Our Bucks in Rut had a Fight Thru the Fence
Lesson Learned – Bucks in Rut cannot share a fence!
When I put my goats together for breeding, I made a big mistake. Bucks in Rut cannot share a fenceline!
I had arranged them in a series of three paddocks:
- the two young doelings,
- the three adult does with our unrelated buck, Player
- The other two bucklings.
See yesterdays post – Breeding season
Bucks in Rut will FIGHT
Player and Loki got into a fight. They butted heads, repeatedly, thru the fence. Loki wanted in with the does. Player was protecting his ladies.
The result was two bloodied bucklings and a hole in our new fence.
I’ll save you from seeing photos of their bloodied heads and horns…
Quick action required
I quickly blocked the hole in the fence with temporary fence panels. Then I enclosed Leo and Loki into a small enclosure to keep them out of trouble.
Next step – rearrange the goats.
I lured the doelings, Luna and Lily, into the double gate area and kept them penned their while I figured out how to move the others.
I made a funnel from the middle paddock out to the first paddock, again using the temporary panels. However, the adult goat wanted nothing to do with my plan to move them.
I finally had to get my neighbour to help out. Using some grain, I lured the goats at the front, and she encouraged them from behind.
Hopefully this works better:
- Breeding goats in the first pasture
- Then the two doelings,
- then the bucklings.
Once everyone was settled, I found some wire and wove a patch into the damaged section of fence. Its not pretty, but I think it will hold.
Improvements needed for next year.
By next breeding season, I hope to have another area fenced. That way, we can keep the young bucklings well away from the Does and chosen breeding buck.
It would also be good to have the immature doelings well away from the bucks. Physically, they could get pregnant and deliver healthy babies – as could a 12 year old human female… Ideally it is better that they wait until next year.
The doelings are almost as big as their Dams, and are showing some interest in the buck. It is possible for a doe to be bred thru the fence.
Always remember – BUCKS IN RUT ARE DANGEROUS –
regardless of how cute and cuddly they are most of the time.
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