The Pygmy Buck

(1). A buck that you like and will be happy with, taking into consideration that over half of the kids he throws will look like him, both in confirmation, size, and structure.
(2). Always take a good look at the hind legs and rear end. The buck makes his living standing on his hind legs. So good bone, wide set legs, with as close to prefect angulation is very important.
(3) If you are buying an older buck, watch him walk and observe this from behind, he should place the rear foot, right where he picks up the front foot. ( This is called tracking and is very important in both does and bucks). Also ask to see some of his off spring, is he able to reproduce himself. I also think it is very important to choose a buck with a strong thick neck that blends well into the shoulders and the chest floor and remember lots of hair is a very desirable trait in a buck.
(4) If you are buying a Junior buck he should be standing on strong rear legs, well muscled, wide apart and square set. If you do not see these things in a Junior buck, you will not see them when he is Senior.
(5) Make sure that the buck you choose has a nice head, his eyes need to be set far apart and wide forehead, as bucks get older the dish they haves as babies seems to disappear, so take that into consideration when choosing a young buck. If his head is not pygmy type as a Jr. it surely will not be any better as a Senior.

Here at Goat Junction I strive hard to put the type of buck on the ground, that I would be proud of in the ring and proud to breed with. I am very picky about what will stay a buck. Remember the buck that you put out there will carry your herd name forever and will reflect your herd down the road.

When a baby buck is born, the first thing I watch for is to see how long it takes him to get on his feet. A good strong buck should be trying to get up with in 20 minutes of birth and standing and nursing on his own in under one hour. In the first few hours I watch those hind legs, I want to see them under him and supporting his weight, not way out behind for support nor tucked up under. I view the legs from the back and make sure that his rear legs are not posty and that they do not turn in at the hocks. Breed markings are also very important, if there is even a slight random marking, (this being on the feet or legs,) this one that will be wethered. (Remember that he can reproduce this fault 50% of the time.) In the next few weeks I watch and see how he develops. I watch to see what kind of spring of ribs he will have, (I like a buck with a nice full barrel) so the spring of ribs is very important. Spring of ribs means the space between each rib. If the space is close then animal will be "flat sided" and this is an undesirable trait in a pygmy buck or doe. A wide chest and wide set legs is next on my list. I like, form the chest floor to their legs to look like H's and when viewing from the front they set in line with back legs.

By the time the buck has reached 10 to 12 weeks of age I have pretty much made up my mind as to if he will be SIRE of a herd someday. At this point I band the undesirable bucks so that they become wethers. This method takes a about 4 to 6 weeks for the band to come off. If, I have decided that he will stay a buck and one that will go to the ring, then he and mother will be moved to another pen. The reason for this, is that at three months old a Jr. Buck is fertile and may be able to breed his sister or other baby girls in the pen. Mother and baby buck stay together until he goes to his new home or she weans him. Staying with mother is just away to insure that he is getting the best that Mother Nature has to offer. At this point I move to a pen with other bucks about the same size.

I do our first breeding with a Jr. Bucks when they turn one year old. I try and pick an older doe who will be still, while the young buck figures out what to do. I only breed him once, just to make sure that he can breed and to see what kind of babies he will put on the ground. ( By using an older doe who has kidded on my place before, I have some ideal what kind of quality babies she will make). Then is we are successful and he produces live babies, we do not breed again until he 18 months old. The buck continues to grow not on the outside as much as on the inside, he is still developing bone that he will need later down the line. By over breeding a young buck, you do not give his bones in the rear legs time to set and become what you want for the future. This could lead too early arthritis, cause a good set of legs to become hockey and later could hinders his capability to breed. The buck is fully matured by age three and then can go into a full fledge breeding program.

As far as housing my bucks, the Senior bucks are housed together in pairs. One buck in a pen by himself could lead to a to aggressive buck when it comes time to breed. I truly don't believe any pygmy goat should be left alone by themselves. The Jr. bucks seems to do okay in groups of three or more. But by the time they are Senior bucks they are living in pairs. I try and put buck together who are alike in personality and size, not by age. I have seen so many great bucks get permanent injures due to being housed with an incompatible buck. At Goat Junction I truly believe that the best investment, is the BUCK and he is who will make the name for your herd. So be careful when buying a buck and buy the best that you can afford.