You see, when a buck is in rut (able to breed) it is very stressful on him. Gabrial was not eating very much and he just paced back and forth along the fence that separated him from the does.
We had a cold spell and his thin little body just quivered to try to keep warm. I was very worried about him because a friend lost three bucks last winter.
My husband and my son caught Gabrial, (no small task) and moved him and his companion, Alex, to the dog run up by the house. They would be protected from the wind better there and the pen was much smaller so Gabrial could not run of as much energy.
I looked up "goat sweaters" and "goat coats" on the Internet and there were all kinds of things you could buy to help keep your animals warm. I decided I could make my own goat coat out of an old shirt. So I went to work and within a few hours I had created a nice little coat for my buck.
The trick was getting him to see this was a good thing. He has not been around people very much and he does not trust me much yet. My husband and son were both working, but I thought I would be able to get this coat on Gabrial. Lucky for me Gabrial ran into the dog house to hide and I was able to crawl in and drag him out.
I held on to him with all my might. He may be small, but he is strong. I was on top of him holding him down, then somehow he was on top of me and I just held on tight! With some effort, I was able to regain the advantage, and I laid across my little buck until he surrendered. It was quite the site, I am sure, me wrestling with my little buck. (And he almost won!) In the end Gabrial donned a beautiful red coat to help keep him warm.
