udder Q., breeding Q., and a baby pic

[gracie88]

Udder Q: When Laverne kidded, her udder was engorged, to the point that one side didn't work well at all. I massaged, the kids nursed, the edema is all gone, but... now that side is nearly dry. The kids both prefer, and seem to get enough, out of the good side. Lately, I have been putting her in the stand 2x a day and making them take turns (holding each so they can only reach the bad side). So, will the production pick up if I keep doing this? Is there something else I'm missing/should be doing/worrying about? They mostly ignore that side if I do not force them to it, instead, headbutting each other off the good teat, which is getting chafed from all the rough treatment.

Breeding Q: What are your priorities when breeding or choosing breeding stock? My first doe to kid has a lovely udder. It's soft, stretchy, and almost disappears when it's empty. I get a respectable amount, a little over a quart in the AM, not counting what goes up my sleeves and on the outside of the pail (my aim is improving, honest ) and her teats are reasonable for a FF, I think. But, she's little, fine boned, and high strung, like a halter-bred Arab horse. She means well, but the princess attitude gets a little old, and man, can she climb fences. Laverne, OTOH, is bigger bodied, with better general conformation, is much more calm and confident and rarely climbs the fence. She also had twins, while Shirley only had one. However, her udder is kinda fleshy, still there after kids have given it their all (she got a little fat last summer, don't know if that is a factor or not), I suspect it will sag pretty quickly, and her teats are tiny. I haven't milked her much yet, but it's going to be a hassle. So, temperament, conformation, milking ability, other? What order do you put them in, what's your biggest priority? What have been the easiest or most difficult traits to breed in or out of your herd?

Last, but not least, Laverne's way cute (if I do say so myself) twin does, which makes all healthy girls for me this year (whew!) I don't think I could ask for a better introduction to kidding and I'm really glad they're done

[SweetMissDaisy]

WOW!! Aside from the differences in their ears, they look SO much alike!! That's so FUN! What have you named them?

[mygoat]

When the udder engorges, it signals the production to drop. The production will never be the 'same' as if you milked her 2x per day to begin with. If I ever dam raise any dairies, I will still milk out the udder at least 2x per day to keep the doe's production up. If she's a dairy doe, she will still produce enough milk for kids, trust me. I personally pull all kids to prevent udder damage, lowered production in the doe, disease spread, and to be able to receive all the milk from the get-go.

As for what I look for in breeding stock, I look for conformation and production. Both are weighted equally in my book. They closely correlate. IMO, you can't have one without the other. While you can have a doe that milks 12 lbs as a first freshener(dang that's a good milker, lol), if she has bad conformation/attachment, she will 'break down' by the time she's 5-6... Whereas you could spend a more on a well bred doe with excellent conformation/udder size/teat size that milks 10 lbs per day as a FF... but have her for 10+ years milking. And be able to show her, breed her 'up' to better bucks and sell excellent breeding or show quality stock for much, much more.