Buying a goat with two extra teats for backyard milking

[cthomas]

Hi,
I am looking into buying a Lamancha dairy goat for backyard milking only. She has two extra teats that have no orifices. The previous owner registered her but because she has the extra teasts, it is a disqualification for show of course. I just wanted your opinion. Has anyone had a backyard milking doe with 2 extra teats? Was the goat a good milker? Any info would help. Thanks.

[JBarGFarmKeeper]

I know some folks that have a goat with 3 WORKING teats. They all milk and she milks a lot. I don't know that extras would have anything to do with "how much" milk she would give. If they should turn out to have orifices, it could be messier than usual depending on where the extras are located. If they truly DON'T have orifices, they are just spurs and "shouldn't" be an issue at all. Hope that helps!

[cfuhrer]

Originally Posted by JBarGFarmKeeper

I know some folks that have a goat with 3 WORKING teats. They all milk and she milks a lot. I don't know that extras would have anything to do with "how much" milk she would give. If they should turn out to have orifices, it could be messier than usual depending on where the extras are located. If they truly DON'T have orifices, they are just spurs and "shouldn't" be an issue at all. Hope that helps!

Agreed.

I farm-sat once for a gal with a goat who had two functioning teats on each hemisphere. The only difference in milking her was that instead of milking two handed I had to milk one handed and hold the bucket at an angle to catch both streams.

Going way, way back to my 4-h days (and if my memory is good) an extra teat doesn't affect production because there are still only two hemispheres on the udder. Now, if her bag had three "hemispheres" (tri-spheres?) Then she would have more production... Maybe.

[Frosted Mini's]

I personally, would not buy her even for my own personal use UNLESS you are willing to cull ALL the offspring, or use them to raise meat kids on. Hopefully the breeder is selling her without papers. She should be fine to milk, though, as long as the extras don't get in the way, like if they are right next to the normal teats.

[mygoat]

I would never ever ever register ADGA daughters out of her, or sell them as registered milkers. I'd use her kids for meat. Boer goats (meat) often have multiple teats but as long as the udder is functional that is OK. You could always just breed her to a boer goat, and then you *could* sell her daughters as registered 50% boer kids, since the extra teats would be a non-issue. "LaBoers" are my favorite. (we have several, and even will be doing a purposeful purebred LM x Boer cross this fall.. )

[Doug Hodges]

if you find any chickens with 4 legs, let me know. I love chicken legs.

[The Tin Mom]

It's possible she was registered before the spurs were noticed. Is she currently in milk? How much is she giving the breeder right now? How much was she giving at her peak? I wouldn't think that her production would be affected, but the breeder could tell you more about how much, etc.

I agree that you need to be willing to cull any and all kids, or at least not register them. Perhaps they can also be sold as milkers? MyGoat's idea to breed to a Boer sounds really good. Also, I would think she can't be sold with her papers. Someone else might know more, but I would guess that the registration is probably invalid, so don't pay for a registered goat.