to do things. 

As in last post, you will clip entire body except from knees down. You'll need a good set of clippers (we use premier 4000) with sharp blades. We use medium blades the day before show or fines 4 days before. This way the hair length leaves the wether with a velvety feel. Make sure you wash and dry the wether completely before clipping. At the knee and the hawk you'll blend from short to long hair. Don't leave an obvious line if you can help it. At show, you'll card the hair up to create the illusion of bigger bone. You can use adhesive if allowed in show rules. At the end of his tail, use scissors to cut a straight line, hair should be about an inch long and look like a fluffy paint brush. See attached pic for example of finished product.

As for getting them fit for show...1st is genetics. The "wether style goats" are tighter muscled and have thinner tighter hide. Therefore it's easier to keep them that way. The "traditional breeding style" goats take more exercise and can belly up and get "soggy" looking. I'd recommend limited hay. I know this is a touchy subject with goat people. Goats do need some hay every feeding, but I don't recommend free choice for show wethers. I feed 2x or 3x a day, 3lbs grain total per day per wether and a large handful of a quality hay per feeding per wether. Each wether also gets walked for 30-45 minutes a day starting 3-4 weeks before show. Exercise depends on each animals condition. If you have one that's bellied up right before show, you may need to cut back his feed for a few days to suck down the belly.

So, hope this helps. The 2nd part is hard to say without seeing the animal you're working with. Good luck!


----------



## HoosierShadow

BCG - Great advice 
My question is, you say you feed 3lbs. a day, what kind of feed do you use? And how big are the wethers vs. how much you feed?

This is what will be our issue. Right now we buy pelleted feed, 16% medicated, I've actually been planning to scan in a nutrition tag and get opinions on what we'll need to do/add. Our issue is finding show feed that isn't going to kill my budget too horribly lol <3 kids, maybe 3-4 wethers total, plus they want to show their percentage does too>.
The only feed I've even found locally is Purina, and you never know if it's in stock or not, so I'm leary about buying from them again.

What kind of exercise do you do, just walking? running?


----------



## Trickyroo

Comon people , Im waiting , notebook in hand 
This is sooooo interesting , I just love goats 
I cant wait to even go to a show no less show my own , lolol


----------



## BCG

I work them onto 3lbs as soon as they'll eat it. Usually by the time they're 60lbs. In general, you should be feeding about 4% of their body weight, but we push ours a bit because we jackpot a lot. I feed Purina Honor Show Chow. It's pelleted and seems to be a great mix. Always have good results. If we need to cut fat and harden one up, I'll sub about 20% of the ration with barley. Or add corn if one needs more cover. Show feeds can be expensive, but in my opinion, it's worth it in the long run. I know people who feed lamb feed to their goats because it's a little cheaper and they seem to do okay. I just worry about the lack of copper and low fiber content.


----------



## BCG

Just saw the exercise question. If we have a goat that still needs mass but needs toned, sprint till wether pants hard 2x day. This will only take a few minutes at first. Goats that tend to get jiggly...walk at a quick pace 30 minutes to start working up to 45 minutes. The idea is cardio to burn fat and tone.


----------



## HoosierShadow

Thanks so much! I'll have to call around to see what kind of feeds I can find locally so when it's time to start buying I know where I can get it. 
I was thinking we'd let them eat when we feed the others, and then once they are showing a good interest in eating, we'll start putting feed out in a creep feed area I'm getting ready to set up for them.

We aren't planning to get too aggressive with competition on the wethers, but definitely want them to have a good chance at the shows. There are just so many kids that show wethers, and many are in what I call the 'professional' circle -- families/breeders kids who have been doing this a while and have the expensive champion type wethers. Hard to compete with that.


----------



## Dani-1995

I shave the whole goat, except below the knee and I leave a small pompom on the tail. I also clean up the hair on their feet so it looks neater and more put together. I use a 7FC blade on Andis Ultraedge clippers. I think it is 3.4mm blade, not 100% sure on that. I clip heads and all. 
The most important thing for wethers is to feed the muscle. If your working them alot then protien is your best friend. If your working them but only feeding a show feed with no protien additives your not going to get very far, they'll be lean but they lack the muscle mass. They do need some fat but not a lot. Think of it like a body builder, they need carbs for energy, protien for muscle and just a little fat. However, if your giving too much protien for the amount of excercise they will get fat so keep that in mind when cutting one. I feed honor show chow exclamation and supplements depend on the goat
There are several ways to get the flab gone... It depends on how much and where it is. I normally only work them 20 minutes a day but that is at a very high intensity. I do a 3 minute warm up and then ran fast, sow down, fast again... for 20 minutes. I also work on bracing for 10mins a day and walking for shows for 10-15 mins a day. Sometimes they get a day off if they're sore... I don't want to pull a muscle before a show and mess them up. I use a chariot, run by hand, scare them to run... even use my little brother to run them. 
These are some pictures of my wether last year... The 1. July 5th, 2. August 27th 3. September 14 and the last one is October 6th


----------



## Dani-1995

HoosierShadow said:


> My kids are doing their first market wethers this year too. They've shown some percentage does in the past. My youngest daughter did have to show her doe last year as a market doe since she was young and showed novice.
> Basically every wether I've always seen & the way we did our doe, the hair from the bottom of the neck/top shoulders down to the knees have to be trimmed very short - some wethers I seen were basically bald.
> When I trimmed my daughters doe, it was very easy, that's coming from someone who is lousy at trimming LOL
> We did trim her from the knees down most of the summer just because it made her look feminine and clean lol But the last time I had shaved her, I didn't do that.
> Trim around the feet to keep a clean appearance - no long/wild hairs hanging down.
> I did see some wethers that didn't look like they were touched at all below the knees, and it really was noticeable how wild the hair around their feet was.
> 
> Now prepping them is something I don't know. We never got crazy with trying to prep my daughters doe, we just wanted her to have her own goat to show <she trained her all by herself  >.
> I know exercising, running them, working them to build butt muscles, are good ways to build them up.
> I know some people who are into this whole wether thing on a professional level use a 'goat chariot' behind their lawn mowers, or treadmills.
> IMO that sure defeats the purpose of this being a child's 4-H project if they aren't working with the animal one on one..
> 
> I know Dani will have great advice, she always does  Awww thanks!
> 
> I'll be curious about the flab/fat.
> 
> When were your wethers born? I'm getting early december and March-April born this year. It depends on how big you want them for your shows. I'd say an average of 6 to 10 months old
> 
> Ours have been born in the last week/few weeks, so we have to figure out when to wean vs. having them ready for the first show at the end of May. Biggest thing I've heard is getting the milk fat off of them from nursing. I get my wethers at 10-12 weeks old. I think our breeder starts weaning at 8 weeks old and then by the time I get mine theyre good. When I start breeding I'll band at 8 weeks, give it a couple days then start seperating at night and work them down over a couple weeks to have have them weaned at 10-11 weeks old. By then they should be eating grain good and be ready to leave mama.


Answered in the quote


----------



## Trickyroo

Ok , newbie question....how in the world do you get them to stand like that ? I know with dogs its training , but its more of a natural stance for the GSDs , but for goats , that doesnt look like a pose they would naturally take . So I was just wondering how you would get them to stand so far back in the rear and so forward , lololol
Such a gorgeous goat , Dani !!!!!


----------



## Dani-1995

Lots and lots of practice! In these pictures he is bracing, so he's pushing off his back legs and it makes him go forward. He actually liked to brace, I made it a game for him so he liked it. I'd brace him then we'd give him a treat, either leaves from his favorite tree or a bit of BOSS. My sisters wethers didn't like to brace so you really had to push him hard but once he started he was fine. 

Thank you! He was my first champion so I'm pretty biased haha


----------



## Trickyroo

Thank you Dani


----------

