4 teats

[tipsico]

I have 1 female out of triplets that has 4 teats. Has anyone had this happen? Are they functional usually or not. She is the nicest size and confirmation of the group but I would not want to bred her or use her for dairy production if its going to be a problem. Thank you for any information.

Thank you for all the useful responses!! It really put my mind at ease because she really is a beautiful big bodied Nubian and her moms first pregnancy produced triplets.

[prairiecomforts]

I have never had this happen with my goats, but have had it happen a few times with my sheep. When they are born I check them and if they have extra teets, I just take a piece of cotton string and tie it around the extra teet and in no time at all - it atrophies and falls off. I am sure you could do the same thing with goats. The extra teets are not functional anyway. Hope this helps.

prairie

[goatkid]

I have an Alpine/Nubian doe who has 4 teats. Two are not functional. They do not get in the way of milking or her feeding her kids. She's my heaviest milker and a striking doe out of good bloodlines. Out of 4 kiddings producing 9 kids, only one had an extra teat.

[KSALguy]

extra Teats CAN be functional, only some are not, and they dont interfear with milking and kids will learn real quick which teats to nurse on and which not too even if they arent functional,

if you remove them and they were attached to their own mamary gland this could cause a problem,

what breed is she? if she is a dairy breed you cant register her but if she is a Boer you can,

i wouldnt not be concernd with breeding her at all, if she is a good animal go ahead and get her bred why waist a perfectly good doe just cause she has an extra teat or two??

[natybear]

I have 0 tolerance for kids with extra teats. I have never gotten them with my nubians but my boers get them sometimes. Don't keep a buck with more than 2 teats, he will through that and devalue all the offspring. I purchase based on parents and performance so if I know they have 3+ in the background, or the person doesn't care about that, I don't buy. A doe, sure, if you want to, but I can sell them for $100 at 8 weeks around here. I don't keep them because I own my bucks, I can redo that breeding if the body type and structure is there, I don't have to keep that 3+ teater. I am a little desensitized to this breeding though, mainly because I have outlets and do not ask my animals to pay for themselves. If I didn't have the ability to sell as well as I do, or if I was in need of lots of market animals, I would possibly be singing a different tune about this topic. Just my $.02.

[joken]

They are not a problem unless they are conected and look like a fish tail. It is common in Boers and can be an advantage if they are functional and you have triplets. They are not a negative when showing Boers. Ken

[Milk n' Honey]

Hmmmm......a dairy goat with 4 teats. Given the larger quanitites of milk and the eventually larger teats, I'd hope that it doesn't cause a problem. If you like her, I'd keep her and see how it goes. Most likely, her kids will be fine. If it causes a problems with feeding her babies and such, I'd cull or not breed her. Also, it isn't very feasible to try and milk a 4 teated goat. Most dairy goat people would probably cull a doe with 4 teats. It is really your call and as I said...you could always breed her once and see how it goes. If she produces 4 teated babies, I'd stop breeding her immediately. Take care now!!

[chamoisee]

Doelings with extra teats in any shape or form= meat, in my book.

The gene for extra teats is genetic, and will only cause you generations of additional heartache if you keep and breed her. If you have other doelings, keep them....though chances are good that they also carry the gene. Oh, and I wouldn't use the doeling's sire again, either.

But, this is just me, and I have 0 tolerance for certain defects. Most of them are covered in the ADGA list of disqualifications or serious defects.