Goats are companion animals, which means that they do best when having someone to share the pasture with. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that keeping male and female goats together is a great idea. While there are times when they can roam together, it is usually best to keep the male goat separate, and with a different companion if possible, from the females until he is needed to breed them.
Why?
Here are the biggest reasons for keeping a buck separate from the does:
- Knowing when birth times will be. As I mentioned in a previous post, How to Tell When a Goat is in Heat, it is usually pretty obvious when a doe goes into heat. When she does, and you have her say, “hello,” to your buck for a quick breeding session, then you know the exact day she was bred and can calculate when she will be due.
- If you are in the process of milking your goats, being with a buck in the same pasture can cause the milk to give off a “goaty” smell and flavor. It was quite a shocker for me the first time I drank goat milk from goats that were kept apart from the bucks, it was very similar to cow milk in taste.
- A buck could, potentially, breed his offspring if he is in the same pasture as a momma goat and her kids. Which brings me to:
- A doeling being bred too early. Doelings can go into heat as early as 4 months. Some sources say as early as 3, even! This is way too early for a female to be bred and can cause significant harm when birthing time comes around.
- There’s also the potential for a female to be re-bred immediately after birth if the buck is kept in the same pasture as her. Her body needs time to recover, especially while she is milking her kids.
- Bucks will be bucks, and that means that they can be aggressive. Not only to young goat kids, who could get injured if a buck roughhouses them too much, but also to a female getting ready to give birth. This sounded crazy when I first heard it, but, apparently, when a female gets close to birthing and her body is preparing for birth, she gives off the same hormones as when she goes into heat. The buck may get excited and try to mount her, or become rough if, and when, she rejects him. This could cause injury to the female because her body is loosening and preparing for birth. It could, also, put the unborn goat kids at risk of severe injury or death.
Keeping a male goat is great. I love having my Harry around. He enjoys visiting with the cattle and he goes running down the driveway when I’m heading out for a jog. It’s like I have my own cheerleader pushing me! While it can be more work, I have to feed two sets of goats and such, keeping him separate from the females is best for everyone.
Now, enjoy a cute, funny picture:
This is Spock. Can you guess how he got his name?