So he had to get put into the herd sooner then I wanted because taking the dog door out isnt an option (6 dogs) He was contentedly living in the backyard with some weaned babies, his health still isnt 100% (mostly needs more weight gain) well he decided using the dog door was a great idea. He was in miserable shape when he got here and needed round the clock care for a few days. I rescue and recently (January) took in a pygmy buck that was to be shot because no one could stand him.
My personal take on it is that the more socialized the buck the better they are to have around!Įx. This is something im well versed in! I don't have much space to house everyone completely seperate (I can now split bucks and does) And like human babies, they can overcome a lot of our inadequacies and God is gracious to them and to us.
It is frustrating when you're new, but as you grow in confidence with your goats, you will not be so frustrated with the differing advise you receive. Various breeders are going to have various takes on things, and we just need to filter through them, knowing that every animal doesn't read the books, and the breadth of experience we can glean may or may not fit our current situation at the moment, but later it could change, so it's good to have as much information as possible in our brain files. I think you're going to find that there are a lot of ways to skin a cat so to speak. Think of things you can do to minimize tension, how to break them apart if it's problematic (introducing them with both on a lead and strong hands holding each lead) and try is all you can do. In rutt, that may be a different story! So, I think a lot depends on your bucks' personalities. Not in rutt, I can say, "Boys!" and they stop and look at me and will come to me if I call them, settling down for cheek rubs. Even if they were the same age, they'd fight. Also, it's not rutt season, so this timing is as good as it gets. Your pen is also a good size, so they don't have to be on top of one another, which can cause more aggression. You might try taking the wether out and putting him with your girls (since he's harmless) and after the other buck is lonely a bit, put in the new buck and he may be happy to have company. You can also make sure the pen has some obstacles (electrical spools, large rocks, etc.) so one can get out of the way if need be. Just depends on the goat! I would introduce through a fence first, maybe even for a few days (after the quarantine period, of course). The little one readily recognized that she was smaller and lower on the totem pole and lowered her head when approaching the other does, and the other does readily accepted her deference and loved her. If they were meaner does, maybe, but they weren't. I was once told that if I put a 3 month old doeling in with two 6 month old twin does, that they'd beat the snot out of her, not let her in the barn, and leave her for dead. Every animal, like every person, has a different personality. Well, they all might be right, but you won't know until you try it. We eventually hope to sell out older buck, but may get new bucks in the future. I know of other people who house bucks together, and they don't seem to have a problem. But, we talked to a local friend of our, with Alpines, who told us they may fight to the death, but there will definely be blood flying, and we may get hurt if we try to break them apart. Both are hornless, but have some scurs, and are almost the same size. So, we thought that in a few days, we would put our yearling buck in with our 2 yr old buck. The breeder where we got our new buck from housed him in a large pasture with a 3 yr old HUGE buck. It currently houses our 2 yr old buck, and a 2 yr old wether. We have a 75 ft by 125 ft buck pen on the other side of the barn. He is currently in a stall in the horse barn, but is pretty unhappy. We just picked up a new Alpine yearling buck. I'm told one thing by a breeder I trust, I read something else, then I see another breeder who does somehting completely different, and it works for them. I'm not sure if any other newbies feel this way, but I am so FED UP with confusion regarding goats.