# Boer goats with extra teats



## TRAILRIDER (Apr 16, 2007)

I have just been reading about boer goats with "4 functioning teats" instead of two, and some boer breeders actually prefer this trait. Huh? Having only been around dairy goat people, I always thought this was such a major flaw. 
I guess the operative word is "functioning" since anything else would certainly be a bad thing. 

The reason I was looking into it, yesterday my boer doeling jumped up on the milking stand and I decided to teach her about hoof trimming etc. Then got looking around, and sure enough she has 4 completely seperate normal looking teats down there. I was feeling really down about it since she is my baby (boy does she know it too.) I guess I will keep her and breed her next year and see how she does feeding kids. I plan on keeping any doelings she has and selling or butchering any bucklings.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Hehe, we prefer 4 functioning. More room at the table that way. It doesnt mean she has more milk though.
Coming from backyard milkers standpoint, the first time I saw a 4 teated doe I was horrified.


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## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

Perfectly acceptable in Boer goats. Not just for commercial herds, but in the Show Ring as well.

You do want to cull for fish teats or "cluster" teats - some Boers can have 3 or 4 teats on ONE side (yikes!) or teats that are all grouped very closely together, which of course makes it difficult for kids to nurse, especially young kids. If they can't nurse well early on, you will have high mortality rates...

Glad your "baby" is A-OK and you have no need to panic.


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Extra teats would be a headache while milking dairy goats, so it IS a big problem there. 

However, a boer goat's worth is in the meat kids it produces. Extra clean teats may or may not function, but as long as they do not impare the kid's ability to nurse and thrive, there's no reason to worry about it. 

Some boer breeders seem to prever 2 teats only, but I personally don't care if they have 2 or 4.


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## TRAILRIDER (Apr 16, 2007)

if I can get this brat to stand still I'll post a couple pf pics. She's a sweet bottle baby, but boy is she spoiled!


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Looking forward to seeing her!


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I bought my last boer doeling because she was a four-teater rather than a two-teater. When the vet tipped her over to look at this, she exclaimed "She looks like a little cow!"
There was someone a while back who had a 4 teated doe who had quints. I was really interested if she handled it well or whether it was a problem but I never heard.
The one consistant problem I have is that the girls have more than two and sooner or later the kids start making sores on the teats. I was hoping that more place servings would make less of a problem but on the other hand, having a teat that is not used may cause mastitis. 
So I really look forward to hearing about real experiences.


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## copperpennykids (Sep 6, 2004)

We have does with both 2 and 4 teats. Probably more 2 teated than 4 teated.

No mastitis in any of them. Interestingly, the 2 teated does (and we do breed for good mothering instincts) make sure who has nursed and who has not, so make sure that all kids get equal time, at least in the first 2-4 weeks. Of course, aggressive bucks/wethers will take more than their fair share, given the opportunity . This is why many breeders wean males at 8 weeks and give the doe kids another 2-6 weeks to be get a little "extra" and be weaned naturally, especially considering that they will be working harder throughout their lifetime to make babies and nurse healthy kids for 8-20 weeks (yes, some of our Boers are still happily nursing babies that are 4-5 months old).


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

It is common for meat breeds to have extra teats. They bear multiples often, so they need more. I have heard some people talking about clipping them off when they are very young, but I don't see the point. They are there for a reason.
It is a flaw in dairy goats, but not in meat breeds.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

mekasmom said:


> It is common for meat breeds to have extra teats. They bear multiples often, so they need more. I have heard some people talking about clipping them off when they are very young, but I don't see the point. They are there for a reason.
> It is a flaw in dairy goats, but not in meat breeds.


There are 4 nicely spaced teats and then there are useless extra non-functional teats. I saw one doe who had cluster teats, a veritable teat explosion. But she managed to raise kids just fine.
But a joined teat might be too large for small kids to latch onto. 
I have one doe who has a little "sidecare" teat that is not functional and about a half inch from her functional one. I did watch her kids try this extra one when they were new but they soon figured out it was not productive and moved on.


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## LoneStrChic23 (Jul 30, 2010)

I've always wondered about this.

Goats have 2 halves of an udder, not the 4 quarters that a cow does, so why would more teats be desirable, especially if there is not more milk to go along with these extras?

I just don't get it :shrug:

1/2 gallon of milk from 2 teats is the same as 1/2 gallon from 4...... I see dairy goats raise multiples on 2 normal teats all the time without issue.... Now, if these animals with 4 working teats also produced quite a bit more milk than the average 2 teater, I could understand it.....

I saw, I guess what is referred to as cluster teats..... God what a mess.... In this herd they also had quite a bit of teat spurs, and extra teats that didn't function..... They like to breed for 4 functional teats as well, but with all the deformities, it just seems like it would make sense to breed an animal with 2 correct teats as nature designed & lessen the occurance of the clusters/spurs/extras with no function....

I'm not trying to be argumentative or offensive, I just truly don't understand the benefit of 4 teats...

Anywho, to the OP, despite my questions on the preferences of boer breeders, I don't think you have to worry about your girl


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Basically the kids are raised til they are relatively large. Having the kids on the doe for a couple of months does not seem to be so damaging but when they reach 3-4 months, they can fight over the available spigots quite violently. If they each had their own, I thought it might be better.
But I'm not talking about random teats all over the place. My girl has 4 nice neat regularly spaced teats of equal size. And the ones I mentioned as teat explosions where basically two teated does with extras branching out from those two teats. And boer breeders do have standards for teats- just not dairy tests.
Meat goats breeders have a different goal than dairy breeders- they want the most milk into the kids so the bother of raising kids is the does work, not the people's. And the weight really packs on when they are on mom for a relatively long time.


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## Otter (Jan 15, 2008)

Actually, LoneStrChic, I've got a girl with three teats. I joke that she is half a cow. On one side she has a perfectly normal goat udder, on the other she has 2 "quarters" the front a little smaller then the back. Each teat has it's own, distinct milk supply.
From what I understand, goats with extra mammary like that don't give any _more_ milk, but there are more "seats at the table", which is a benefit for multiples.

And, I could very well be wrong, but I understand that the genes for one or two extra functional teats, with their own mammary capacity, are entirely different from the genes that cause things like clusters, spurs or fishteats. (imagine the difference between a woman having a deformed nipple versus a third breast, it's like that)


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

some multi teaters have two teats comming out of one section, some have multiple sections as well, a well bred pure Boer is actually a heavy milker, just not with the same length of lactation as a dairy, they were bred and developed in the aired flat savana of south africa to produce as many large kids as possible in that environment, lots of milk with multiple "seats" at the table for the amount of time it takes to grow the kids is what they are ment to do, the crap stock alot of people pass off now as Boer here in the states just because it is a white goat with a red head makes people COMPLEATLY missunderstand what they are truely ment to do.


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

I don't think any of us have "natural" goats.  Whether tall and giant udders or short and multiple teats. Goat have been changed to suit our needs. 
Has anyone any experience with wild (not feral) goats to know what their teat structure is?


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## Hank (Oct 14, 2009)

KSALguy is right. When the boers first hit the US many "breeders" saw a chance for a quick buck and started mass breeding with no reguard for the quality of the breed.
That is why so many people now think that a 100% full blood boer is an unhealthy, high maintance waste of time. There are many boers like that out there, but thanks to some good selective breeders we are now seeing the boers the way they should be.
All of my boers can be traced back to the CODI/PCI bloodlines that came to the US from S. Africa (not thru Australia or Canada). They are very large, healthy, low maintence goats.I am working towards a full CODI/PCI bloodline. My full SA doe with four (4) clean, working teats raises multiple kids with fast growth rates (no fighting over a place at the table). I have milked her many times to have extra on hand. She will stand with no restrant needed and let me milk all four teats, filling a bucket in a hurry and still have plenty for her kids.
She is passing her teat structure to her kids. Bucks from these does may have 2 teats but will pass the four teat gene to their offspring. I don't know that my four teated does produce more milk than others but I do know they grow some great babies.

Hank
www.doublemfarmandchuckwagon.webs.com


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Hank said:


> KSALguy is right. When the boers first hit the US many "breeders" saw a chance for a quick buck and started mass breeding with no reguard for the quality of the breed.
> That is why so many people now think that a 100% full blood boer is an unhealthy, high maintance waste of time. There are many boers like that out there, but thanks to some good selective breeders we are now seeing the boers the way they should be.
> All of my boers can be traced back to the CODI/PCI bloodlines that came to the US from S. Africa (not thru Australia or Canada). They are very large, healthy, low maintence goats.I am working towards a full CODI/PCI bloodline. My full SA doe with four (4) clean, working teats raises multiple kids with fast growth rates (no fighting over a place at the table). I have milked her many times to have extra on hand. She will stand with no restrant needed and let me milk all four teats, filling a bucket in a hurry and still have plenty for her kids.
> She is passing her teat structure to her kids. Bucks from these does may have 2 teats but will pass the four teat gene to their offspring. I don't know that my four teated does produce more milk than others but I do know they grow some great babies.
> ...


Yay Hank! Some of my girls are 1:1 some 2:2. They usually produce the same when covered by a two teated buck.
Its just my own theory, but folks who got into Boers early on in the states here were used to dairy structure on teats & udders. Many are breeding out the 2:2. One association prefers 1:1.
Boer structure will never be as nice & pretty as dairy. But then again we (plural) are breeding meat goats. IMO as long as they have reasonable attachment & have no problems feeding their kids.....:soap:


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## TRAILRIDER (Apr 16, 2007)

Here are some pics of my girl. Please keep in mind she is only 3 1/2 months old. The first pic I posted here when she was two weeks old and trying to wage a hunger strike! Eventually she became the biggest chow hound I've ever known. I do not know her breeding, but my friend that sold her to me has about 30 lovely, correct, strong looking boers. She does not register babies, usually sells them for meat. I'd be interested in your opinions, since I am new to boer goats. Thanks!

































Oh I almost forgot! This is a pic of her udder-to-be : )


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

She's a real pretty girl, nice topline & great wedge (the imaginary triangle starting at brisket & widening out) good depth there too. 
Teats are well seperated. They are perfect! She isnt real wide but I'd certainly take her!


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