We're eagerly looking forward to our Holstein heifer calving (our first experience) in the next few weeks. We just noticed that she has a very small fifth teat at the back of her udder. I seem to remember someone commenting on this, but can't remember if it's a problem or not. Does anyone have any suggestions? Will we need to somehow milk this tiny teat to avoid mastitis?

-- Jonathan Lindvall (Lindvall@BoldChristianLiving.com), May 15, 2000

Answers

wish i could answer that. my lincoln ewe has 4! 3 normal looking ones and one tiny one.she's bagging up and due sometime soon. will be interesting to see if they all work normally. laura

-- laura cavallari (ladygoat13@aol.com), May 16, 2000.

My white face cow has a small fifth teat. When she freshened, she did NOT produce milk out of that teat. Just watch to see if it's filling up or not.

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), May 16, 2000.

Hi, it is real common for high producting cows to have a extra set of teats. They are always real small and don't produce milk. They will in the very back of the bag and up high. The last cow dairy I visited, most all their cows had these extra teats.

-- Linda (hesscat@cot.net), May 16, 2000.

hi jonathan we have a herford limosene x who is due to calf soon. she beats yours by two teets! she has seven and six are normal and give milk!kinda wierd huh.maybe this means she's going to have twins?this is our first heifer so we dont know much but we are learning as we go. have learned alot on this forum. the peole here are great!they have taught us alot.good luck with your heifer. let us know what she has. happy homesteading! cindy & roger

-- cindy young (cin_sue63@webtv.net), May 16, 2000.

Good advice above to use since its already there. But, Jonathan this is a genetic fault and is NOT a desirable trait. When bred to a bull of your choice, (next time) breed her into a line without this trait. ie. he has daughters, sisters and a dam who does no have this gene. Though with trying to improve this her and her daughters will still carry the gene recessively. The reason why when you visit a farm and "they all have them" that's because they are usually related to the bull or cow who carries this trait. Something you will need to be very honest about in selling bull calves or heifers to others. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 16, 2000.

Jonathan- we run a small (45 cow) family dairy. Vicky is right, and so are some of the others. In all likelyhood, this won't be a problem. But, not always. We've had extra teats which developed mammary tissue and produced milk, and they will end up getting mastitis because of it. It definitely is a genetic trait, but can be passed on through the bull as well as the dam, so if you use AI, you can't eliminate it that way very easily. If your cow has a heifer calf, examine it as soon as possible after birth. If IT has extra teats, first *be sure you know which are the extras!* Can't emphasize that enough. If you really can't tell(it doesn't happen often, but every once in awhile it's tough on a newborn) leave it awhile and go back in a few weeks. Anyway, with a sharp pair of scissors (and someone holding the back legs so you don't get your head kicked in) carefully, and QUICKLY snip the extra off, including a tiny bit of skin. It sounds terrible, but done quickly they hardly seem to react. I douse it good with some iodine based teat dip and it heals in a day or so. You can do this on an older animal, right up to when they start making much bag, but it's a lot harder, and sometimes needs a stitch or two (plus you need tranquilizer for the heifer). Good luck with your new milker

-- Linda Graves (gravesfarm@madbbs.com), May 17, 2000.