BuckyBoo is now "WetherBoo!"

There are few creatures on this planet that are cuter than a goat kid, especially a Nigerian Dwarf goat kid. Sure, it might take a couple of days to go from "aw, shucks, the polyfil in my stuffed goat toy is all flattened from being in the washer" to awesome fluffy bouncey ball on amphetamines, but yes, that change will inevitably come--and with it the soft-eyed wide-legged stance that just begs you to pick them up. (DON'T DO IT. Your bouncey ball will explode into a thousand legs and hooves and start to scream!)

BuckyBoo had a tough beginning to his life. If I had to guess, I think that he was her first born. The shock of giving birth for the first time, without any other goat or a person there to guide her along, prompted her to take refuge in the dog crate that I use for a hay rack in that pen. Sadly, the other kids didn't make it, possibly from their mom having lain upon them in that small space. Only my hearing a tiny, exhausted bleat coming from the direction of the sleeping pallets clued me in that there was a fourth kid, who grew into this little buckling. My joy at finding a live kid was only exceeded by Sunshine's swift change from grief to doting dam.

Despite his untimely beginning, BuckyBoo had almost a charmed existence for a kid. After Sunshine let her milk down for the first time, he was nearly drowning in the stuff--after all, she'd been geared up to nurse four kids! He never again found himself in a space he couldn't leave. The dogs left him alone. Even when he started to eat solid food, his digestive system kept chugging along without a hitch. True, I'd never gotten him disbudded, but that was fine. Like all bucklings for whom I had no practical use, he was destined to go to Camp Kenmore. When he was eating well enough, he'd go in the buck pen, where it would be sink or swim until he was grown enough to make a couple of decent roasts. It sounds horrible, but I prefer that to selling kids to the pet market, where the vast majority of kids seem to die from neglect or from ignorance shortly after placement.

Then again, there was Sunshine. Even when BuckyBoo reached three months of age, her love for her kid had not faded. And, because I had no other does, putting BuckyBoo in the buck pen meant Sunshine becoming a solitary doe again. Goats are not meant to be solitary animals. Even though the bucks and does are only separated by field fence, life would be hard for her. Because I was getting another buck (hi, Levi!) and because I had a lack of desire to put a small goat in with three much larger goats, I decided to wether him instead. That way, he could stay with his dam for as long as she needed him to stay.

Why Wether?

Wethering a buckling is like neutering a male dog or gelding a colt. It prevents an animal from being able to breed and may play a part in reducing certain kinds of cancers. Because Nigerian Dwarf bucklings are often capable of breeding their own dams before they are weaned, they are generally desexed no later than twelve weeks of age. While wethering itself does come with some risk to the kid, such as urinary calculi later in life, the procedure I prefer comes with no risk of death or infection.

The real advantage of wethering is the ability to socialize the goats. Wethered bucklings can stay with their dams or in their kid age groups until they are sold or sorted into their various houses. Wethered bucklings can also be sold to 4H or pet homes, which means they may experience a better quality of life. Finally, because they are no longer intact bucks, they won't go into rut and start urinating on themselves in the autumn months to attract does. This last bit is particularly important for homesteaders' quality of life, as it's the rutting bucks that smell so bad.

Wait . . . There are "Methods?"

Absolutely there are methods! Unlike dogs and cats, who are typically surgically desexed by a veterinarian, several options are available for wethering a buck. (If you're a man and you're reading, you might want to skip this section. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

• Surgery: The surgical means still exists, of course. Really, it's the best option for bucks destined to be pets or 4H animals. While invasive and while it puts the animal at risk of infection from an open wound, the owner is removed from the process entirely and the buckling experiences little trauma (emotional or otherwise).
• Banding: A rubber band is loaded into a device that hold it open until it is positioned around the goat's, um, nether regions. The bander is then closed, securing the rubber band tightly around the "family jewels." Believe me, the kid will let out a loud yelp at this point. This method is more practical for the homesteader who might have a multiple bucklings each year, rendering expensive surgery impractical. This procedure is non-invasive, but because the bands may create a wound if they're improperly placed, there's some chance of minor local infection. Over a period of weeks, the tissue dies, dries up, and eventually falls off.
• Burdizzo: The burdizzo is a clamp. The clamp is positioned around the goat's spermatic cord and closed. Tightly. And, because there are two cords, the procedure has to be done twice. I use this method, because Dan is a master at the method, having used it on calves and pigs. Regardless, the buckling doesn't like it much when the clamp closes, either time. This method is actually the safest for the kid. There are no incisions and no bands that might stray, so no infection is possible. The dead tissue is simply absorbed into the kid's system, leaving behind only a small, empty sack over a couple of months.

What Happened to Poor BuckyBoo?!

The entire procedure took all of five minutes. We stood him on the milking stand (hereafter to be known as the "Platform of Unspeakable Things"), where I wrapped my arms around him to hold him in place. Dan applied the burdizzo. It's a good thing that I was holding onto him, because poor BuckyBoo would have been airborne after the first application--by the second, I was wishing that I was She-Hulk instead of a 63-year-old female homesteader. I waited to let him go until after he stopped stomping and flinging his horns around. He's a sweet-tempered goat, but a goat is still a goat. I needn't have worried. After I let him go, he ran from the pen to nurse on Sunshine. At his age, nursing is a therapeutic or comfort thing for him. He has been eating well on his own since the beginning of May.

The Aftermath!

I wish I could say that he never looked back at the procedure, and all was well with the world after the initial shock wore off. Oh, he never saw a day of swelling or any indication that anything was wrong, other than him walking like a sailor returning to land after several months at sea. The hardest thing on me--maybe on the both of us--was that our previous good relationship was shattered for over a week. He refused to let me near him. I could no longer pick him up or even scratch his head. The poor little guy was convinced that if I got ahold of him, I would crush another body part in ugly mean pliers. The ironic thing is, if I had done the crushing and Dan had done the holding, we probably still would have been friends.

The one good thing about BuckyBoo being mad at me was that, as long as I could snap a picture of him, I never had to worry about trying to look at his rear end. Now, nearly a month later, he feels much better and is returning to his former friendly self.

What's Next for BuckyBoo?

Only time will tell what is next for BuckyBoo. He's a sweet wether, even now, and he still adores his dam. He is eventually going to wean himself, as he's slowly but surely nursing less and eating more. At the moment, BuckyBoo and Sunshine are a united front "against" Violet, but I notice that he's spending more time browsing near her, too. If he stays friendly and is good with kids, then he will stay with the does indefinitely. Right now, he's a "good kid," so I am firmly in the "let's keep BuckyBoo" camp and leaning less toward Camp Kenmore. We'll find out what happens for sure next time Sunshine has kids.

Thanks for Reading!

Once again, thank you very much for reading my little stories. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them. Please feel free to comment or subscribe to let me know what you think.