Ready or Not....... Shouldvknwnbetter- Fall

Hens and Roos

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Here is a picture of Granite, he was watching the girls....

Granite(2)-9-27-2017.jpg
 

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Hens and Roos

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so how many freshenings/kiddings does it take to see how a doe's udder will develop as far as teat size- by the 2nd freshening or 3rd freshening?
 

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From what I've seen, the first few months are critical. I'd say by their second freshening you will really get to see teat size.

Of course there are variables, but for a dairy goat the is consistently being milked through the first freshening and into the second- you should have already established the teat size.

Now Mariah has little teats. She had REALLY little teats when we first got her (2nd F) but the owner didn't much much into the milking and just let the kids dam raise. She is now a 4th F and her teats are a little better.

I think udder texture had a lot to do with teat size and how the teats "plump".
I've noticed does that don't have good udder texture don't get those nice, large, easy to milk teats.
You've seen the picture of Ruthie's udder, right? She has great teats, especially for her breed! She also has a really nice texture. He daughters are following suit and have a nice, soft texture and they are getting nice, large & plump teats.
 

Hens and Roos

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@Goat Whisperer would it even be possible to change her teat size once she freshens again- she would be a 4F in 2018. This year and last year she pretty much dam raised her kids and we only milked her a few times last year(she dried herself off early) and this year. Her teats are small, I was able to find pictures showing the does in her pedigree and they have nice looking/plump teats.
 

OneFineAcre

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I don't think dam raising has anything to do with teat size
That's all we have ever done
 

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I think it can, to an extent.

@OneFineAcre you guys milk you goats, so you are still establishing production and you do fills on the does.

I've seen some (like Mariah) that just dam raised, was milked every once in a while, and never had a good fill. He kid was always on her- never letting the udder have a good fill. Now that we have her, her teats are a bit better but still on the smaller size.

It *could* happen, but there probably wont be a significant difference from her last freshening. What doe is it?
 

Hens and Roos

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it's our doe Obie- she's had triplets, single and now triplets. I did see a picture of the udder's from her 1st two girls(they were 1st F each with triplets) and their udders looked pretty similar to hers. Of course the 2 doelings from this year were from our buck Chester so different sire then the 1st ones.
 

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hard to believe that Oct is just about over.....not sure where the year went to :idunnoguess time flies when you're having fun :rolleyes:(or not).

had some more rain yesterday-pretty much the whole day with only small amounts of time without rain, DS(12) played soccer in the rain, they lost 0-1.

really hoping we get a few more nice dry days so that I can work on getting the goat shelter ready for winter, of course tonight and tomorrow we are suppose to get some rain...
 

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