Goats?

[farmerlor]

So last year we bred three goats and only one took. She gave us two pretty little boys and we banded them right away. Ummmm yeah, about this banding thing, apparently you're supposed to check every few days to make sure the band is still in place because it would appear that I now have a wether and a buck. The way we found out he was a buck was because we caught him flagrante delicto with his mother. Now I'm worried. Can you tell me if he's even fertile yet? He was born at the beginning of February. And if he is fertile and impregnated his own mother will the baby that she has be okay or are we talking some three headed, eight legged monster goat?

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Yes he is fertile, but no you will not get a monster goat. Many people will do on purpose father daughter breedings (Course this is a mother son breeding) to see what hidden genetics there are.

Seperate him, and keep his wether brother with him. Dry off your doe (if she isn't already) and start looking for signs of being preggo. If she is preggo, just let her birth, and use the baby as freezer meat or if its a wether maybe sell it as a pet.

 

[farmerlor]

Oh, we definitely separated them as soon as we figured out what was going on. But he's after everyone, even my tiny pygmy monster, evil goat. It's weird though because he doesn't SMELL like a buck so I never saw this coming.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

Sometimes it can take time for them to start peeing on themselves.

 

[Stacykins]

I think a lot of people get caught off guard by bucks. Their first year rut isn't intense, and they barely smell. Then come the NEXT year, whew, they can knock over a vulture with their smell. Their 'fragrance' is both a mixture of urine that they like to get all over their face and legs, and scent glands that are located behind the horns (or where the horns would be, if polled or disbudded). Sometimes disbudding can burn away those scent glands, if someone aims for them, reducing buck smell.

Also, it kinda depends on the goat. I've met some goats in full rut, that are mature adults (2 years old and greater), who don't smell too bad. Then others, they peel paint with their aroma. I happen to own one of those ultra stanky boys. He is SUCH a sweet, mild mannered lad, but wow, he has a powerful smell to him.

Also, just curious, when you said you banded them right away, did you band them within a few days of birth? A lot of breeders like to wait at least a month, preferably two, until making them wethers. It gives a chance for their urethra to grow and mature, reducing the chance of a urinary blockage later in life. But also, someone I know who owns goats says it is easier to make sure both testicles palpable and below the band because they are somewhat bigger. If you band and 'lose' a testicle above the band, it retreats into the abdominal cavity, and you still have a potentially fertile animal. Less fertile than an animal with two intact danglies, but still able to impregnate.

 

[farmerlor]

The babies were born on a Monday and I needed Greg's help to band them so they didn't get banded until the next Saturday or Sunday but certainly they were less than a week old. We were quite certain when we banded them that we'd captured both testes but it never even occurred to me to check a week or two later to see if the bands were still in place. They look pretty impervious to breakage and I'm positive they couldn't just slip off so it's a mystery to me but from now on we wait a few more weeks and then we check a couple weeks after that just to make sure.

 

[Extra Java]

I use a Burdizzo.

 

[Nathan Sampson]

I use a Burdizzo.

Those thing make me and my giblets cringe sorry just had to say it.

 

[1muttsfan]

Did you check to see if he still has a tesicle(s)? Castration does not nescessarily eliminate all mounting behaviour.

 

[Extra Java]

Was he born with 2 testicles? Is it possible he could be a chryptochid?

Check the sack close to the body and check for a slit/hole/soft spot...In chryptochids, you may find the tip of the other testicle, sometimes not.
If you can't feel anything except solid tummy, then you know his guts aren't going to fall out (which is a horrible death from strangulated hernia).

Goats born with one testicle usually have another one inside their abdomen sometimes in odd places. They are infertile however, will always have bucky characteristics in which case, make great teaser bucks.