# Fish Teat Dairy buck



## Rowan (Apr 10, 2014)

I have a buck who is siring kids with fish teats. He is going to be culled - I am not accepting of passing on a serious defect in a dairy buck - he is purebred. My understanding is that the gene is recessive and both parents need to carry the specific gene. Is this correct? I want to make sure my understanding is right. Just really disappointed at being in this situation.


----------



## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I think but not positive.


----------



## JK_Farms (Nov 12, 2016)

I had a buck that had given me a kid with fish teats and he had one ancestor a long time ago with fish teats! My does ancestors I do believe never had a single ancestor with fish teats she had twins the buckling had them the doeling doesn't. As long as one parent has them or an ancestor has them they can get them.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

JK_Farms said:


> I had a buck that had given me a kid with fish teats and he had one ancestor a long time ago with fish teats! My does ancestors I do believe never had a single ancestor with fish teats she had twins the buckling had them the doeling doesn't. As long as one parent has them or an ancestor has them they can get them.


I agree, if it is in the bloodlines, it can pop up. 
It is worse if Sire and Dam has them or on both sides of pedigree in there somewhere.


----------



## Rowan (Apr 10, 2014)

Thanks for the information - it was helpful - I thought both parent's had to carry the gene. I had a doe born years ago with a fish teat (different sire and dam), but there is a common ancestor in both pedigrees. The end result will be the same, I will still cull the buck - but at least now I am more aware of where the issue came from.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

If it is in the gene pool anywhere, by fluke or unlucky, it may indeed pop up at random.
You can have both Sire and Dam clean teated and yet, if it is in the lines, there is that chance.

Glad I helped.


----------



## Goat_Scout (Mar 23, 2017)

Last year one of my does had the most beautiful set of twin doelings. She was my favorite doe and I had planned on keeping any doelings from her (her kids were half Mini-Lamancha half Myotonic so would have been great milkers), but one of them had two fish teats and the other had one, and I didn't want that in my herd. I later sold the doe and doelings as trio. 
Also those two doelings' half brother had fish teats too, and so we wethered him and sold him as a pet and a companion for a different buckling we also sold.

If I were you I'd castrate your buck so when you sell him he won't pass that on to any of his offspring.


----------



## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Sometimes they pop up randomly, but I have seen certain bloodlines that are more prone to producing teat defects. Dairy bucks with a teat flaw should definitely be culled. Sorry you're having this problem, but good job doing the right thing and removing him from the gene pool.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I do agree.


----------



## Rowan (Apr 10, 2014)

Thanks for the input. I have wethered all of his offspring too. This is quite hard, he is a son of my best doe and his kids had such promise. Still it's the right approach in my mind.

When he goes for sale at the auction, I will make sure to mark him down as non-breeding, as he is mature and I don't entirely want the vet out to castrate him. If the auction/sales barn can't do that with certainty - he will go with some meat kids to the butcher and never pass into anyone elses hands.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

It is sad.


----------

