# Looking at Udders.... Question



## Skyz84 (Jul 25, 2011)

I've been looking for a few does to add to my herd so I have been looking at a LOT of udders lately. I have a few questions....

Not sure if I'm phrasing this correctly but why do some goats seem to have a silky smooth texture to the udder, while others seem to have a ..... bumpy? texture the udder. Just looking at pictures so I don't know if it really feels lumpy... just looks lumpy in a picture. Does this happen with age? It seems most of the goats are goats who have freshened many times.


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## Breezy-Trail (Sep 16, 2011)

It could be allergies, bugs, or irritation.
I had a doe get big lump/bumps on her udder.
It was just on the outside skin itself but likely if looking at a pic you wouldn't be able to tell.
Some of it looked like hive bumps (like when my dad breaks out with hives on his bald head).
I found out it was likely either allergies to some plant she laid on or irritation from the same.
I used udder cream and hosed her udder down 1-2 times a day for 5-10 mins to help with the swelling( the cold water helps with swelling and the water pressure helps get any sprickies out).
It was also red in some areas (irritated). It went away in a few days.
Maybe not the same thing.


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## firelight27 (Apr 25, 2009)

My doe with the softest, easiest to milk out udder is 9 and has freshened every year and usually with quads. I think its genetics.


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## Skyz84 (Jul 25, 2011)

I'm stuck using my phone so the images are small. Looking at tiny pictures that came up under an internet search these kind looks like what Im talking about. Sorry if this is someone's goat on the board. Just posting a random pictures...
http://www.littletotsestate.com/mimulus ... 202010.jpg
http://www.rhythmicacres.com/sitebuilde ... 70x394.jpg

And what I would call a smooth under..
http://www.whisperingtalesgoats.com/pho ... udder3.jpg

Is the.... Bumpy appearance caused by being really full? High milk production? Genetics? By the way they are shaved? Photo angle?

Just curious.


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

We have really wondered that too  Be interesting to see the responses!


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I see what you mean by the look of the udder texture... example, when my Binkey freshened with triplets last year, her udder was grotesquely HUGE...Looked like she had cellulite! IMO, a udder that looks bumpy is too full to be comfortable, let alone "pretty".

Once I got Bink's kids nursing, the overfullness went away and though I lost the 2nd boy, she raised her doeling and buckling wonderfully...so much so that the buckling ended up with a milk goiter.

Smooth and silky...or buttery soft texture is just that...easily milked with a soft feel to the skin as well as the texture.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Overfilling can do it...and genetics. You want a doe to have a soft, pliable, smooth udder.


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