Courtesy of Danielle Langloism, Wikipedia CCLUrinary Calculi in Goats
Most goat farmers castrate bucklings for pets or meat production and to limit the number of fertile bucks in their herd.
Unfortunately castrated bucks known as wethers, can be prone to urinary calculi (bladder and kidney stones) if they are castrated before their urinary tract has reached full growth.
Urinary calculi are caused by an imbalance of phosphorus and calcium resulting in a build up of stones in the urinary tract that can cause illness, pain and death. As the stones grow, they block the urethra causing the goat to be unable to urinate and resulting in toxicity.
While the simplest way to avoid UC is to castrate at more advanced age, diet is also important to avoiding UC. There are many helpful sites to obtain information about diet, prevention and treatment. FiascoFarm, Onion Creek Ranch or Triquest Boer Goats are good places to start your research.
