how heritable is teat size?

DQ · #1 03/10/08, 06:15 PM

I am going to look at a lamancha doe locally that supposedly has teats too small to hand milk but has a show udder. the price is reasonable and I am looking for something that could be shown by my daughter in the future. however I do not want a permanent line of difficult to milk does. how easily could this be improved upon in her daughters?

jBlaze · #2 03/10/08, 06:35 PM

I have always heard that the buck is responsible for udder traits. Not sure about teat size though, great question, one that I have myself. Saw your thread and thought Oh, great!

LomahAcres · #3 03/10/08, 08:10 PM

Is she a first freshener? Teats will grow/stretch the more they're milked. Try milking her before purchasing to see if it's do-able for you. You may have a painful start/first year, but she should stretch out after that. And yes, the buck you breed her too has a lot of say so in the kids' udders.

DQ · #4 03/10/08, 08:54 PM

she is a yearling ff. I was thinking that too small for one person may not be to another, I figured I should just have a look and put my hands on them to see if it was doable. All the does I have so far even the meat goats (aside from a pygmy pet), have teats that I can milk without too much trouble, if she is excellent otherwise I will consider her, especially if I have a reasonable chance of improving the problem with careful buck selection.