Don't put full loads on them until they're 4 years old. The growth plates in their legs won't be mature until then no matter how big they are. Overloading them too young can do serious damage to their legs and greatly reduce their useful life span. Their size doesn't matter. It's age that counts.
You can google all kinds of info on how old they need to be. You're off to a good start with them. Don't screw it up by being impatient.
Interesting. We leave all our young bucks intact but we sell early to both meat buyers and individuals who may use them for breeding. I don't know anything about growth plates with goats but am curious about if wethering has a effect on time to growth plate closure vs not wethering? I've been told age of gelding a horse can have an influence on the eventual height of the horse....early gelding causes a delay in growth plate closure so the gelding may be taller. Not sure if the same applies for wethers?
I certainly won't put full loads of them until they are full grown, but I've seen some resources that think a light load in the 10% of body weight range as yearlings is fine, but yes I'm impatient. Wethering a goat does lead to taller goats. They don't put on the mass of a buck, but will almost always be taller. Horns are generally not as thick either.
"For some unfortunates, poisoned by city sidewalks ... the horn of the hunter never winds at all" Robert Ruark, The Horn of the Hunter
