Whether to wether? By Hilary Breakell 

So you’ve bred an adorable male kid and soon the decision has to me made on his destiny. You might consider leaving him entire rather than castrating him. After all, he’s a ‘pretty’ colour and his parents are registered in the PGC Herd Book so surely that means he a ‘good one’ and someone would want to buy him? Well, no. Firstly, his colouring is, or should be, totally irrelevant. Pygmy goats are judged on their conformation or body structure and since all colours are allowed (except ‘swiss-stripe’ facial markings) there should be no colours or patterns which are favoured over another.

Secondly just because his parents are registered does not necessarily mean that they are of show standard or will produce kids of such standard, it merely means they have pure bred lineage and have been declared free of disqualifying faults.

Keep in mind that even the most experienced and respected breeders will only leave a small percentage of their male kids entire, with the majority being wethered and sold as pets. Why? Because only the very best, the’ cream of the crop’, should be kept as males. Responsible breeders need to build a good reputation for breeding and selling good quality animals and nobody wants to release an inferior example of a male for breeding purposes –under their herd name. It will do the breeders reputation no favours and more importantly it will do the breed no favours when we are duty bound to breed animals that adhere to the breed standard. One of the five pledges which members agree to abide by in the PGC Code of Conduct is to “Familiarize myself with the Pygmy Goat Breed Standard and to use it as a guide in breeding and evaluating pygmy goats"

So what should you be looking for in a good male kid?

A good basic guide is the General Description section of the Breed Standard that states “The pygmy goat is hardy, good natured, genetically small, cobby and compact. Head, neck and legs are short in relation to body length. The body is full-barrelled and well-muscled, circumference in relation to height and weight is proportionally greater than in other breeds.” You might also find it helpful to look through the many photographs from the show results pages on the PGC website as an aid to visualise what judges are looking for (following the Breed Standard) although these will mainly be older male kids.

Unless you are very experienced it definitely isn’t easy to gauge the potential of a new born kid so better to wait until he is a little older (4 weeks +) and has ‘filled out’ to be able to tell if he meets the criteria above. The most important inspection before making any decisions on his future is to check he does not have any major faults. So, firstly check that he has two testicles within his scrotum. You should be able to gently feel that both sides of the sac feel full and even. If one or both testicles are missing (undescended) then this will disqualify him from being registered as a male. While you are looking underneath him you should also thoroughly check that he has just two teats with no added spurs or sprigs on the side or forks (fishtail) or any extra (double) teats. Again these are all disqualifying faults which means he should be castrated. Finally make sure that his jaw (lower mandible) is correctly aligned. Not twisted or under/over shot.
*The full list of disqualifying faults is on the Breed Standard page of the website.

Assuming he has no faults you can then take an overview of his conformation. A good male kid should be strong (unmistakeably masculine) solid and sturdy, compact, stand foursquare (ie with “a leg on each corner”) He should be broad shouldered with a short neck. His hind legs should be straight when viewed from behind (not cow hocked) When viewed from the side look at his proportions – how much depth of body to length of leg. Ideally he should be shorter in the leg or at the minimum (being a young kid) be equal in leg length to body depth. What you don’t want is a taller type with more leg than body. It is their distinctive proportions that are the main desired characteristic of the breed.

Finally, one important aspect which might help you to decide on your kids’ destiny, and I’m sure other breeders will agree with this, is that wethers generally have a much happier life than entire males. They will enjoy a peaceful stress free life as a pet being fussed over and handled by their humans regularly whereas an entire male becomes a smelly, sometimes belligerent, working animal with only one aim in life (fuelled by his raging hormones) For obvious reasons entire males are usually kept separate from their females until the few weeks when their services are required. This can lead to frustration which is usually taken out on fences and buildings so these need to be built to strong specifications. His antisocial habits and odour make him quite unpleasant to handle throughout the breeding season. So, to avoid an otherwise lonely existence some males will have another male or a wether as a companion although this is not always successful if one or other becomes too dominant or aggressive. Occasionally injuries can occur during serious bouts of combat between horned males so you should be prepared to separate to individual quarters if necessary.

Very sadly a lot of entire males are sold on, sometimes repeatedly, after serving their purpose or if their daughters are retained and a new, unrelated male, is required. Eventually, once a male has passed his usefulness where might he end up? Only the lucky ones remain in a permanent caring home or find their way to a sanctuary to live out their retirement years.
So, unless you can commit to keeping him yourself or have a suitable breeding home lined up for him, if you really want to give your adorable kid the best chance of finding a long term loving home –much better to get him castrated.

Hilary Breakell, 'Pygmy Goat Notes' Issue No 168 P50-53, September 2024