# Udder size on FFs.. does more mamary tisue mean more milk?



## aria122 (Apr 2, 2011)

I have two FF ND. They are both about a year and half and both freshened in late Jan.

The 'bottle baby' had triplets (i hear this is great for a FF!) she has a very small udder but gives more milk than my other FF who is dam raised. The 'bottle baby' had her kids taken away from her at birth, the dam raised girl, still has one kid on her that is put up at night. 
- history repeats itself unintentionally.

So.. it is common for a doe with a smaller udder produces more milk than one with a big udder? It seems counter logical.

I guess it boils down to: does udder size lend to more milk? Should I be massaging and milking more? I thought I was milking her all the way...

Is the girl with the larger udder holding some of her milk back for her kid? 

Thanks!


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

*Re: Udder size on FFs.. does more mamary tisue mean more mil*

some udders are more "meaty" then others. Meaning more tissue and less milk. yes she could be holding back milk for her kid


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## Squires (Sep 14, 2010)

*Re: Udder size on FFs.. does more mamary tisue mean more mil*

I raise dairy sheep (as well as goats, now) and since there isn't a lot of literature on them in the USA, I comb through cow, goat, sheep and other studies to try and find out what I can.
:book:

And then I talk to people. An owner of a local cow dairy says that some cows have reservoirs inside their bellies which hold more milk -- not all milk is held in the udder. Cows are individuals and can be configured differently -- you can't tell until you measure their milk for a while (or do an autopsy). This is also true of some mixed-breed dairy sheep.

Artisan cheese-makers say that some animals will hold back milk -- and worse, they will hold back higher-cream-milk -- for their babies. Milk from sheep or other animals who still nurse part-time will have a lower butterfat content than milk from animals whose offspring were removed at or near birth. I learned this from a cheese-maker who contracts to buy milk from other farms, and can predict how rich the milk will be, depending on their management of the babies.

Most sheep milkers start milking, and then go back to massage the udder and get the second flow (butterfat content is very important for sheep cheese making).

There was a study on meat sheep that showed that if you over-fed young ewes in their first year, they would have big meaty looking udders but not be as productive (based on weight gain of their nursing lambs) as the ewes that were kept leaner and had scrawnier looking udders.

I do not know how this ads up. I am rusty on milking goats -- I do have a goat who milks and milks and milks with a not-so-big udder, and must be manufacturing it as I wait, because she will settle into the milking session and start to give me more milk, more easily, than I could ever have expected from her. I am a slow milker because I have painful hands but this goat just gets relaxed and rewards me a bit later with her second or third release of milk.

Goats are living things -- they are not as predictable as buying the big gallon jug or the quart jug of milk at the store - -although you wouldn't know that to hear some people talk! 

Someone told me that some of those huge-uddered show goats are not as productive as some smaller uddered and less pretty production does. I don't know what to say. Other than, be happy that your goat wants to give you her milk. 

Chris

onder:


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