Short teats on a jersey?

allenslabs · #1 03/22/05, 07:00 PM

Any of you have a jersey w/ short teats? A guy is emailing me pics of a cow he has for sale and she has short teats. Now I'm not sure HOW short. I'm 5'3" and have small hands. I wear the kids gloves! HAHA! Which by the way can save a lot when you buy leather gloves. LOL. Anyway would it be best to hold out for a cow w/ longer teats? She's 4 and reg, bred and due in aug and milking now. He said to dry her up in June to give her time to rest. She'll be 5 sometime this year and this is her 3rd calf. He's asking 700 for her. She's not been hand milked but milked by a machine. He said she's really docile though and didn't think it would be a problem. I guess we'll see as I plan on going up one day this week to see her if the pics are ok. I'll probably get a friend to watch the kids so I can actually enjoy the experience! HAHA!! He milks 107 cows!!! I'm excited to get to see a dairy that large!! Anyway would love some input. An amish guy told me to stick a few calves on her and that would help lengthen him. My grandma has no problem w/ small teats as her hands are the same size as mine! Imagine that. HAHA. Ok anyway see ya!

Haggis · #2 03/22/05, 10:26 PM

My Dorsey has teats the size of Bing cherries and I have hands the size of hams. I milked Dorsey with my thumb and forefinger and it is slow; well, it was slow until I bought a milking machine.

*I bought the machine because of the winter's cold and because I will eventually be milking six to eight cows.

OD · #3 03/22/05, 11:06 PM

My cow had really short teats when she was young, & I had to milk with two fingers, too, but they are long enough now that I can get all four fingers around them. She has raised at least 20 calves, so the Amish guy could be right about calves lengthening them.
It's not too hard to milk with two fingers after you get used to it, but it does slow you down a little.
I wouldn't let that stop me if she is a good cow otherwise.

Ronney · #4 03/23/05, 04:32 AM

I have a Jersey with very short teats and when I have to hand milk I use the thumb and forefinger. She's now on to her 3rd calf and every year sees her teats getting a little longer. Like Haggis, I use a milking machine which makes life easier but if she seems like a good cow in every other respect - and she does sound it - I wouldn't let the shorter teats put you off.

Cheers,
Ronnie

Paula · #5 03/23/05, 06:50 AM

Our Jerseys have from med-lg sized teats. Had one for a few months with short teats and it was awful. She was a pretty good producer and it took forever to milk her. Yeah, you milk with two fingers, but the tiny teats can only hold so much so you have to pull on them so many times your hands get worn out. This cow was several years old so there was no hope her teats would stretch. She had to go.

Haggis · #6 03/23/05, 09:12 AM

My Dorsey is about to have her 7th calf, so I'd guess her teats are about as long as they will get; but she's a good cow and gives about 5 gallons a day at her peak. Dorsey also has a blind quarter from stepping on a hind teat; don't ask me how she could even get a cloven hoof hold on the little guy, but she destroyed the opening and now that quarter is hard as a nine-dollar cold chisel.

I gave $750 for her when she had been fresh about 3 weeks. I wouldn't take my money back for her. She is a wonderful old trooper.

willow_girl · #7 03/23/05, 01:30 PM

Haggis, maybe she was laying down in the yard and another cow stepped on her bag!

What is it with Jersies with short teats?! Seems real common ...

If it's just the back 2, and you plan to leave the calf on her, you could always take the front ones and leave the back ones for the calf. I used to do that with Dawnna, and Libby-Belle didn't seem to mind, although I had a hunch she actually preferred the longer ones too, 'cause she'd go at them first if she had the chance!

allenslabs · #8 03/23/05, 04:57 PM

Well I called this morning to see about coming to see the cow and he said that I could look at another he had too. He said he took the pictures and was waiting on what the vet said before he wrote the email w/ the pics. I thought oh no what's wrong w/ them!!! Turns out he had the vet preg checking them and I didn't even ask him to! He said the other one is really docile and sweet and should be due a month after the other one so I could milk till july. I can't wait to get the pics! I keep getting on here to see if he has wrote and not yet but he did say this evening so I need to be patient as it's only 6 but I"m just so excited!

athome in SD · #9 03/23/05, 05:18 PM

Thanks to everyone for the good advise. I hadnt even thought of asking
questions about our brown swiss who has short teats. But I think I am
going to try milking the front and leaving the back for the calf. She just
calved on Sunday.

)

Christina
athome in South Dakota

allenslabs · #10 03/23/05, 05:42 PM

Oh there ya go!! That should work!! Congrats on the calf!!