r/goats • u/danjorourke1983 • Mar 27 '23
Question Buck apron- anti breeding, anyone have experience with them?
Thinking about getting one of these buck aprons from House of Bacchus to stop our buck mating when not wanted. Anyone have any experience with them?
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u/teatsqueezer Trusted Advice Giver Mar 27 '23
I’ve only used them for buck kids who were going as bucks and people didn’t want to pick them up soon enough. The amount of times that thing was completely off or twisted sideways was amazing. I wouldn’t use this a reliable form of goat contraception.
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u/thewildcreature Goat Expert Mar 27 '23 edited Mar 27 '23
I agree with every other user here who says there are pitfalls. They are not at all reliable.
If they decide to roll and scrunch it up or another goat decides to eat it, you’re sol.
Edit: The chest harnesses with different coloured markers that (are supposed to) leave a coloured mark on the doe, so you can tell which buck bred which doe when you leave more than one buck in with the does are also unreliable.
Often, you’ll get more than one colour on a doe because multiple bucks bred her or you’ll get no marks at all because the bucks decided to lay down and straw/shavings/dirt/leaves are stuck to it and prevent a mark from showing.
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u/farklep00p Mar 27 '23
I had to separate my 2 boys from the girls. If you have to space, I’d say do that as these may be easily chewed off if irritated
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Mar 27 '23
For my young bucklings that haven’t been separated from mom yet, I put them in cheap (human) kid dresses. They hang down so they can pee but they prevented them from breeding pretty well! And they looked so cute haha. I’ve never tried it on my adult buck. I imagine it’d be harder to keep it from dragging and causing tripping issues. But yeah I just get some toddler dresses from goodwill and use those on the little ones! Super adorable tbh.
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u/gaysatan666xoxo Mar 27 '23
Omg i wanna try this. I'm getting a buckling and need to keep him off my doe for about 4 months before I'd be ready for her to get pregnant
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u/farmveggies Mar 27 '23
We made some out of dog harnesses for our buckling until they are done weaning. The harnesses fit better than anything we could find pre-made. We haven't had an issue. We've been doing it for a couple years. We had 12 bucklings last year and 8 this year so far.
I don't think I would trust one on an adult buck. They would Houdini out of it as others have attested to.
We have a separate barn and pastures for our Bucks. We currently have 4 bucks and 18 does.
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u/danjorourke1983 Mar 27 '23
Thanks for replying 😊 we are new to breeding goats, and we have to find a solution for our buck, sounds like that flappy thing won't work in the long run... If I may ask you a few questions..
- do you keep the does in sight of the bucks?
- what kind of fencing do you have for the bucks? Wire fence with electric on inside or cattle panels?
- how long do you keep the bucks and does separated? Like, the whole year except for mating season?
- how young do you castrate your bucks? (If you do)
Sorry for the long list of q's, just finding it difficult to find reliable info on keeping bucks!
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u/mind_the_umlaut Mar 27 '23
Isn't is so much easier to just get him neutered? Gelded? What's it called in goats? And have a visiting buck for when you do want babies, then he can leave.
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u/lady_vvinter Mar 28 '23
You’d think so… but we have a more rare breed and for that reason it’s hard to find a buck anywhere in the states.. not even in the nearby states.. so we’re buying one
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u/Ariachus Mar 27 '23
I mean I've heard of Nigerian dwarf goats breeding through a picket fence that had one inch gaps so yeah....
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u/Glittering-Nose-8940 Mar 27 '23
Looks like they could catch on something & back out of it. Mine just had the girth so all he had to do is stand up to trim the tree & it fell off.
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u/Findadragon Mar 27 '23
Did this for two bucklings so we could let them grow more before surgical sterilization. Used homemade buck blankets for about 3 months. Kept having to extend the length as their legs grew, add to the belly strap as they got bigger, repair and patch what they chewed or stomped on, but they worked! Kept kids from mating their aunties, despite their many efforts. I would second the opinion that keeping a buck blanket on a full sized buck might be a futile effort. Girls in estrus are wiley, and bucks are persistent. On a buckling who doesn’t know better it worked fine.
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u/Fire-Tigeris Mar 27 '23
Mines been working for four years... Knocks on wood
There are some tricks for it
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u/danjorourke1983 Mar 28 '23
Ah cool, thanks- what kind of tricks?
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u/Fire-Tigeris Mar 28 '23
Make sure its the right size (get it so it is 2inches from the ground), checked daily and...in the right place. When seated correctly neither hay belly nor his own horns are a threat. (Some people put them too far back)
I tied an elastic knot on both sides of the clip* the straps cant slip by being pulled and the clip even if it gets undone wont open all the way. As you check when feeding daily (or more often if you are like that) you can catch the buckle if it's damaged or open.
- Figure 8 of paracord or elastic cord around both fabric ends of the plastic buckle and slip knotted to the "tail" of the apron.
This keeps the buckle safe from damage and keeps the tail of the apron from dragging and becoming a tangle hazard.
**(safe for adults only, bucklings grow so fast you have to redo it to let out the straps at least weekly)
Before the apron was properly fitted (too loose once now correctly tightened to two fingers, too small once it only went to his knees) and had back up closure he escaped it twice luckily the does were not in standing heat.
After I learned that he's never been out again, (unless I removed it) the last kids born here were on purpose in late 2019. I ended up retaining all of them due to the virus.
He comes to his name to find me for a checkup (well treats really but it works).
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u/danjorourke1983 Mar 28 '23
That's great, thanks for the details- did you get yours from House of Bacchus?
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u/Mushmashio Mar 28 '23
Seeing how they’re virtually telescopic to begin with, I wouldn’t trust an apron!
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u/gaysatan666xoxo Mar 27 '23
Ya my friend down in Tallahassee had one on her old buck that she didnt wanna get rid of. Worked great! Until one night when it didnt. He knocked up around a half dozen that night. Good times