Can a 5 week old buck be fertile at this age?

[Carla D]

i have 8 very young goats that were born between March 18 and March 20. Three Lamancha, one is a buck. Five Nubians, one a buck. From what I’ve been reading a buckling can get his mother pregnant at 8 weeks. My Lamancha buck has been able to expose his penis for a week now and he’s been mounting a couple of does that are his same age. Is he mature enough to impregnate a doe at his age. I’m pretty sure the little does are too young to get pregnant because they are barely a month old. All eight of my babies are bottle babies. I don’t have to worry about Thor impregnating his mother, but could he possibly impregnate one or more of my little does? Zeus, my other buckling has not shown any interest yet in breeding. Should I be separating my bucklings from my doelings at this age?

 

[Southern by choice]

Only Nigerians are fertile at 8 weeks. The standard goats are not but they will be by 4 months.

 

[Carla D]

Only Nigerians are fertile at 8 weeks. The standard goats are not but they will be by 4 months.

Thank goodness! That’s a relief. Now I need to teach him how to be a gentleman.

 

[goatboy1973]

We wean our bucks at 10 weeks of age. They are separated from the rest of the doe herd and put in the buck/ weaning lot. We leave the doe kids on their mommas and let momma wean them naturally. This makes for a more cohesive doe herd I think because I have 3 generations of goats and it is amazing to watch last year's does babysit their newborn siblings while momma goes out foraging for food.

 

[Carla D]

We wean our bucks at 10 weeks of age. They are separated from the rest of the doe herd and put in the buck/ weaning lot. We leave the doe kids on their mommas and let momma wean them naturally. This makes for a more cohesive doe herd I think because I have 3 generations of goats and it is amazing to watch last year's does babysit their newborn siblings while momma goes out foraging for food.

I’m looking forward to that. I don’t plan on ever letting my herd get very big. So it will be a wait and see thing for me.