Breeding Goats Without A Buck

I’m sure you’ve heard the horror stories of keeping a buck on the property with your does. You’ve probably heard that they stink to high heaven. Or that they will breed through fences… or say what fence. I’ve kept bucks since the beginning of our goating journey and while I don’t mind them, I can totally understand why people wouldn’t want to keep a buck. But if you are looking to breed for milk or meat or for whatever reason you decide, how do you go about breeding goats without a buck?

Breeding Goats Without A Buck

First and foremost, breeding goats without a buck will not happen. You absolutely can’t do it. Basic biology says that you have to have sperm and an egg to make a fetus. BUT if you are not wanting to house bucks on your property long term, you do have some options. The 3 big ones are driveway breeding, seasonal bucks, or stud rentals….

Before we get into those ways of breeding without a buck, first I want to touch on why some people may not want a buck full time. I’ll tell you our experience with keep bucks full time so you can get a more rounded picture.

Why Not Keep A Buck Full Time

There are a lot of reasons not to keep a buck on your property full time. The first would be feeding. Bucks can consume a TON of food. And considering that for most farms or homesteads, they only have one purpose, to breed. So keeping around a buck that is going to eat a lot but only reproduce? That’s a tall order.

Another reason people don’t want to keep bucks is because they stink. Now, they only really stink during rut, but rut can last a long time. Rut is when bucks will fight other males, pee on their faces, and be a general nuisance.

Fence jumping or fence breeding is another big concern with keeping bucks full time. We have had several very stubborn does that were going to get their man when they came in heat. Short of tethering those does, they were going to get bred through the fence. However, it was not uncommon for the bucks to jump fences to get to the girls.

Now that we’ve covered why not to have bucks, let’s talk about ways to breed without keeping a buck full time.

Driveway Breeding

This option is exactly what it sounds like. You contact someone like me, who offers stud services, and tell them that you would like to use their buck to your does. This can be done in one of two ways. You bring your girls to the stud and let them do their thing in the driveway. Or they come to your does. Either way, the goal is the same, the hook up happens in the driveway.

There are some drawbacks to this option. The first is that if you missed your does heat cycle, you waste everyone’s time and stress the goats. The second is that if it doesn’t take, you have to do it again. Finally, trying to line up schedules to make sure that the goats get together at the right time can be a pain.

However, there are some pros to this style of stud service. Things like having full control over when babies are born, exactly what genetics you are adding to your herd, and not having the added expense and chores of a separated buck.

Seasonal Bucks

Another great option, and the one most similar to what we use, is seasonal bucks. This is when you purchase a buck for the season and then either sell him at the end of your season or send him to freezer camp. I like this option the best because you don’t have to worry about trying to keep someone else’s buck alive for the season. This is your buck, not someone else’s.

Another reason why this is a good option is because you don’t have to keep a buddy for him. Remember, I told you here that goats are herd animals. That means that if you keep a buck full time and don’t keep your herd together at all times, you will have to have a wether for your buck to keep him company. But if you buy a buck in September for breeding spring and fall babies, and butcher in November, you don’t have to keep a wether.

The downside to this is the expense of purchasing a buck every year and then figuring out what to do with them afterwards. Especially, if you aren’t interested in sending it to freezer camp. I’ll tell you right now, it is extremely hard to sell bucks.

Stud Rentals

This is something that we have done a few times with our bucks with mix results. Basically, you would contact your local goat or livestock group and ask if anyone rents out their bucks. You would select your buck, set terms like amount of time the buck will be at your homestead, any testing you would like done or have results for, and how much your willing to pay.

It’s not uncommon for stud rentals to be about $100/mo depending on what you are looking for. A show quality buck with all biosecurity testing could be upwards of $500/mo depending on your area. A registered buck could be a couple hundred. It really depends. Also, there is usually a contract of some sort that says if you break it, you buy it. Which is totally fair.

I think this could be the most bang for your buck if you know that you can’t send the buck to the freezer at the end of the season.

Our Experience With Keeping Bucks

We have kept bucks full time from day one. I didn’t want the added expense and headache of trying to find stud services and constantly switch out bucks. There are some things of note that we have found work well for us.

We leap frog our bucks, getting a new one every year and sending the 2 or 3 year old buck to the freezer. Midas will be going to the butcher in November (2024) because he has fathered too many of our retained does. Maverick is our next herd sire, he will be allowed to hang with Midas and learn the ropes before it’s “his turn”. Then during kidding season (Early 2025), we will pick another buckling to be the following year’s herd sire. Maverick will have until November 2026 before he goes to freezer camp.

Letting Bucks Be Bucks

Another thing we have found is that when we allow a buck to stay with his girls, he isn’t solely focused on breeding. In fact, he becomes a herd protector and has ran off coyotes and other predators. Is it full proof? No. But allowing animals to follow their natural instincts is amazing to watch.

We have found that if we keep our bucks separate from the girls, they are far stinky-er than if just leave them with the girls. So we will let the buck stay with his group of girls 24/7 and he doesn’t need to compete with the other bucks. However, they will absolutely pee all over themselves and get rowdy. But it’s not nearly as bad as when we have separated them.

I enjoy having the ease of keeping bucks on the farm. We will always have bucks here, especially because they will keep the girls in check and protected. That’s a win in my book.

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