# Question about teats



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

My son has a baby that he is pretty attached to, well honestly we all adore her. She is kind of our 'miracle baby' as her mom was very sick the last week of pregnancy and is still on the mend...

Baby is 2 weeks old and when I checked her teats the other day I was sad to see she isn't clean 1x1. 
She 'is' 1x1, but... one side, she has an itty bitty little teat, right now you can hardly see it at all. On the other side, she has 2 small extra teats, again they are itty bitty, and all extra teats look non functional.

Opinions? he wants to keep her and show her this summer in 4-H in the county fairs, 'maybe' an ABGA show or two this summer.
If she grows well we may keep her.

Her dam is 2x2 clean teated <dam's sire was 2x2>, the grand dam has only thrown 1x1, clean teats. This baby's sire was clean 1x1, and pretty sure most of his family is 1x1.


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## 4hgirl (Mar 23, 2015)

I would love to hear what people say about this because I have a similar situation. My favorite doe has a clean 2x2. She had her first baby about a month ago. We were hoping for a buck because both she and the buck she was bred to aren't related to any of our other goats, but she threw a doe. She's absolutely gorgeous though, so it' ok that she isn't a buck. As far as I know, the buck had 1x1, although I never really looked.

Anyways, this doeling has two clean teats on one side and two on the other with a third smaller teat. She was only about two weeks old when I last looked at them, so I can't tell how obvious the third teat will be, but I'm curious to see how it will affect her in the show ring. She will definitely be used for 4-H, but if I can get her mom's papers from the breeder, I would love to start showing her at ABGA shows at least at our state fair. Other than this, she is built super well and has beautiful markings. I was so disappointed when I flipped her over and saw the third teat.

It looks kind of like #5 on this chart, so I'm hoping that it might be ok.
http://abga.org/education/teat-structure-chart/


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Sounds like she may be okay if she is a #5 she'd be acceptable.

I am unsure about my son's little doe. I want to get his babies registered before we get health papers in May & 4-H project paper deadline.
But I am unsure how acceptable this baby will be? Cluster teats on the chart show 3 clusters, but she only has 2, well spaced little clusters.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Any teat structures that look like the acceptable chart ABGA is fine.

#5 is OK.

Hoosiershadow, can you get a pic of it, we can better tell what she is?


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

If there is a dark dot on the end of any teat that is the orifice & will be functional.
It's hard to tell the first few months.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I might be able to tomorrow, I can have my son help hold her, but it may be hard to see, they are so small. I know one side is acceptable, but the other side has 1 large/normal looking teat, and the other 2 itty bitty one's look much smaller and are spaced apart well. 
The only does we've ever kept have been 1x1, but we kept two 2x2 does from last year. My son adores this baby ♥


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

#9 ABGA chart, is that the one?

Questionable category, I would ask a judge to see if she is OK.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Like a #10, except she only has 2 extra little teats, in that picture it shows 3. Basically she is in between #2 and #10. 
I'll try to get pics tomorrow when my kids get home from school.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh wow, that is a hard one to determine, as I mentioned, call a judge and ask them about her.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

If they don't have an orifice, they don't count. Two years ago I had a rash of extra teats on some of my doe kids. Even the ones I never showed because I thought they might not pass are, now that they've freshened, obviously legal. I don't want to give you bad info, Candice, but the judges are pretty darn lenient and in my experience, those little ones don't amount to squat once the doe is mature and has an udder.


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## Barnes19 (Sep 8, 2013)

It sounds like extra 'blind' teats, that is without an orifice. From the look of that chart, they're marginally acceptable.

I have had plenty of goats with these in the past. Never dairy goats though.

I have found the good teat next door is likely to be smaller though, at least mine have always been consistently so, and the extra little teat may get in your way if you wish to milk her.

The other thing is they are hereditary. I had all my does with at least one extra little teat, and with one buck, even though he had 1x1, they always threw kids with extras. With a different buck every kid but one was 1x1.

I would suggest you keep her for your son, for 4-h, if they pass her teats, and when making a decision as to whether to keep her longer, bear in mind she needs to be put with a buck with good teats.

My goats now are all clean, 1x1, but if I had a kid come up with extras I wouldn't breed from her now. I'd sell her as a pet, or if the buyer really wants to milk, with a full explanation of the phenomena, and advice to breed to a buck with very good teats.

I want to keep it completely out of my herd from now on so I am strict. It may be harmless, but its certainly not desirable, and I don't wish it to come back ... call it personal preference lol. I've had enough of instructing newborn kids "That one doesn't work honey, you have to go for the larger one lower down". (You probably missed seeing the stiff-necked struggling kid in that skit Lol!!)


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks, okay we looked at her again, sorry couldn't get pics, forgot to take my camera out. the one side has 1 teat, and what looks like a little stub, but not an actual teat. The other side has 1 teat, and then the 2 tiny teats - all spaced apart. I still couldn't see anything on the small teats that looks like an orifice. Again, she's only 2 weeks old and her teats are itty bitty, but still...saw nothing.
So, we'll register her and see how she does, no worries on if she finishes first or last, she's worth it to us. 
Her mama is the one that was very sick at the end of her pregnancy, and lost this babies twin, so she's kind of our 'miracle baby,' the odds were really against her.
She's just an absolute doll, sooo sweet , and always such a happy baby ♥

This is her at 1 week old <3-15-15>









2 weeks old <3-21-15>


















Her mama in the background 









Sire is a beautiful paint buck. Her twin that died was a gorgeous, big, red doe kid. Still breaks my heart we couldn't save her 
Little one was about 6lbs. at birth, if that. We'll weigh her tomorrow when we weigh the other kids.

Cons: Grand dam tends to throw slow growers, so the dam is not very big @ almost 15mo. Biggest thing is.. she is short bodied. I can overlook that as long as she can get a little length into her kids.

So we'll see how the little one matures, but I'd love to be able to keep her.


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## Crossroads Boers (Feb 19, 2011)

Extra teats aren't a big deal to me. Sounds like your girl will be fine.  Our best colored show doe has a 3/2 teat structure with a spur on one teat. She has shown extremely well and no judge has ever questioned her teat structure. Some people prefer a 2/2 structure over a 1/1 structure as the doe can then nurse more than 2 kids at a time. We don't let our moms raise more than 2 kids anyway so that part of it doesn't make a difference to me. Some people like the idea though. As far as it being hereditary.... that is questionable to me. I've bred 1/1 does to 1/1 bucks and gotten split teats/DQ teats...more than once. I've also bred goats with questionable teats to goats with 2/2 teats and gotten 1/1 teated kids. 

Glad she is doing well! She is beautiful.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

She is cute.

Good luck, hope she does well in the shows.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks I appreciate it! We adore her so much, and I can't wait to see my son show her ♥ Her name is "Maggie." We will be registering her next week, and he chose her registered name to be : Mi Corazon Dulce Maggie
English -- My Heart Sweet Maggie


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## Crossroads Boers (Feb 19, 2011)

Aw, great name! Very cute.


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

Love the name!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I love it.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks, she is such a joy, my goodness ♥ She is always so happy to see us, and replies with a cute little squeak when you call her name, gets excited and runs over to you, or, throws her head happily with a little squeak thrown in. 

Today, I put her up on top of the upside down water trough that the older babies jump on, she was so proud to be up there! Then I got her down as I was going to come inside. She ran back over to it and tried her best to jump on it, looking for every which way to get up there, then started baaaing at me to let me know she wanted my help, it was sooo funny. Oh, times like these is what having goats is all about for me ♥♥♥


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