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     Maggie Leman Moderator Username: maggieleman Post Number: 1085 Registered: 07-2005  Rating: N/A |
If the teat has an orifice (opening) it is not advised to remove it as it probably is a functional teat and removing it will set her up for problems with mastitis. Each functional teat or teat spur drains its own portion of the udder. If it is a blind teat and has no opening a vet can inject a bit of anesthetic and snip the teat off and perhaps close the skin with a small stitch or two. Teat spurs (these look a bit like a branch off the normal teat) if they are blind can sometimes be removed the same way. Once again if the spur has an orifice it is not advisable to remove it. Bifurcal or double teats can't be fixed and shouldn't be. This kind of teat malformation looks like two teats joined down the length think Siamese twins) and have 2 orifices. Sometimes the very tip is slightly separated giving this kind of teat another name of a "fishtailed teat". Some teats have more than one orifice. In almost all show goats these are very serious or even disqualifying traits. Many showmen and judges consider this practice to be unethical as the doe would essentially be "surgically altered". Its your call. In my opinion (just my opinion!) for meat goats where udder conformation is important but not the be all and end all purpose of the goat, I don't really see it as wrong, if when you sell the doe you are honest with the buyer. I would NEVER consider altering a buck this way, his genetics can be spread more widely and his mammary system should be flawless. On the goats I have done it to it was very minimally painful if at all and quite inexpensive. My vet is very good at doing a very clean job too. Your doe is definitely not too old and you will be better able to tell if the teat is likely to be functional or not. Maggie Leman Goat 911 Capri Medic | ||
| Theresa Chandler New member Username: tchandler6 Post Number: 78 Registered: 08-2005 Rating: N/A |
Maggie, I was reading a past thread that someone had posted about one of their does with a third orifice. This is very common with the boer breed; which is what I have. You had mentioned having the third one surgically removed, as long as it is nonfunctioning. I have a beautiful doeling out of my best 100% boer nanny that has the third orifice. The nanny has won overall grand champion at our county fair the last 2 years, and also placed in the top 3 at the open show this year. I so wanted to keep her offspring to continue with her wonderful confirmation. But she will not be show worthy with the 3rd orifice. My question is how costly (& painful) of a procedure is this to have it done, and the doeling is a January 06 kid, is she already too old to have anything done about it? I hadn't even thought about doing anything about it, until I was reading the posting. Sure would like to be able to show her if it were possible. She is a very nice doe as is her mother. |