Udder pictures. Thoughts please.

Donna1982 · #1 01/23/13, 11:40 AM

This is Cherry's (FF) udder now a week freshen. So tell me what you like and what you do not like. I will say she milks like a dream!!!

She does have a medial but not as good as I would like to see it. Will that get better with time or is that something that they have right off the bat?

GoatJunkie · #2 01/23/13, 11:48 AM

I don't know enough about udders to say, but I love goats that milk like a dream!

Hollowdweller · #3 01/23/13, 12:37 PM

Hard to say at this point.

If she gains capacity looks like she would have a nice wide rear arc.

Teats appear to be good sized although they don't have quite as much delineation as I like but they don't lack delineation either. Teat placement looks decent.

Medial is not really strong but she doesn't show any signs of weakness yet, but you'd really only know once she actually comes into some milk.

Fore is hard to tell, might have a slight pocket or may just be the angle.

Cyngbaeld · #4 01/23/13, 01:03 PM

How long since you milked her before taking the photos?

trnubian · #5 01/23/13, 01:53 PM

Did she freshen with a single? That might explain the size of her udder. It seems awfully small, but maybe in another couple weeks she will come into more milk.

It is placed a little far forward but maybe if she starts producing more it will push the rear udder back a smidge. It is a bit low in the rear but looks like it will be decently attatched and have a nice shape to it. I do like her teats. They look really nice to milk. Especially for a first freshener.

You never really no at this point in the game. First fresheners chang A LOt in that first year. Unless the udder looks really pendulous on them I usually give them some time to fill out and see how they put it all together later in the year. That first month or so they can look pretty awkward.

Donna1982 · #6 01/23/13, 02:01 PM

She did kid with a single and she was around 12 hours since I milked her. She gives about 1 1/2 lbs to 2 lbs a day. Depends on how much she gets to eat during the day so about half gallon a day.

MDKatie · #7 01/23/13, 02:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donna1982

She did kid with a single and she was around 12 hours since I milked her. She gives about 1 1/2 lbs to 2 lbs a day. Depends on how much she gets to eat during the day so about half gallon a day.

Half a gallon is 4 lbs, so do you mean she gives 1.5-2 qts per milking or per day? Or is her kid on her?

Donna1982 · #8 01/23/13, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MDKatie

Half a gallon is 4 lbs, so do you mean she gives 1.5-2 qts per milking or per day? Or is her kid on her?

Sorry I meant each milking... so 1.5 to 2 lbs twice a day. Trying to do this and clean up outside while its in the 60s.

Cyngbaeld · #9 01/23/13, 03:01 PM

She's a bit uneven looking in the pix but I'd like to see more pix in a few weeks.

mary,tx · #10 01/23/13, 03:10 PM

I think she has nice teats for a first freshener. I'd expect she'll give more milk next freshening.

Frosted Mini's · #11 01/23/13, 04:01 PM

I think it will fill out beautifully with a little more time, and especially after another freshening. Medial can most definitely change in the beginning.

Hollowdweller · #12 01/23/13, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trnubian

It is placed a little far forward but maybe if she starts producing more it will push the rear udder back a smidge..

Yeah that's what I meant when I said

Quote:

If she gains capacity looks like she would have a nice wide rear arc.

I've had goats like that come into milk hardcore and the udder really looked great and then I've had them that the udder never produced much and looked the same. Time will Tell.

Always hard though to justify even milking a goat that just produces only 4 lbs a day though. Not hardly worth the towels and time. But only a week fresh I'd give her a month before I got rid of her. She could move up radically.

Donna1982 · #13 01/23/13, 05:54 PM

Thanks everyone. So can you judge this early how much a doe will milk?

CaliannG · #14 01/23/13, 06:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donna1982

Thanks everyone. So can you judge this early how much a doe will milk?

Not really...sometimes...it depends.

A doe that milks fabulously her first freshening is highly unlikely to be a poor producer in her subsequent freshenings. So if you have a FF that excedes all expectations her first time around, she is just going to get better unless something comes up health wise that messes with that.

BUT...a doe that produces poorly as an FF is no indication that she won't produce fabulously her second time around. Even at the end of her lactation, you'll get a LITTLE bit of an idea of what her udder is going to do the second time around, but not a lot of an idea. Everything is so subject to change the first time around!

However, at the end of her second lactation, you WILL know what she is going to do later on.

That is why I wait to judge a doe until the end of her second lactation. First lactation, she can have an uneven udder, weird teats, and produce poorly....and then second time she freshens, her udder is perfectly even, teats have straightened out, and she is great.

Unlike Hollowdweller, I never dry up a poor producing FF. Second freshening production is so dependent upon a doe having 2 months, and EXACTLY 2 months, dry before coming into cycle again. Giving her several months dry will cause poor production during her next lactation cycle (Although not poor production in EVER lactation cycle, contrary to myth).

ani's ark · #15 01/24/13, 12:45 AM

I'm glad you posted that Caliann! I got Salma as a cull FF with a very small udder and low production - the dairy didnt want her, but it was enough milk for our 2 person household plus she's got a lovely temperament for a beginner like me.
This second freshening has been an amazing difference, I didnt have enough bottles for all the milk. She is now 5 months fresh and still giving over half a gallon each morning milking.
So I reckon unless you are needing very high production from every animal for a commercial operation or whatever reason, give a girl a chance to prove herself! She might be a pleasant surprise.

Hollowdweller · #16 01/24/13, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaliannG

Unlike Hollowdweller, I never dry up a poor producing FF. Second freshening production is so dependent upon a doe having 2 months, and EXACTLY 2 months, dry before coming into cycle again. Giving her several months dry will cause poor production during her next lactation cycle (Although not poor production in EVER lactation cycle, contrary to myth).

No you misunderstood me. I meant to sell her.

I agree 100% with what you said. Drying a goat off early will result in a steeper lifetime lactation. That's why show goats often have such steep lactations even when moved to a herd milking 305.