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Author Topic: 2 Billy's or Billy and Wether?  (Read 3145 times)

JedM

  • Joined Aug 2014
  • East Anglia
2 Billy's or Billy and Wether?
« on: February 22, 2016, 10:41:04 am »
So I am buying a billy as I can't find one to borrow near me.  I am getting him when he is 12 weeks old and if I kept another billy with him from a young age, would they fight when they are older?  I can keep a wether with him if it is a better option, but wanted to see what others opinions were?
The idea of having 2 entire billy's was so I could hire one out when I am using the other, rather than keeping a wether which doesn't pay for itself.
I look forward to your ideas  :)

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: 2 Billy's or Billy and Wether?
« Reply #1 on: February 22, 2016, 12:50:08 pm »
I keep my 2 billies together. they can be run with the nannies or separated at breeding.
iv had no issues. they do play fight but had no injuries.
now mine are mature, the size of their horns (we have bagots) means the housing needs to be larger if they are sharing a stable. if they do fight, they are very tall also so a standard stable is a bit small now as you need space for them to escape.
depends on your set up, and I suppose they goat as mine haven't shown aggression to humans either, where as some billies do.

Talana

  • Joined Mar 2014
Re: 2 Billy's or Billy and Wether?
« Reply #2 on: February 22, 2016, 01:40:44 pm »
In the summer my entire male runs with the girls no problem.Winter is a different story. I think wethers are fine if your entire male grows up with them. I did keep my male with the females I wanted in kid one year was ok to start with but the girls were fed up of him and were desperate to go back to the rest of the herd, and started to lose weight as he would bully them much worse than dominant female at the hayracks. Then I kept back wether kids to keep him company over the winter but again as he recognized they were males and battered them a lot with no opposition from the wethers so I had to put him in a separate pen but next to wethers for company. My wethers are now gone and have now got another entire male kid and he is much better as he gives as good as he gets although I do keep them in separate pens next to each other. I have a friend who keeps her 2 entire males in separate pens together inside then they go out together and get on fine they have the occasional fight but helps keep them fit and minds occupied. It also gives me 2 lines of breeding some girls to one and others to the other one. So that's what I'm aiming to do.

JedM

  • Joined Aug 2014
  • East Anglia
Re: 2 Billy's or Billy and Wether?
« Reply #3 on: February 23, 2016, 08:47:47 am »
Thanks for the replies.  I think I'll keep them both entire as they are young so it should help if they grow up together.

I used to keep a billy with a wether and found that the wether got beaten up a bit, and was scared of the billy.

 

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