# Bad looking udder - would you breed her again?



## rb555 (Oct 17, 2012)

My Polly's udder is not a handsome one, it never filled out and got a good shape like Petunia's. Now, I'm wondering if I should breed her next year. I certainly don't want to pass on the genetics for a less than desirable udder, but since she is a first freshener, would her udder improve with the next pregnancy? I should also mention that she is 3 1/2 years old.

Polly's sire is Buttin'Heads Shaquille, her dam is Buttin'Heads Shtop-Vap. My buck's dam Olde South Blue Bella has an amazing udder, his sire is Rosasharn UP Pappilon *S. 

Please let me know what you would do. And what you would pay for a doeling or buckling from Polly. I don't know if I'm asking too much for them or not.

Pics of the kids are below with the udder pic. (black - buckling) (buckskin - doeling) Both have brown eyes but sire is blue-eyed. I know her udder is lopsided in this pic. It is sometimes, I have checked her teat for defects that might cause the kids to prefer the other one, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, and it milks fine when I squeeze it.


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Is it just the uneveness of the udder that is making you think it is not a nice udder? If so that is being caused by the kids only nursing one side and you need to train them to use both to help that. You may have tape the side they are using and show them the other until they start using it. 
How long has it been like that? Have you checked it for mastitis? Sometimes there is a reason for kids favoring one side and sometimes they just do. 
If there are other udder issues causing you to think not to rebred her then share them. If the uneveness is not taken care of she may continue t freshen with a uneven udder in the future.


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## rb555 (Oct 17, 2012)

freedomstarfarm said:


> Is it just the uneveness of the udder that is making you think it is not a nice udder? If so that is being caused by the kids only nursing one side and you need to train them to use both to help that. You may have tape the side they are using and show them the other until they start using it.
> How long has it been like that? Have you checked it for mastitis? Sometimes there is a reason for kids favoring one side and sometimes they just do.
> If there are other udder issues causing you to think not to rebred her then share them. If the uneveness is not taken care of she may continue t freshen with a uneven udder in the future.


Her udder never has been round and full looking like my other doe or like the pictures I see of other does in milk, and I have had a couple of comments from prospective buyers (of the kids)about how saggy it is. Her teat looks fine and works fine. I will tape the other teat for a little while and be more diligent about them nursing evenly thus forward. I don't have any other concerns about her udder besides this one. Her kids are thriving.

Her udder gets lopsided like that on and off. Sometimes it is even, but saggy. This year is my first kidding and my first year of owning goats, so I am learning the ropes and am just concerned that I do the right thing. Polly is a darling goat and would be a wonderful companion goat or pet if I don't breed her again. I would likely keep her regardless of her breeding status.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Can you get a picture showing the full attachment? We can't quite see the top of the attachment.

I would also milk out the larger side completely and see if everything is ok. Taste the milk and see if there is a saltiness to it. That can be a sign of mastitis. If the kids continue to nurse out mainly the one side, then I would start milking the full side at least once a day. Then you get a little milk.

Even though she is 3.5, her udder has never had a chance to develop since she never had kids. I would give her at least one more year and make your decision. I don't know what you are pricing your kids at but you could always charge a little less if you feel you need to.

If you come to the conclusion that she doesn't have the genetics that you want to pass on for breeders, you could always breed her and sell her offspring as pets and at least earn some income from her.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Sounds like they were favoring one side. Ours did that with one of our does and we just had to milk out the other side to keep things even. We found out the reason they were doing this was that one orifice on her udder is slightly larger than the other, so they were favoring the side in which the milk flowed out faster.


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## rb555 (Oct 17, 2012)

Thanks Logan, Karen and Woodhaven. I will check her milk when I get home and proceed accordingly. I hadn't thought of milking the one side, but if the kids aren't using it, why shouldn't I? I will get a better pic when I get home and post it tonight or in the morning. 

I really appreciate your advice.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Have you seen the kids nursing off both sides or just the one? If her kids made it crooked then i'd breed her again, but if her udder came in that way on it's own, she would be one that i'd sell. Her udder will probably never look how it actually should which could hurt kid sales from her if you're hoping to sell the kids as show quality.



> And what you would pay for a doeling or buckling from Polly. I don't know if I'm asking too much for them or not.


I would need more info. and photos of sire and dam and the dam's udder to decide that. Only the very best bucklings, in my opinion, should be left intact. The dam's udder is so very important when looking at a dairy buckling. If he were mine, i'd wether and sell him as a pet for $100. The doeling you could maybe try and get $200 for her and see what happens, but again, the doe's udder may be an issue for some buyers and it will be an issue for those looking at show or quality breeding does as well as a milker. If the doeling has a nice pedigree and potential then there may be a buyer willing to take a gamble on her.



> Both have brown eyes but sire is blue-eyed.


Irrelavant since blue eyes are dominant. A brown eyed goat will never throw blue eyes unless bred to a blue eyed goat. 



> Now, I'm wondering if I should breed her next year. I certainly don't want to pass on the genetics for a less than desirable udder, but since she is a first freshener, would her udder improve with the next pregnancy?


There is a chance it will improve as long as the kids are nursing both sides next time and you'll probably need to help as well...IF that is the issue. If she developed lopsided...then that's a genetic defect and it would be best to keep or sell her as a pet and not to continue on breeding her. There probably will always be an imbalance with her udder unfortunately, but with some work it could improve if it's not genetic.


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## rb555 (Oct 17, 2012)

Thanks KW Farms. There is a lot of good advice in your reply to my post.

I have seen them nurse from both sides. 

I have been a little derilect in my duties this week as I have been under the weather and feeding our little runt while trying to work. Geesh, I'm thinking there's not enough of me to go around right now! 

I'm gonna work with her and the kids to see if I can get the udder evened up and keep it that way. If I can make that happen, and there is no defect, I will breed her again and see if it improves. If not, she will be a dandy pet.

I have the buck priced at $100 (wethered) and the doeling at $200, so we'll see how that works out. 

Thanks so much.


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## sweetgoats (Oct 18, 2007)

Ok, did I miss it? when did she kid? If she is a FF, it might take time for her to get adjusted. 

If they are not going to be shown, and only for personal milk, I would not worry about it.


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## TiffofMo (Jan 10, 2011)

Maybe you could keep the doling and bred her and see what her udder looks like to. To see if its genetics or not.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

FF need time to really blossom into their udder PLUS a show fill and a half full udder being nursed is a TOTALLY differnt look to an udder (believe me Ive second guessed many udders until Ive done a show fill and then realized wow its not so shabby after all). Shave her entire udder, make sure you get her latteral attachements too and all the way around her escutcheon and then pull the kids when about 4 weeks old over night (12 hours or so) and then see how she looks in the morning. Im sure you will be more pleased then what you see now.
you can then milk her out some and then leave the rest for the kids to nurse.


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

A lot of good advice here. My experience with this is that you should always watch the udder even with twins to make sure they keep the udder milked out evenly and if not then you need to keep it milked evenly. Check for mastitis right now then start milking out the udder to keep it even. I looked at a saanen doe last summer to purchase and she had the worse uneven udder that I had ever seen and she had twin kids. Unfortunately the newbie goat owners didn't know anything about goats and this goats poor udder developed a severe case of mastitis which undoubtedly will scar her udder for life, it was that bad...... poor thing. Now a good story..... years ago I purchased a yearling lamancha that freshened with a lopside udder, but only slightly. The owner was into showing goats so that is the reason she sold her. Well the next year, she freshened with the most perfect udder that you can imagine, in fact the old owner begged me t have her back So I caved and sold her back and she went on to become a Grand Champion with numerous Best Udder in Show and Best Doe in Show awards. So you never can tell. Good luck and keep us updated.


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## rb555 (Oct 17, 2012)

OK, so I checked her milk, no salty taste, looks-smells-tastes good. I taped the favored udder, and they drank from the other willingly. Yay, no major issue! I will just have to keep an eye on her udder and how the kids are nursing. Here is a pic after her udder was taped for about 6 hours.

Thanks for all your help and advice everyone. I really appreciate it!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

If she has an uneven udder, be sure to milk it. If left for too long, it can become permanent. If you milk it out on a regular basis, that shouldn't occur.


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## JaLyn (Oct 10, 2012)

It looks better already. I would def breed her again and just keep an eye that next time they are nursing both sides. It looks like her udder is evening up already just with you taping hte one side.


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