He is a handsome boy 😍
Nigerian dwarves are a breed that can become fertile very young. But I think full sized breeds take a little longer and you’d likely be ok to wait until 3-4 months. Keep an eye on his activity and watch for any extending.
I have a boer buckling I sold and he’s still on his dam unto the end of the month.

 

Ok, that’s good to hear! That will make all the logistics of weaning and everything a bit easier to manage😂 thank you!

 

You could also try getting a buck apron. Those usually don't work well for adults, but I've heard they work well for keeping over-enthusiastic bucklings in check until weaning.

 

Ok thank you! Is it something you can leave on full time for a few weeks?

 

All good advice. 😊

 

i separate the bucklings at two or three months i have oberhaslis and nigerian dwarfs

 

I use aprons for boys starting at 3 months. And they have worked amazingly well for all my bucks except one (a disabled one with a funky spine). Including a very large, very amorous adult buck. The only accidental breeding he did was when he was in a separate fence and broke out. When he was in an apron we had no accidents.

 

I support at 8-12ks but if they're not that mature 4mths max.

 

Ok so I used to breed a large amount of nubians and depending on your location and temperature they can have a longer breeding cycle than you realize. With that said if I had multiple kids from multiple does with bucklings and doelings in the mixed then I weaned bucklings at 7 weeks old. If I wanted to keep a buckling then I would move that doe and buckling to a separate field or pen to keep them away from doelings. If the doe had a doeling I was also keeping then I still weaned the buckling and then just supplemented with her mill in a bottle. My boys were very sharp on knowing how to breed some within hours of birth and the poor barn cats 🐈 were the first recipients of the practice skills.

 

Seconded. I had a 7-week-old Nubian buckling impregnate a 3-month-old Nubian doeling, so she cycled for the first time in the spring and he got her. Separate/wean at 7 weeks, or keep aprons on all the bucklings starting at 7 weeks.

 

yes to a buck apron. I start at 6-7 weeks but i have nigerian dwarfs, i have been hearing all the buck sounds constantly and the oldest is 3.5 weeks. Im like already.......... so apron will be going on the oldest this weekend to make double sure.

 

My 2wk old was is making buck sounds I know he can't breed yet but boy he wants to be a buck I guess.

 

yes i had some making those noises as soon as they were born towards the dam... but mine are doing the jumping/chasing thing, so only so much more time before they know what they are doing...

 

They are fertile at 7 weeks old so any point after 7 weeks that they can extend and reach a doe depends more on the breeds. Nubians ate pretty good at starting early but I never had smaller breeds so their ability I can not speak to.

 

What about doelings? How old can they be bred?

 

@Lil Boogie had one that got bred super young.
They can definitely get bred younger than they should!

 

Ok, yeah and I saw Aozora’s comment about a three month old doeling! Yikes! I just wonder if that means they become fertile as young as 7 weeks…like bucklings. Also I’m wondering…when goats live in the wild, do they become fertile later? Is it just a results of domestication that they become fertile this young? Because if they’re impregnating and getting impregnated that early, that just doesn’t seem like it would work😅 I guess maybe the goats that can’t handle that get weeded out by natural selection🤷🏻‍♀️

 

Indeed I did. She was exactly 1 month old, got pregnant and had a buckling 5 months later, at 6 months old. He died. The doe never fully recovered and had wonky hips. I bought her right at a year old, so that happened before I got her. I also ended up selling her, and not breeding her.

 

Oh wow! Ok that’s just crazy!😱