Last week, we talked about how many does you need to start your herd. But if you want milk or meat, those does will have to get pregnant, which means you need a buck — or at least his semen. What are the pros and cons of having a buck or two — or zero?
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The question of bucks
Some people don’t want to have a buck at all. They’ve heard that they’re stinky and mean. While I won’t argue about the stink, they are not necessarily mean. We’ve had about a dozen different Nigerian dwarf bucks and one LaMancha buck over the years, and we have never had one that attacked a person.
In fact, in 19 years of goat ownership and hearing stories from thousands of goat owners across the Internet, the only bucks I’ve heard of who that hit people were those who were played with inappropriately as kids. Some people think it’s fun to butt heads with a baby goat. Well, it’s not so cute when that kid grows up to weigh 80 or 200 pounds!
You should also not scratch the top of their head. Otherwise, they’ll think you’re their scratching post and will want to rub their head on you, which is not fun when they’re big and stinky.
Bucks do tend to fight with each other, but usually just during breeding season, which is traditionally in the fall. And I never say that anything is impossible, but they almost never get hurt when they are butting heads with each other.
As for the stink — the odor is worst in the fall, which is breeding season. The bigger bucks are and the more you have, the more you’ll notice the odor. Our buck pen was noticeably stinkier when we had nine bucks. (Don’t ask.) If you only have a couple of bucks and they’re kept outside with a three-sided shelter, you won’t be able to smell them from too far away, even when you’re downwind.
Touching them is where you really notice the stink. But we know this, so if we need to do anything with bucks, such as trim hooves or do FAMACHA and body condition checks, we make sure we do it at the end of the day when we’re heading inside to shower anyway.
How many bucks?
Bucks are herd animals too, which means they can’t be alone. Bucks cannot run with does year-round because they’ll make them stinky and drive them crazy. Just because a doe is not in heat does not mean a buck won’t try to get her attention. If you’re milking your does, trust me on this — you do NOT want to have a buck in the same pasture where he can rub on the does. (I have no idea why some of them want to rub their head on a doe’s udder.)
Whenever we breed a doe, she is always the last one to get milked that day, and her milk goes to the pigs or chickens. It is nasty! (Unless you like milk that tastes like you’re licking a buck.) You don’t have to buy two bucks though, if that’s outside your budget.
A buck and a wether
Many people start with a buck and a wether (castrated male) as a companion. It’s actually not a bad idea to have a wether in your herd. Once you have more than one buck, you can put the wether with your does, and since he doesn’t know that he’s not a “real” buck, he’ll let you know when the does are in heat. Because he doesn’t have the hormones of a real buck, he won’t be stinky, and he won’t bother the does unless they are really in heat.
We had a couple of wethers in our herd for the first seven years we had goats, and they served as excellent “heat detectors.” If they are mounting a doe, and she’s standing there, that means she is in “standing heat.”
Why start with two bucks?
On the other hand, if you’re planning to keep some of your doe kids, you will have to buy a second buck to breed her, if you want to avoid breeding her to her father. This is why a lot of people will start with two unrelated bucks. If you can afford to buy two bucks when you get started, it will save you money in the long run. A wether costs as much to feed as a buck, and he can’t reproduce.
Should you lease a buck or pay for buck service?
Although it is possible to lease a buck and bring him to your farm or to take your doe to a buck when she’s in heat, that is not a popular choice. Not many breeders offer buck service because of bio-security concerns. If you have a disease-free herd, it’s risky to let an unknown goat breed your goats.
Doing “driveway breedings” can also be really inconvenient. If your doe is in heat, you have to drop everything, call the buck’s owner, then put your doe in your car and drive over to the buck’s farm. Breeding a few times will take about half an hour, then you put the doe back in your car and head home, hoping she’s pregnant.
Getting the timing right for driveway breedings can also be tough for new people. Does are only in heat for 24 to 48 hours about every 21 days or so. And she is only in “standing heat” for a few hours of that.
So, she might be screaming her head off and flagging and butting heads with the other does, but after driving her over to the buck’s farm, you might discover that she’s not in standing heat. Maybe she will be in a few hours? May she was in standing heat a few hours ago before you noticed? It will do you no good to hold the doe and let the buck breed her while she’s screaming and trying to get away. She probably won’t get pregnant.
If she comes back into heat, you have to repeat the whole process. You can see why most people wind up buying their own bucks.
What about artificial insemination in goats?
That’s another possibility, but also not very popular. Although semen costs a lot less than a buck, you have to have a storage tank, which starts at several hundred dollars, and you have to keep it charged, so the semen stays frozen.
Some statistics for AI show that pregnancy rates can be almost half of what they are with a live buck. This is probably due to humans’ misreading the signs of heat and inseminating at the wrong time. Since a doe won’t normally let a buck mount her unless she is fertile, chances of pregnancy are much better with a real buck.
To compensate for this, some people will give does hormone injections to cause them to cycle. And that opens up a whole different conversation for another day. Through the years I’ve only heard of a couple of people who used AI rather than owning a buck. In most cases, AI is used by people who already own bucks but simply want to bring a few new genetics into their herd.
For more info on this topic, check out podcast episode #78 – Artificial Insemination in Goats
Do bucks make good pets?
Remember, I said you need a buck if you want your does to produce milk or have kids for meat. If you are not breeding goats, you do not need a buck. If you only want a few goats as brush eaters, pasture ornaments, or pets, your best option would be a few wethers (castrated bucks).
How long do bucks live? Check it out on this post.
For more information on goat breeding
Click here to visit our Amazon store, which includes a list of things goats need.
Can you say more about the best practices for interacting with a buck to ensure he doesn’t become aggressive? We had to butcher our last buck because he was trying to fight us when we were in the same area, so it was hard to play with the kids or move fence. He had horns, so that made it worse. He would persistently lock them around my leg and try to twist and take me down. Now we’ve put some money into a nice registered, disbudded buckling and I really want to make sure we don’t have that problem again. He has generally been very shy, but has recently been pressing his forehead on a person who is doing chores. He’s with the whole herd for winter right now, in the barnyard. Is this something to worry about? How should we proceed? I’m very friendly and physically comfortable with the does, just worried about an aggressive buck.
You should never pet a buck on his head or rub it or anything. You can scratch his neck or pet him on the back, but don’t touch the top of his head. I’ve heard of people “butting heads” with kids, and then they’re surprised when an adult buck butts them. If they are rubbing their head on you, that’s not usually an aggressive thing. It’s marking territory. They’ll also do it to trees and posts and building. It may also be just because it feels good. But it’s probably better if you move away when he does that so that it doesn’t escalate into something more aggressive.
Ok, thanks!
I have one bum goat a lady just gave me ! It’s a boy and he had bad legs . My question is do I need another goat ? he is fixed . I don’t want to do a thing I just wanted to save his life ! What do I do ? Help please !
Yes, you should always have at least two goats. Here is more info on that:
https://thriftyhomesteader.com/debunking-9-ill-conceived-notions-abou/
I am curious about his bad legs though. What exactly is going on? Goats tend to butt heads and things like that, so I’m wondering if he’d be at a disadvantage with another goat. How old is he?
He may have vitamin e selenium deficiency give him vitamin e selenium shot or nutri drench which has selenium in it!
It’s also called white muscle disease because when they skin the goat the leg muscles are pale from not getting enough selenium in their diet. Look it up goat white muscle disease.
Watch this video it’s very informing about goats and it includes the leg problems your talking about and it tells how to fix it. Copy and paste the link below in your web browser! —->>>
https://youtu.be/04xGWNNuDoc
Hi,
We recently got started with some goats. I had a question about cross breeding. We have a 5/6 month old boer buck and a 6 week old boer/kiko cross. We had planned on castrating the boer kiko cross just because he is the runt and his brothers are going to our neighbors across the street. Should we still try to breed him or would it be best to turn him into a whether? Also, my other concern was the we have the boer buckling but all of our does are nubian (maybe a cross?) and tennessee goats (they might be mixed with another breed not sure). But the tennessee goats are smaller than the boer. Would it be foolish to let them breed with the boer buckling or should we sell him and get a different kind of buck?
You should NEVER breed a larger breed buck to a smaller breed doe. You could wind up with a c-section or a dead doe. If you only want one buck, you should get a buck from the smallest breed you own.
So as I am thinking about getting goats for pets and fun. Would you recommend two wethers? Im not concerned with cheese milk or breeding at this time.
Yes, wethers are ideal as pets!
Is it ideal to have two males or two females? Novice backyard farmer is wanting two goats mainly for brush and weed excavating, not necessarily for meat or milk production.
Hi Doug!
2 wethers (castrate males) would be ideal.
Bucks are going to smell terrible and if there are any female goats around, will spend the greater part of rut standing at the fence flirting.
Does can be very loud when they come into cycle, which may be as often as every 3 weeks, depending on breed.
Wethers are very easy keeps in comparison to most does or bucks.
~Tammy
We have two bucks because I wanted to use the second buck to breed with the kids of the first buck. But what do you do with those kids, do they breed back with the first buck? And you just keep switching back and forth through generations? Is that ok?
Hi Kimberly
Most folks will bring in a new buck every few years to breed any doelings that are retained. That way you do not run into issues with inbreeding.
Some years you may not have any doelings or you may not have any doelings born that you want to keep.
So these scenarios can extend the time that you keep your original bucks without having to add a new one.
Tammy
For those with access to one buck, is it not a good idea to breed does to their father? Would that cause any problems with their offspring or enhancing bad traits if any or increasing good traits or anything like that?
Inbreeding that close can definitely have undesirable consequences. Anyone who does it must be prepared to cull an animal that has issues.
That being said, not every inbreeding results in a bad outcome, but those who do it need to be prepared to deal with an unfortunate scenario if it presents.
Tammy