# Goats with extra teats.



## dianneS

How bad is it to breed goats with fish teats or extra teats?  Every goat book I've read says not to breed goats with more than two teats.  I have no intention of doing any such thing.  I was just wondering?

I know a woman who breeds goats with extra teats all the time and she doesn't seem to know that they are only _supposed to _have two!  After one of her four-teated goat kidded, the kids latched onto the non-functioning teats!  She ended up bottle feeding them thinking her does teats were _blocked_...   until she realized that the other two worked just fine.    She still doesn't understand that goats only have two teats, she's really clueless and continues to breed very unhealthy looking goats and isn't doing anything to improve bloodlines.


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## savingdogs

I have a goat with extra teats and I bred her. I don't think it is any crime since the offspring are my responsibility. Mine is a mixed breed (quasi mini nubian) so she isn't going to ruin any fantastic bloodlines, but her bloodlines are more along the lines of cute rather than special. She is a good size and a good weight, a good temperament, thrifty, and I want to see how she milks (first freshening). I may not breed her again, but I don't think she or her offspring are breaking any goat laws being born. If she is too hard to milk or cannot nurse her kids or if all her kids seem to have this trait, I would not breed her again, nor would I hide that she has this from anyone buying a kid from me. 

I have heard that extra teats are fairly common in Boers. Since they are a meat goat it probably doesn't matter as much I would think. 

It probably depends on what you are doing with your goats. I'm just looking for a little milk for my family, I'm not a goat farm owner. You will probably find lots of opinions on this forum regarding this topic because we all have a different use for our goats. If I were trying to breed pedigreed show animals this doe would not even be on my farm.


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## ksalvagno

The whole point of breeding is really to improve the goat if you are a breeder selling breeding goats to other people. So breeding goats with extra teats doesn't help that. If you are a homesteader and just want milk and either eat or sell the kids as pets, that is one thing. But if you are a breeder and selling the goats, that is another. Obviously the woman who is breeding goats like that is a problem and doesn't really care that she is passing on genetic defects.


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## aggieterpkatie

It's really a personal thing, but I hate supernumerary teats.  I once worked on a dairy that would snip off the extra teats on heifer calves as soon as they were born because they just plain get in the way.  I had a lamb born with extra teats last year (from the ram's bloodlines) so I sold her.  I don't care to have animals with extra teats.  Unfortunately, I had to use the same ram this year, so those lambs will once again be for the freezer.  

Some people don't mind them, so it's really a personal thing.


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## 4hmama

I believe that extra teats are acceptable in boers, but not in dairy breeds.  If someone is specifically looking for breeding animals, they will not buy something with extra teats because it is a fault.  Most people won't sell or register offspring with this fault, because it is a hereditary defect.  If she is simply breeding animals for meat - it wouldn't matter (I guess), but if she is breeding animals that she is selling as breeding stock - most people would steer clear of her.  It's a no-no for most.


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## Roll farms

Extra teats are allowed....and by some breeders actually encouraged, in boers.  Up to 4 teats, but fish teats are a DQ in shows.  There has to be seperation.

They *claim* 'does w/ extra teats can feed extra kids'....I call bullhockey on that (like the above poster said, if the teat is non-functioning, you're not feeding anything on it).

I've got a few 4-teaters and I try to breed them only to 2-teated bucks or just for 4-h wethers.  They have to have enough other good qualities that make them worth trying to 'fix' the teat count by breeding to a better buck.

I disclose teat count to buyers and most boer people could care less....sort of like I'm telling them the kid has 4 legs..."Yeah?  So?"

If I had a dairy kid born w/ extra teats, it would be freezer bait.


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## dianneS

The woman breeding the goats with extra teats is breeding pygmies and selling them mostly as pets, but also as "pure bred" breeding stock.  She doesn't disclose that her doelings have extra teats because she doesn't seem to be aware that it can be considered a flaw.  I also have another news flash for her, that her goats aren't pure pygmy, they are part nigerian dwarf.  She never heard of a nigi and seems to think that any small goat is just classified as "pygmy".  She's just a really clueless breeder.  Knows nothing of worming or vaccinating either.

I have a few rescued goats with extra teats and was considering breeding someone just to get some milk some time, but I'm really thinking I'd rather breed my well bred two teated girls.  They're the best candidates for milking anyway, temperment-wise.  And I might want to use their offspring for milking as well.


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## 4hmama

It's gonna sound cold, but...it takes as much money to keep a registered goat with good qualities as it does to keep an unregistered goat with undesired qualities.  Your investment may be more in the beginning, but if you do your homework...it's worth it in the end.  If you are going to breed, use the best stock you have.  You will end up with babies that will be easier to sell or that you will want to keep, and your reputation will not be in question (like the woman that you are asking about).  THAT is worth a lot!  Good luck deciding what to do.


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