# Teat defect



## Gatorpupsmom (Jul 2, 2011)

Our best doe, Mary, a 4 year old ADGA registered American Saanen, had babies in May.  Unfortunately, we lost her 3 days after she birthed.  Not sure what happened, but she never really got "back on her feet" and sadly she was gone before we could get her to the vet.  

We have been bottle feeding her baby does, Rainey and Sunny, and they have done great.  Yesterday we noticed that one of the baby girls has a deformity in her teat.  It splits off and forms a "Y" at the end.  One "branch" is bigger than the other.    

I realize that in the dairy goat world, a teat defect is pretty much a death sentence, but I don't think we can bear to do that under the circumstances.  Is there any way to "correct" the situation and have a working teat, such as removing the smaller "branch" on the teat?  Out of all the babies Mary had, this is the only time that this has happened.  Mary had a fabulous udder, and produced over a gallon of milk per day.  Haven't seen it on the buck's doelings either.  Does this sometimes just happen?  I have know of human females with an extra nipple.  If it's genetic, is it more likely to be passed from mom or dad, or is it equal?  She has 3 full blood sisters....are they likely to produce offspring with this unacceptable trait?  

I asked lots of questions, sorry so many, but anyone with experience in this please let me know what you know.

Thanks!!!

Kim


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## helmstead (Jul 2, 2011)

That's the worst kind of teat defect...a fish teat.  Do they both have orifices?  I hear it's practically impossible to milk them because it goes everywhere.

It's genetic.  If you breed her, I'd breed her for meat (market) offspring.

I personally have zero tolerance for teat defects in my herd...but for pet use, they're fine, just harder to milk.


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## elevan (Jul 2, 2011)

Re: teat defect...I agree with what Helmstead stated.

_About your doe that died...did you worm her post kidding?  I would suspect a heavy bloom along with the accompanying anemia post kidding...the worm bloom can actually start when the hormonal changes in the body signal labor to begin...depending on load it could take a doe down in that short of time._


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## Ariel301 (Jul 3, 2011)

"Fish teats" or "teat spurs" are genetic defects. She (and probably her sibling) can possibly pass it on to their offspring. It will get them disqualified in a show ring, and make them difficult to sell (same goes for any affected offspring of theirs). If she's just got a "spur" coming off one teat, I have heard of people removing them with very sharp scissors while the kid is young, but it can also (if it was a functional spur) cause the milk to leak from where it was at later on. Not to mention it is pretty unethical to remove a teat spur/extra teat and then sell the goat as a normal dairy goat without mentioning it (not that I assume you're considering that, but just saying...it's happened to people before)

You can breed her and see what happens, but I would be prepared to send any defective-teated kids to the freezer, personally.


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## Gatorpupsmom (Jul 3, 2011)

I also did a google search on "fish tail teat" and the recommended course of action is always to cull from the herd.  Most of the posts I have found while searching blame it on bad genetics allowed to be passed on by unscrupulous breeders.  We searched long and hard before making the investment in our goats, and our pedigrees have the herd names of some of the top Saanen breeders in Texas and the rest of the United States.  They are all the type of breeders whose name is on the line, who I know would immediately cull a goat with such an undesirable trait.  So how, in an instance like this, does this bad trait sneak through?  

I was asking about the correction to the teat because we have intended all along to keep this set of girls and breed them to another Saanen buck we just acquired.  Their mama was the best milker we have had in the few years we have done the dairy goat thing, and she is sorely missed.  

I am very disheartened.   I don't think I can cull her and I won't ever be able to sell her or any offspring.  We have worked really hard to invest in decent bloodlines, and it hasn't paid off.  

Kim


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## Roll farms (Jul 3, 2011)

That is discouraging...I'm sorry you're going through it.


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## helmstead (Jul 3, 2011)

It doesn't matter who you are - teat defects crop up from time to time.  It just happens.


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## ksalvagno (Jul 3, 2011)

Genetics are a funny thing. In alpacas, we have a problem with choanal atresia which is a blockage of the nasal passage. It is suspected that it is a combination of male and female so people don't rebreed that combination. Years ago, a vet told me that more than likely every alpaca has that gene somewhere down in them and you just have to find the right combination of male/female to get it. Maybe the same with the fish teat and goats. Who knows. I don't know enough about genetics to rule out anything.


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