i am not sure if this is in the right place, if not forgive me. i had a buckling born 4/8 and he's already, um... practicing for his male duties? i really wanted to wait a little longer to band him, but i have a doe due to kid in ten days, and i am afraid he will "practice" on the babies and knock them down all the time... should i band him, or will it be ok if i wait a little longer? :help: BOYS.....
even after they are wethered they love to jump on the other goats and do their boy thing. I wouldnt wether him just for that fact because it wont stop it right away. what I would do is keep mom and babies separate till they are old enough to be able to get away and be more steady on their legs.
I would seperate him from the other mom if you are worried. It's not healthy to bad wethers until at least 8 weeks of age, otherwise it doesn't give their urinary tract time to develop and they'd have more of a chance to develop stones.
I usually don't band til 7 weeks but had to do it at 6 weeks before and have had no problems with stones that I know of. As Stacey said, keep the new momma and her babies separate for awhile, til they find their legs. And regardless of wether he is banded or not, he'll still be tryin to practice at least for a few days afterwards....sometimes a bit longer. If you wait and band him while your new babies are bonding with their mom, he'll be a bit older and the urethra will have had time to grow that much more.
ok, it's good to know i can wait then. we don't have the facilities to seperate them though, it's still cold here at night and we only have the small one stall barn for shelter. i wanted to wait anyways, because then i can have him castrated surgically instead of banding him. i am just tired of having to push him off of me, hahah. thanks guys.
