# 5 week old buckling mounting sister!?



## MeganH (Apr 6, 2013)

Hello, so today we noticed our buckling mounting our doeling. He seemed very interested in her and kept trying. However, they are only 5 weeks so is this a problem? We have read online to separate bucklings at anywhere from 7 weeks to 3 months. Not sure what to do here! 

If we have to separate within the next few weeks, does anyone have advice on how to coordinate weening? Both kids eats lots of grass and hay already. Can we just take the buckling away cold turkey?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

What breed are they? That will us tell you when to seperate.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Yes agree, what breed are they?


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## TzFarm12 (May 24, 2013)

Hi all - I have almost the same question. I have 4 week old bucks mounting a 3 month old doe (and each other). They are alpine goats. I planned to castrate the boys in a couple months and was hoping not to separate them (would be complicated with our pasture/stable setup but can be done). Advice? Thanks!


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I have Nigerian Dwarves. They are well known for being fertile at a young age. :laugh: Usually the earliest they can impregnate a doe is 8 weeks, when they reach puberty. Some reach puberty later, and some at 7 weeks. I have a 7 week buckling who is HUGE, which tells me he may hit puberty earlier, so it is about time for him to be separated. I like to teach my bucklings to take a bottle so that if I have to separate them early, they can still have some of momma's milk.


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

We castrate at 8 weeks. My dad used to say that bucks are born ready.


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## circle_star_boars (Jun 4, 2013)

If they are brother and sister, they are just playing. The won't breed.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Normal behavior. The earliest we seperate is 3 or 4 mos, by then they've usually been banded.


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## fibromom (Mar 31, 2013)

*Separating Little Boy?*

Our baby boy started this at 4 weeks of age! His twin sister just looks back at him like, "I don't want to play that" and gallops away! He was banded at about 16 days old after both testes dropped. Everything is coming along fine tho the testicles have not fallen off yet. I know it takes from 2-3 weeks after banding so it should be happening soon.

2 QUESTIONS: neither of our babies' dried-up umbilical cords have fallen off and they'll be 5 weeks old soon, no-infection or problems noted. Should I be adding alcohol to them to speed up this process?

Also, does baby boy have to be separated if he's neutered? He's our "meat goat" and we planned to keep everybody together until butcher time which, for us, will be when he's about 6 months old (when winter comes on.)

:cake:Happy Birthday to me in 17 days! This year, I think I'll be spending it milking a goat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:wahoo: (But will that probable CL lump ever go away so that I can start saving the milk???)


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## MeganH (Apr 6, 2013)

They are a saanen/ Nubian cross. Not 100 % sure as we bought our nanny bred. Does this help?


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## FarmerInaDress (Mar 15, 2013)

circle_star_boars said:


> If they are brother and sister, they are just playing. The won't breed.


Why do you say that? I have always heard that brothers will readily breed their sisters, not to mention their mothers and daughters if given the opportunity.


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## FarmerJen (Oct 18, 2012)

Brother / sister is irrelevant. They will breed. 

My two bucklings are 3 weeks old. One of them has been mounting everything, starting at 13HOURS old.  He's now into full on tongue flagging, blabbering, and chasing the girls around. He seems particularly interested in one of his half-sisters. 

I'm planning to band at 6weeks - though open to suggestions if I should do so sooner or later. If you're planning to band the boys anyway, I would just do so - then you wouldn't need to separate. At least that's my understanding.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

circle_star_boars said:


> If they are brother and sister, they are just playing. The won't breed.


They will breed. If everything is in order they will.


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## Jason_L (Jan 11, 2013)

I have a tongue flapper (4 week old buckling) that is chasing everything right now. My understanding is they cant really impregnate until they are at least 7 weeks or later, but I'm growing a bit concerned. At what age should I separate the bucklings from the rest of the kids? This summer, our 3 does had 5 kids total. 3 doelings and 2 bucklings. The kids are separated at night from their moms so we can milk the mom's in the AM. Then the all kids are in pasture with their moms all day.


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