Why Wether (neuter) Goats?
We raise Nigerian Dwarf goats primarily for milk production. That means the does need to be bred yearly to produce milk and that about half of the resulting offspring will be male.
Unfortunately, only a few intact male goats (bucks) are really needed in the goat breeding world; and, those bucks are usually rather smelly. So, only a few bucks are wanted.
Some goat breeders don’t keep bucks at all because of the space they require, the smell, and the feed they consume all year. These breeders prefer to “rent” bucks from other farms to breed their does yearly.
Therefore, typically only the bucks that have the best bloodlines for milk production, dairy conformation, and hardiness are kept intact as herd sires. All other males are wethered or disposed of in other ways.
Wethered male goats make very sweet pets and great 4H projects for kids. Wethers have none of the hormonal issues of either bucks or does – they don’t smell like the bucks do, don’t go into heat like the does and are typically very sweet and affectionate.
Methods for Wethering Goats
There are three popular methods for wethering goats; 1) surgically, 2) burdizzo, or 3) banding:
Surgically wethering goats is done by physically cutting and has the disadvantage of leaving an open wound. The burdizzo method crushes the spermatic cord. The major disadvantage of this method is that the cords are sometimes not completely crushed leaving the goat intact.
Banding is typically bloodless, the least complicated to perform, and the most commonly used so that’s the method we’ve chosen. It involves placing a thick elastic band around the scrotum above the testes of the goat (which cuts off the blood supply) and then waiting until the testes shrivel and fall off. This usually takes two to four weeks depending on the age of the goat when banded
When to Wether
Banding goats when they are younger seems to cause them less discomfort; however, banding them too early can lead to problems with urinary calculi. This can be very serious and even fatal.
With urinary calculi, the goat develops stones (like kidney stones in a human) that prevent it from urinating. If the blockage is not removed, the goat’s bladder will rupture and the goat will die. It can be very difficult to remove the blockage, so it’s best to prevent it from happening.
Urinary calculi is usually caused by feeding too much grain and not enough roughage and/or banding wethers too soon. After a certain age, wethers don’t need grain at all, so if a wether develops urinary calculi, it’s often because it was banded too soon.
When a buckling is banded to wether it, the hormones that cause the urinary tract to grow slow down significantly. Therefore, the urinary tract stops growing. If a male goat is wethered too soon, the urinary tract may be very small and increase the chance for blockage. So, it’s often recommended that wethers nto be banded until they are at least ten to twelve weeks old.
Equipment Necessary
The equipment needed for banding is fairly simple and inexpensive – just the elastrator used to expand the elastic band and the elastic bands themselves (see photos below). They can be ordered from numerous livestock supply sources and are about $16.00 for the elastrator and a package of one hundred bands (the bands last for several years if kept refrigerated).
Elastrator for Banding
Applying the Band
Application of the band takes two people – one person holding the goat upright, facing outward toward the other person applying the band. The elastic band is placed on the elastrator, the elastrator is squeezed to expand the band, the band is positioned on the scrotum above the testes, and the elastrator is removed allowing the band to constrict the scrotum (being careful not to pinch teats or other skin).
Once banded, it’s important to keep an eye on the area to make sure it stays clean and dry, or to apply a topical ointment if necessary (to prevent fly strike or infection if there’s any open wound). The buckling should also have received his CD/T shot prior to the procedure or an injection of tetanus antitoxin should be administered.
Wethering Bands
It’s best to wait as long as possible to band the baby bucklings so that their urethra grows to size (so that they won’t have difficulties with urinary calculi (urinary stones)), but they may become fertile at about eight weeks so most folks don’t wait much longer than that.
We’ve been banding the bucklings at between ten and twelve weeks of age. So far, there haven’t been any complications with the procedure – the former bucklings usually lie down for a while after being banded but seem to be back to normal within an hour or so.
We have been keeping Nigerian goats for about a year and are still in the learning process. Our doe was exposed and had her twins Jan 28th. Needless to say this is not the ideal timing for kidding in the Colorado Rockies. I kept mom and kids indoors the first 3 days as our nights were in the single digits and yesterday they were put out during the day (high of 45 degrees.) But, mama started hollering about 3pm and wouldn’t let up till we let her and the babes back in. They do have shelter outdoors from the wind and a 4 sided shed, but using the deep bedding method I worry about ammonia inhalation for the babies as well as the cold. My husband feels since mountain goats survive our climate just fine that our Nigerians should too. Any suggestions?
Hi Mama T,
Well, Nigerian Dwarf goats are NOT mountain goats – they are native to the hot regions of Africa. So, I would not be letting 3-day old babies out into the cold. As far as inhalation ammonia, it’s important to get down at their level and see if you can smell ammonia. If you can, then it’s time to clean things out and put down another layer of chips and straw for bedding.
can I band a 3 year old
Hi Joey, I’ve never banded a boy that old but I don’t know why you couldn’t. I think about the oldest we’ve banded was around a year old, and at that point, we had to get a larger size elastrator than the one we normally use for the 12-week olds. But, other than that, things worked the same.
Will a buck be less smelly after being banded, even if it is later in age. (Like about a year old)
Thanks!
Hi Heather, the good news is yes, once a buck has been banded (if the procedure was done correctly) he should be much less smelly as a wether. And, not have the other habits associated with bucks either!
Oh awesome, i have two that i got from a rescue and im new to goats, I didn’t realize quite how smelly they would be and im almost to the point of searching for a new home for them its so bad:( i was planning to band them myself. Any tips to make sure its done right? They have tetanus and i plan to give a shot of penicillin from other things iv read.
Thank you so much.
Which would make a better family pet? 1 or 2 intact female Nigerian Dwarf with no males around? Male Nigerians disbudded and wethered? Or what about 1 intact female and 1 male disbudded and wethered? Do I need two goats for companionship or is 1 goat ok for a family pet? My goal is a nice gentle sweet loving goat for a family pet! Thanks
Hi Wes,
Good questions! Goats are herd animals so you definitely need two – otherwise, they get very sad and lonely. I think that disbudded and wethered male Nigerians make the best pets. They have none of the hormonal issues of the males or females and when well socialized make the sweetest pets around. You can also do 2 intact disbudded females with no males around, they also make sweet pets but in fall they may be looking for a boy a few times for a couple of months. Or a disbudded intact female and disbudded wethered male. If you think that you might ever wish to breed a girl, then I’d go with that option. If you don’t think you’d ever want to breed the girl, then I’d go with the disbudded and wethered boys. Good quality wethers are also much less expensive than does (usually around $100 each) versus $500 or so for a good quality doe.Hoe that helps!
I am getting a 3 month + old male Norwegian Dwarf goat to keep my miniature horse company. My neighbor, who breeds them doesn’t have the stomach to band the male before I get it so I am going to have to do it. It doesn’t seem to hard to do, what pointers other than what is in the article can you suggest? This will be the first goat I have owned since I was a kid at home. I am nervous about it but I know it has to be done. I have smelled his intact male and it is pretty dang stinky…….
Hi Jack,
Yes, the bucks are very stinky this time of year so I would definitely band that companion for your horse. It really isn’t very difficult to do, but it does take two people. Just make sure the goat has gotten it’s CD/T shot and booster. Have someone strong, hold the goat sitting up with his underside facing out toward whoever’s doing the banding. That way the bander can clearly see what they’re doing. Then it’s simply placing the band on the elastrator, expanding the band, carefully placing it on the goat in the right spot, and then gently removing the elastrator so the band contracts and starts cutting off the blood supply. There shouldn’t be an open wound of any kind, but check the area frequently to make sure nothing is developing. That’s it!
I have 2 pygmy boys that were given to me and they are 7 and 10 months old. Are they too old to band? Thank you!
Hi Elizabeth, I don’t believe that they are too old to band; however, the banding tool that is typically used for the miniature boys like pygmy’s and nigies may not work. A larger banding tool that is typically used for standard size kids may be necessary. We have banded a Nigie that was past a year old but we had to borrow the larger banding tool in order to do it.
Lesa, would the orange elastor tool that is recommended above in this article work for banding a year old male? Would the actual rubber band need to be bigger as well or are they all the same size? Thanks!
Hi Sydney, I believe that the bands are all essentially the same size. If the orange handled tool recommended above opens as wide as the advertiser says, then yes it should work.
I am new to goats, At first I was intending to get 3 wethers as pets but now I am becoming anxious about the banding and urinary tract problems. Do female goats go into heat if they have never had a baby ? Also we are having a really nice barn delivered with a wooden floor . Would it be advisable to paint floor with epoxy paint with sand added ? Thanks!
Hi Nancy, Yes female goats go into heat even if they have never had a baby. They are mammals just like humans so work in very similar ways. I believe that wethers make the best pets but female goats work well too. As far as the barn, I prefer to have dirt floors because the urine can soak into the ground. I’m not experienced with a wooden floor for goats. We had concrete in parts of our barn that we removed so that we had dirt floors where the goats were housed.
I’m concerned my goats were wethered at 8 weeks. I’m new to goats. Now I’m worried they will have urinary tract issues. My vet told me to feed grain, now I’m reading it’s best not to feed grain to wethered goats.
What are you feeding them and why did your Vet advise feeding them grain? Is he a Vet that is knowledgeable about goats?
We were planning on buying a couple of female goats when we get a house outside of town. These are going to be pet only goats. I was wondering if females will produce milk if they are surgically fixed. We have no intention of milking them.
Females won’t produce milk unless they have babies.
Tanks for all info you give to the farms i appreciate
after 10 weeks watt the age lemete
regards ANDRE Maputo Mozambique
Email . agitanense@gmail.com
A female won’t need to be fixed if you don’t have any bucks or males that are not castrated around. They will be good pets if you leave them in tact.