Goat raisers / lovers...Should I castrate this buckling or not? pic

[stuckinthecity]

OH MY... what a beautiful family! And wait, mother is good milker...father is good meat goat...Sounds like he has best of both worlds! I would keep him and see how he grows out. You could use him to breed your other does in the future (If you have/get any unrelated ones) and make some nice dual purpose goats! Sounds like a good line of homestead goats to me! Good luck!

 

[stuckinthecity]

Btw, I'm in love with that doeling's color.

 

[17roses]

Quote:
Thank you for the response.
I dont want to wait to castrate him till I have a buyer because he cant leave mom until 2 months and I castrate at 3 weeks. I have yet to sell a bottle baby, I dont trust people to make good decisions about bottle feeding. Many bottle fed babies die of improper feeding and I have real goat milk for them, not replacement milk which I think is way better. Usually mine being a boy would mean he would be in my freezer in 6 months to a year but I just cant do it this time.

I am glad you are having such a great time with your babies! I think kids are just sooo adorable and entertaining. Why did it take you so long to breed your goats?

Quote:
Thanks stuckinthecity! You hit the nail on the head. I am going for duel purpose / homestead goats.

I dont have an issue with purebreds or goat shows, I just dont really have any use for them. I am using these as family food. I really wish I could keep him but I have only room for one buck and I am keeping his sister cause her color is amazing and I think she is going to be a great goat. Her and her brother are growing like weeds. I have already had several people who came to buy other livestock offer me money for her. NO WAY! She is staying here until I can determine what kind of a goat she will be. I keep such a small herd. We try to keep it to 7 adult goats including the buck and the rest are meat or sold if does. Maybe I will advertise him early - and see what kind of response I get. See if someone wants to reserve him with deposit. hmmm. Then I would know whether to wether him.

 

[stuckinthecity]

Ugh, now I want him.

But, I agree about the shows and registered stock. The homestead doesn't need any fancy lines or high price show stock. A good crossbred goat that produces a lot of milk/meat is all ya need.

And about your little doe... I bet you have made many people mad. She will be a fine doe to have in your herd and I'm sure her colors will be passed on. I hope you find your little buck a good home!


Btw, when your raising your males for meat, do they stay with the rest of the herd? And do you separate your herd sire from the does or what?

 

[lungewhipqueen]

I am glad you are having such a great time with your babies! I think kids are just sooo adorable and entertaining. Why did it take you so long to breed your goats

To be honest, breeding wasn't intentional. I just couldn't keep the little buggers separated! I got some does strictly as pets a couple years ago, then my fiance brought home a couple billies that a friend pawned off on him. There's nothing wrong with any of them... I just never intended to raise goats! So with little escape artist pushing under fences, or jumping clean OVER pasture fence, or billies butting stall doors off their hinges, etc... I finally gave up and let them just stay together to decrease the damages. The results thus far are one tiny Pygmy doeling, and a buckling/doeling set that are Nubian/Myotonic/Pygmy mix! I've got one more nanny to go and her baby will be the same mix as the twins.

Mordecai and Rigby at 1 week

Here's tiny Lena with her mama Patty and me

Another of Lena and Patty

..and just one more of Mordy and Rigby!

Teresa

Blue Orpington rooster and hen, 1 white crested black Polish, 1 Light Brahma, 1 red mystery chicken, 2 Muscovy ducks, 5 goats +kids, 9 horses/ponies, 2 dogs, 3 cats, 1 rabbit and 1 cockatiel. Oh, and 10 pasty butt RIR and SLW chicks that my sister just pawned off on me today!​

 

[17roses]

Quote:
I keep the bucklings with the herd until processing or selling as meat. This year I have 4 bucklings. The buckling in question and 3 meat goats. Of the 3 meat goats, I have castrated 2 of them. I will take the intact buckling to the processers at 6 months. He will be old enough to breed but he will be no match for my full sized buck and will be too inexperienced to impress the ladies.

A 6 month old makes very tender meat but you get alot less. I will use him as our steaks. My castrated goats will go to processing or be sold at around 9 or 10 months. I try to rid the property of all extra goats before December when the grass and brush really goes into full a dormant state and I have to switch to mostly hay. I try to keep only 7 adult goats on my property during the winter months as I dont have a large property and I avoid heavy management practices when I can.

Quote:
The babies are truely adorable!!! The tricolored is beautiful!!! I hope this works out for you long term. I think the worry is worth it when I see there sweet little faces.

I dont know where you are but here there is a huge market here for the minis regardless of mixed status. I hope the final pregnancy goes off without a hitch.

 

[lungewhipqueen]

The babies are truely adorable!!! The tricolored is beautiful!!! I hope this works out for you long term. I think the worry is worth it when I see there sweet little faces. smile I dont know where you are but here there is a huge market here for the minis regardless of mixed status. I hope the final pregnancy goes off without a hitch. big_smile

Thanks, I knew we'd have to get some fun colors! I'm just starting to look into what the goat market really is here (just south of Kansas City). I'm seriously considering raising a handful of meat goats. I know there's a huge ethnic market in KC, just have to find my niche. I actually know enough people up there that would buy kids for meat that I think I'd get enough word of mouth business to start small like I want. If the demand grows, I can always increase my herd.

Of course, I'll always keep my cute little colorful goaties for ME to just enjoy. My fiance went out today and made the kids a teeter totter to play on. LOL. I should have carried my camera out with me.

Maybe you can answer a question for me. I'm not sure what color to call one of my bucks. My little purebred buck Paul is a carmel... but I'm not sure what to call Peter. I'll attach a photo of him. This is when he was younger... I don't have any good current ones of him.

That's Peter on the right

Here he is from the side

 

[bagendhens]

personally i think hes very prety but id wether him and try and "tame" him down a little, hed make a beautiful pet and a gorgeous pack animal in the right hands.

im personally planning, once i get my property and my goat, on getting a full sized wether boy to live with the resident buck at the time and train as a pack goat,
im only planning on relitivly small acreage with a atv and small trailer kit for any real hauling, but to help move brush and even small bales and such since i dont realy plan on having a horse (at least at first) i wouldnt keep a wether under normal circumstances, because i think everyone needs to earn their keep, but as a pack/light haul goat, he might be absolutly perfect

mabe you can think of a job for him.