Is your buck young? Sounds like he is not really detecting heats. I wouldn't count on signs from him. I would think you need to refresh the buck rag after a few months or so.
Buck Rags and "Bucky" Bucks
This relates to telling when a goat is in heat.
Two of the signs -- coming from the buck are testing the girls with a buck rag and watching the bucks behavior, and I have questions about both.
The buck rag: does it need to be refreshed? How long does the rag smell Bucky enough to make the girls react?
Another sign was watching the bucks behavior. I've had a buck for about 9 months now (NDwarf) and he has never stopped acting Bucky. Does that mean one of my girls is always in heat and the buck smells it on me? Also, he does his tongue thing, spitting, etc. any time a girl comes near him, whether or not she's in heat (unless she's coming in to heat each week). It seems as if that method of detecting will produce a lot of false positives.
Any guidance?
Two of the signs -- coming from the buck are testing the girls with a buck rag and watching the bucks behavior, and I have questions about both.
The buck rag: does it need to be refreshed? How long does the rag smell Bucky enough to make the girls react?
Another sign was watching the bucks behavior. I've had a buck for about 9 months now (NDwarf) and he has never stopped acting Bucky. Does that mean one of my girls is always in heat and the buck smells it on me? Also, he does his tongue thing, spitting, etc. any time a girl comes near him, whether or not she's in heat (unless she's coming in to heat each week). It seems as if that method of detecting will produce a lot of false positives.
Any guidance?
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Na... Turned 5 the beginning of this month so I'd not call that particularly young... I'll go with "horndog" and assume he's not a good indicator for heat -- but he stinks pretty well all the time so I should be able to get a good rag to use on the girlsIs your buck young? Sounds like he is not really detecting heats. I wouldn't count on signs from him. I would think you need to refresh the buck rag after a few months or so.
I refresh mine every season. But a well season'd rag is pretty stinky. We keep ours in a jar with a tight lid so the smell gets pretty potent LOL.
Also since we have multiple bucks, I get multiple smells. Mine respond to a "different" bucks smell muc h quicker. I use mine more for bringing them into heat earlier in the season. When I'm not bringing a new buck or my co-owned buck in, then it's a different smell that wakes their hormones.
Also since we have multiple bucks, I get multiple smells. Mine respond to a "different" bucks smell muc h quicker. I use mine more for bringing them into heat earlier in the season. When I'm not bringing a new buck or my co-owned buck in, then it's a different smell that wakes their hormones.
Different rags? Different Jars? Or all the bucks scents on the same rag? I have multiple bucks, too, so I can so do multiple smells! Anything to improve my husbandry even a little.Also since we have multiple bucks, I get multiple smells.
Wait! What? Huh? Does that mean my doe reacting to a buck rag could be induced heat and not from the normal heat cycle?I use mine more for bringing them into heat earlier in the season.
I'd have separate buck rags.
Different rags? Different Jars? Or all the bucks scents on the same rag? I have multiple bucks, too, so I can so do multiple smells! Anything to improve my husbandry even a little.
Wait! What? Huh? Does that mean my doe reacting to a buck rag could be induced heat and not from the normal heat cycle?
I use my one rag and wipe whatever buck I have and keep that one in a jar.
I don't know...if it's right now, I don't think it will induce heat. I use it in July/August to try to bring the girls in. I hang it in their house. But usually, I'm bringing my co-owned buck back at that time and his new scent alone will get them brought in. It usually takes 1-2 weeks here. If they are already cycling, then they just respond IF they are cycling. Hanging it in their house only helps to jump their hormones at the beginning of the season, I don't think it can reliably bring them in other times (maybe...who knows) and it also doesn't disrupt their current cycle if already cycling.
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