# Tog pics, input please. *New pics of Lamancha does*



## Blue Dog Farms (Jul 10, 2011)

Im going to go look at this girl tomrrow, what do you guys think?? Im looking at her to milk for my family and thats really all Im interested, but of coarse we will have to breed her to keep her in milk. What about her teets??


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## freemotion (Jul 10, 2011)

Well, I'm no expert and others will chime in......my rescued doe had teats like that and she produces a gallon a day during her peak and a steady 3 quarts for many months.  She is very easy to milk, too, you get some big squirts from those teats!  And my dh can hand milk her.  He can't milk the ff's very easily.


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## Blue Dog Farms (Jul 10, 2011)

Lol they certainly look like a handful. Ive been milking a Nigerian/Pygmy cross so this will definalty be differant. Hows her bag? It doesnt look too impressive to me, but Im certainly no expert by any means. They are only milking her once a day, will she pic up more with milking twice a day? And as far as Togs go, how does she look? She is 6 so shes not young, but the price is what Im looking for and I figure I can breed her and pray for a doeling lol. Shes been at a petting farm so she is use to being handled and milked ALOT.


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## boykin2010 (Jul 10, 2011)

From the pics she looks pretty skinny 
I dont have goats though so i wouldnt know anything about them. Just was curious


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jul 10, 2011)

Her teats are blown.  Personally, I wouldn't purchase a doe with blown teats... it's not the end of the world, but you're most likely going to have trouble with her skin drying out.  If you plan to dam raise when she freshens for you in the future the kids can have a tough time getting started.  Her udder is also really lopsided, which may or may not indicate a problem with mastitis.  Even for a home milker, I'd keep looking.  

Her condition doesn't look bad IMO.


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## Blue Dog Farms (Jul 10, 2011)

Thanks that helps my desicion. I will be going tomorrow to look at a Lamancha/Alpine doe 4yrs old she was a 4-H goat and is milking 2x daily. Sounds like a better goat to me.


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## SuburbanFarmChic (Jul 10, 2011)

She looks a bit thin but if they've been milking her heavily that could be the cause. Some dairy girls just put their all into milk production.   My 11yr old nubian has teats like those and they are great for big hands.  SO easy to milk though.  Little tiny teats are pretty but I don't have small hands and find them a pain to milk. 

Edit to mention that my doe's teats are big but not quite ballooned out like those upon a second look at the photos.


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## helmstead (Jul 10, 2011)

n.smithurmond said:
			
		

> Her teats are blown.  Personally, I wouldn't purchase a doe with blown teats... it's not the end of the world, but you're most likely going to have trouble with her skin drying out.  If you plan to dam raise when she freshens for you in the future the kids can have a tough time getting started.  Her udder is also really lopsided, which may or may not indicate a problem with mastitis.  Even for a home milker, I'd keep looking.


Yep, blown (=poor udder management, a red flag) and bottled.  I have a Nubian doe, aged, that I purchased with one blown teat...she is a wonderful milker still but every freshening that blown teat got worse, harder to milk, harder to keep pliable (caused cracking, which can invite infection) and harder to dry off.

I love the doe, but hindsight...I should have kept looking.


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## doxiemoxie (Jul 10, 2011)

If I may hijack this thread a little bit for my own education:  what is meant by "blown"?  I can see that the teat structure is bad (bottled) and the two sides of the udder are uneven  (what do you call the compartments for goats; in cows they're quarters...)   Would you mind actually describing what you are seeing and explaining why its bad?    Thank you.


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## helmstead (Jul 10, 2011)

Okay - here is a doe who has probably the same teat structure the Tog doe on this thread HAD before she blew:





If I were to let this doe's udder become engorged, her teats would 'blow out' and balloon.  It's permanent damage...and eventually, as the doe ages, even the sphincter at the junction of teat and udder floor will 'go' and the whole half becomes one, long, low-hanging hindrance to the doe.

The engorgement can happen, in high production does, quickly...and the teats blow before you can realize what is happening.  SO MANY mismanaged udders look like this that people believe it's normal.  It's not.  I have a video somewhere of my aged doe with the blown half getting milked via machine, which shows how a blown teat becomes a big issue later in life.  If I can find it, I'll post it here.


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## Blue Dog Farms (Jul 10, 2011)

Well I have definatly decided against her. Im looking now at a Lamancha/Alpine doe and a Lamancha doe and her 2 doelings The Lamanchas will ne registered, the cross will not but both are in milk and have been shown and milked before. The cross is a 4-h goat and is currently being milked Heres the doe and doelings

















 I dont have pics of the Alpine/Lamancha but am going to look at her tomorrow. im thinking of get them all then deciding what to do with the doelings


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## freemotion (Jul 10, 2011)

My two La Mancha cross does are a dream to milk!  

Pretty goats....you could have a whole herd all at once!  I'm milking four does this year and loving it.


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## Blue Dog Farms (Jul 10, 2011)

I cant wait!! Im going to see them tomorrow All i need now is a buck! And maybe I should sell a few of these goats I cant milk, lol. Im going to keep my 2 nigi/pygmy does and breed them to my 3/4 nigi buckling but other than that im sticking to my milkers. Thinking the kids can show them in next years fair.


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## freemotion (Jul 10, 2011)

Welllllll....... you could always breed them to the nigi buck and call the offspring Mini-Manchas!  You'll still get milk from the does, after all...


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## Blue Dog Farms (Jul 11, 2011)

Good idea!!! I havent even thought of that! I certainly dont want any more bucks than I need.


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## Blue Dog Farms (Jul 15, 2011)

So we decided definalty on the full lamancha and her doelings, they are precious. The alpine/lamancha is at the end of her milking cycle and is drying up it seems so she doesnt suit our needs right now. We did find a very nice doe, though she is about triple the price but they are getting a gallon out of her right now and her mom was a VERY heavy producer from what im told so I think she is worth it. Plus she is registered and out of very good lines. Waiting on pics then we will go see her but Im pretty excited. As far as bucks I have found a couple people with bucks willing to let me breed to them so all is falling into place.


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