Genetically speaking, bucks comprise half your herd! Does deservedly flaunt celebrity status in dairy goat world, but bucks are the unsung heroes of the herd. From a purely utilitarian perspective, this is undeniably true. The thing is, the boys are equally intelligent, outgoing, playful, friendly & affectionate, but IMHO sometimes find themselves ostracized from the herd & much needed daily physical human contact because of their questionable personal hygiene habits. During breeding season, they are really stinky dudes, there's no getting around that. It's like an olfactory form of self-promoting their talent to all the lady goats on the farm. You want bucks that are no-nonsense easy breeders, you probably don't want to lay your bare hands on a rutting buck that's sticky, literally covered beard-to-tail with his own urine & ejaculate. What's the happy median? Management! At times, well-meaning folks tend to collect more bucks than they could hope to reasonably proof through their breeding program. It takes a minimum of three *M daughters from separate dams for a buck to reach "+" status with ADGA & five daughters on active DHIR within performance herds who have also been linear appraised to earn his Production Type Index (PTI). That's a tall order! It's an even taller order, if you feel strongly that each animal on your farm deserves daily attention & quality husbandry. We've concluded less is more, each buck has a strategic genetic role in our breeding program, proper nutrition & human contact. There are several avenues that have reduced smelliness for us :) each buck has his own paddock, sleeping/loafing quarters, & secure/covered/locked but visually inclusive bed in the main barn at night or on inclement days. They can see and chat with the does, but not access them. My goat pens are cleaned super frequently down to the cement, then replenished with fresh pine shavings & deep straw. By avoiding running boys together, there's a lot less pee flung, hollering, goat drama & zero injuries due to bucks scuffling. When actively breeding, each boy lives with "his girls" which seems to keep everyone jubilant, mellow & quiet. If I notice a boy getting a little "ripe" I wash his beard/front legs carefully with Dawn dish soap & water, towel dry - spot clean only, never risk fall pneumonia. I haven't noticed our does take on any smell-by-association, or milk flavor was negatively affected. Manscaping our bucks! We keep excess hair in check, trimming a modest amount of hair from reproductive area, rear & tail. This lets us keep a close eye on his bottom, twig & berries year round. Train bucks to be calm on the stand, walk smartly-in-hand on leash from a young age, trim hooves at least once a month, perform all the parasite testing & golden management practices afforded your prized does. Your bucks will be so grateful for the attention, they'll be smiling ...yup, quite possibly spontaneously demonstrating their appreciation by whipping out their unit to prove it still works! Never punish them, you want them to breed on leash & provide quality semen collections when needed. Mitigating the temptation of trying to recoup one's investment if a buck doesn't work out for your herd. There's a fine line there, a buck that produces exceptionally for one herd, might only produce average progeny in another, does are half the equation. However, if one notices multiple daughters (from unrelated dams) with udder or teat defects, noticeably lower milk production than the previous generation, incorrect bites, deformities or marked unsoundness of leg or wind, to my mind it's unfair to sell that animal down the road intact & pass the chance for more of the same issues to another herd. The new herd owner might not see an issue emerge for a few years to come, but the genetic consequences could be far reaching (especially linebreeding) & omerta does nothing to strengthen the future of a breed. Obviously, don't lay personal blame on the buck or his lines either, genetics are complicated & many issues turn out to be polygenic, chalk it up to experience & move forward in another direction. A revolving door, or generations retained & successfully promoted within the herd? This is usually very telling, when you see multiple bucks in a breeding program that have lived long healthy fertile lives, you can probably rest assured that breeder is on point and really cares about whole herd health. There are exceptional examples of outstanding bucks remaining fertile & still covering a few does naturally into their tenth year! Fear not, you will discover the radius a joyous squirt of welcome pee is most often flung - four feet in our experience. Hairy, occasionally a little-to-a-lot smelly, but always lovable & dare I say... huggable! Being actively involved on a daily basis & equally compassionate toward your boys guarantees a happier, healthier, quieter herd overall. It's a win-win. Feeding Arenta Bucks - Proportions still change a bit seasonally, but here are the core elements: Weed Free Eastern Orchard horse hay Standlee Timothy Grass Pellets Organic Fruits & Vegetables Black Oil Sunflower Seeds Pumpkin Seeds Triple Crown Naturals Golden Ground Flax Thorvin Organic Icelandic Kelp Sweetlix Meat Maker Loose Mineral Zin-Pro 40 Baking Soda I even give the boys Rainbow Light Pre-Natal vitamins 2x a week, and seasonal organic nuts - pecans, almonds, and hazel nuts with daily rations. Grass Hay Quality - Never tell a potential hay vendor you're looking for goat hay, there seems to be a general assumption that goats like weeds, or eat any old garbage. Hay should never be dusty or moldy. Pull handfuls of hay randomly out of bales and smell deeply - is is sweet? Does it smell like sunshine and fresh grass? Is it a nice uniform green color throughout, or is it faded yellow, or full of brown stems? We prefer top quality horse hay. Sport horses cost tens of thousands of dollars, so hay vendors are more attentive about quality offered to the owners of those animals - seek out the very best for your boys! Nut & Seed Quality - The same idea is true of the organic nuts and seeds fed to your bucks. Taste them yourself, are they "nutty" and oily with a rich flavor? Or dry, shriveled and tasteless? We've found a dramatic difference in black oil sunflower seed quality in particular. Look at the nutritional label closely too - we feed high fat, oily seeds, packed with nutrition and flavor. Never feed roasted, salted nuts and seeds, raw is best. Fruit & Veggie Quality - Your herd will really appreciate seasonal tummy nummies you discover at local organic farms/farmer's markets and you'll be helping support neighboring farmers. Sustainable, locally grown organic food is so precious to our health & hope for our planet. Our bucks go gaga for squash, apples, pears, carrots, corn on the cob, leafy greens & beets. Rinse but leave husks & stems on, keep squash whole etc. to increase entertainment factor. Don't dump a massive pile to wilt, rather just enough to give each goat a small treat & the mental enrichment of discovery. Annual Health Testing - WADDL offers cost effective screening for Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis Virus (CAE), Johne's Disease (aka Mycobacterium avium, MAP and Paratuberculosis), and Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL). These diseases are contagious and life threatening, test your herd annually and be aware of the presence of neighboring sheep and cows (including ponds/streams that might be subject to fecal contamination) as potential sources of infection as well. Have farm visitors wear clean rubber boots, and dip boots in a strong bleach/water (or Accel/water) solution in front of you before setting foot on your property. Quarantine new animals until their test results come back negative - remember your boots/clothes/hands could cross contaminate, so take the necessary precautions! We do not offer public stud service. Parasite Control - Observe buck condition closely all year long, put your bare hands on your boys feeling over shoulders, ribs, spine and pins thoroughly - if they're rutting or heavily "perfumed" just wear short sleeves and wash thoroughly with Dawn dish soap after. Familiarize yourself with FAMASHA testing, and consider regular fecal flotations as an additional precaution. We copper bolus the entire herd every 3-4 months and feed Perma-Guard amorphous fresh water Diatomaceous Earth. We feed DE once-a-day in feed rations, for one week per month, which I suspect may help reduce parasite loads mechanically as well. All Boys - Male goats need a modified diet with restricted calcium intake to prevent urinary calculi from building up and eventually blocking their urethra. I will give them a pinch of Chaffhaye as a special treat now and then, but that's it.