Should I Keep a Buck Goat?
In this post I will help you determine whether or not you should keep a goat buck.
Goat terms
- Buck: Intact male goat of breeding age
- Wether: A castrated male goat
- Doe: A female goat of breeding age
- Dam: A female goat that has given birth
- Doeling: A young female goat
- Buckling: A young male goat
- Kid: A young goat of either sex
Dairy goats, just like human moms, need to get pregnant in order to produce milk. Once a dairy goat has given birth, she will continue to give a steady supply of milk for about a year. Depending on the breed, feeding program, and consistency of her milking routine, some people can keep their goats in milk for 1, 2, or even 3 years without having to freshen their doe.
Freshen: getting a goat pregnant again to increase her milk supply after giving birth.
Her milk supply may drop as time goes on, but if you are a small family homestead, you might not need gallons and gallons of milk each week to supply your family's needs.
But even if you plan to keep your goat in milk for an extended period of time, she will still need to be bred in the first place, and will eventually need to be bred again to continue to produce milk.
To get a doe pregnant, you need the help of a buck. In the dairy cow world, it’s common for AI (Artificial Insemination) straws to be used when a male is not available in person. (in cowson?) The cow’s estrous cycle is tracked, and when she shows signs of heat, an AI tech can come and impregnate her using a straw of semen.
This is not as common in goats.
For the small homestead, you really have 2 choices. You can either keep a buck in your herd, to use him in your breeding program, or you can hire a buck for stud service. In this case, you can either bring the buck to your girls or bring your girls to the buck.
For us, keeping a buck was the easiest way to ensure that our female goats could get pregnant every breeding season. I’m kind of a stickler with biosecurity practices on our farm. And I don’t like the idea of an outside goat coming on our property and mixing with our herd. For the same reason, I don’t like the idea of our girls going to another farm.
Before we got our first buck, I did a lot of research about the behavior of bucks, and from the horror stories I read online, you would have thought we were attempting to adopt a fire-breathing dragon. We’ve owned several bucks over the years and while they come with their own set of challenges, our bucks have not been that bad. In fact, my favorite goat that we’ve ever owned was a buck.
Keeping your own buck is honestly not that big of a deal. But you do need to have some things set up specifically for him, and you need to understand that bucks have different personalities and behaviors than does. For most of the year, they behave like sweet goats. But for 2-3 months in the fall, that behavior changes.
Rut
In late summer /early fall, your buck will start to display rut behavior. And it’s… ridiculous! Typical rut behavior includes:
- -Tongue flapping
- -Lip curling (Flehmen Behavior: your goat is trying to bring a scent to its nose)
- -Moaning, grunting, snorting, blubbering
- -Peeing on his face and beard
- -Rubbing his pee-covered face on anything, everything, and everyone
- -Rubbing his scent glands (located at the base of his horns (or where his horns would be)) on everything
- -Attempting to mount all your other goats, animals, and humans
- -Persistently attempting to climb the fences, gates, etc. to get to your does.
- -Being pushier and determined in their behavior.
- -Wanting extra affection from you
- -Showing more aggression toward other intact bucks. Rearing and clashing skulls.
Rut is ridiculous to watch. Your goat will turn into an idiot and it’s equally fascinating and disgusting to see this transition. You will probably smell that your buck is going into rut before he starts to change his behavior. The scent gland located at the base of the horns has a musky sort of oily animal smell that is not wonderful, but I feel like there are worse things in the world to smell. It kinda smells like a combination of musty basement and stinky cheese. He will start to rub this oil on EVERYTHING!
He will also urinate all over his face. You may ask, how does one pee on their own face? A buck’s penis is very long, thin and red. And is almost constantly erect during rut. A buck has quite a bit of control over the direction of his urine stream. He will bend his head down and pee all over his face and beard (if he has one). Be careful if you’re around your buck because they sometimes miss. I’ve been peed on several times over the years.
While this combination of gland oil and urine might seem disgusting to us humans, evidently goat ladies find it very alluring.
You do need to understand that bucks have the potential to be dangerous, especially if they are a large breed, especially in rut, especially around small children, and especially if they have horns. Most of this danger is accidental, but it’s a serious concern. None of our bucks have been menacing, mean-spirited, or violent. But we do keep large breed goats and when you get a 150-250lb animal moving with the passion of mating and hormones flaring… things can happen.
Housing a Buck
You will need separate living quarters from your does. Ideally, these quarters need to be far enough away that the females will not pick up on the buck's scent. The females will pick up on his hormones and in turn, their hormones will respond and it will change the flavor of their milk. It's called buck milk and it's disgusting. It will taste like your buck smells.
Bucks should not be kept alone. Just like does, all goats are social animals so he will need a buddy. I've kept bucks together in the past and sometimes they do fine and other times they will fight non-stop. When I say fight, I mean constant rearing and violent clashing of skulls. Sometimes goats will do this in play, but with bucks...it's completely different and a bit scary. They will butt over and over and over again, push and shove and fight until they are exhausted.
A whether is the best companion for a buck. A castrated male will make a great buddy for your buck. He can’t get pregnant and he won’t display the hormones that will threaten your buck. Your buck will most likely attempt to mount him when in rut, so keep an eye on your wether and make sure he’s not too stressed by the intensity of your buck’s behavior.
Other than the social aspects, bucks need everything that other goats need; shelter from the elements, clean stalls, pasture, feed, hay, minerals, clean water etc. (see more below)
Better fences for a buck
Bucks are harder on fences. They're bigger, so everything they do will be with more weight behind it. Another reason is that they like to rub on everything. Especially during the rut. They will also try to climb, squeeze and do really anything in their power to get to your does. Our Nubian buck destroyed our cattle panel stall trying to get to one of our female goats. We had another who unhinged a gate and got stuck between the bars. They're relentless!
Diet of a buck
We feed our bucks the same diet that we feed our dairy goats in milk. Bucks use a lot of energy to produce all those hormones. I find that a higher protein feed (16-18%) is needed to keep bucks in good body condition. Wethers and dry does don’t seem to need as much protein/grain/alfalfa as bucks and goats in milk. Make sure to choose a goat-specific feed that has a 2-2.5:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus. This will help prevent uroliths; small phosphorus stones that obstruct the urethra. (more below)
We feed:
- -Goat pellet, serving size based on weight (avoid feeding sweet grain to wethers and bucks, see below)
- -Free choice grass hay
- -Pasture (in the warm months)
- -Mineral designed for goats (more about this below)
Urinary Calculi
If you keep bucks or wethers it is important to know about a condition called Urinary Calculi. It is caused by feeding sweet feed/too much grain. Phosphorus crystals build in the urethra and block the urine stream. The bladder then backs up and can rupture causing death.
Luckily there is prevention. Feeding a goat-specific mineral containing ammonium chloride will help prevent stones/crystals from building up in your goat’s urinary tract. Also, as I said above, a goat pellet with a 2-2.5-1 Calcium to phosphorus ratio will help.
I recommend Manna Pro Goat Mineral
Another note about minerals: I've noticed that our bucks with horns consume more minerals than our other goats. Your goat will need quality minerals for healthy horn formation.
If you suspect your goat has urinary calculi, call a vet immediately. I will be writing a post on the symptoms of this disease in the future.
Extra Water
Bucks will go through a lot of water when they're in rut. This is mostly due to them peeing on everything. It's like a squirt gun and they need to refill often.
They will also soil the water faster. Because their faces and beards are full of urine, when they dip their muzzle in to drink, the dripping urine will dirty the water.
Choosing a quality buck
The buck you choose for your herd will make up half the genetics in all future offspring. I recommend doing your research. Be willing to spend a bit more. Research the breed and buy from a knowledgeable breeder. Ask about health concerns, vaccine records, and lineage. Find a breeder that is known for breeding good bucks. Visit a goat show or 4-H program and ask questions.
Horns? No horns?
If possible, a dehorned buck is a safer choice. However, I have raised several bucks with horns and lived to tell the tale. We raise Angora goats and the first buck I ever owned was a three-year-old strapping lad named Sulley. He was already sporting two impressive curling swords on either side of his head. Fiber goats can not be dehorned or disbudded because they will die of overheating in the summer months. The horns on goats act as a cooling system. (More on this in a future post)
If you’re not raising fiber goats, then I would recommend buying a buck that is dehorned or disbudding them as a young buckling, especially if this is your first experience with a buck. (I will have a future post all about horns and helping you to make the right decision for your herd.) There are positives and negatives on both sides.
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