# ridiculously small teats on FF; Help!!



## farm mom (Feb 25, 2008)

My FF Saanen doe kidded today. Been milking her out for colostrum for baby. Problem is her teats are maybe an inch long, maybe. Even my Nubian who has never been bred has longer teats than her. I've only milked her 3x now and it is like a torture treatment. Anything I can do? I can't put her kid on her because she was born premature and at this point kid can't even stand on her own and barely with assistance. Also, we whisked kid away so soon I don't think she even knows she had one or bonded in any way. I'm about ready to dry her up and forget it. I have plenty of milk so I don't really "need" her. Thanks!


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2008)

My FF alpine had very tiny teats about 12 days ago. She still has small teats but they are getting bigger with every day that the udder gets tight before milking. Don't give up. It will get better.


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## Truly (Oct 26, 2007)

I use the Maggiedan's Milker for small teats. It's just a small auto refill injection gun, attached to a hose and a syringe which works as a teat cup.

http://www.maggidans.com/milker.htm

It's been a hassle saver for me.


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## Becky-DixieDoesAlpines (Oct 26, 2007)

Don't give up. The teats start to lengthen and you will soon see a slight differnce at each milking. By a week or two fresh they are much better. Play some music if it takes a while to help you both relax, it takes a while but they will grow!


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## SherrieC (Oct 26, 2007)

What Becky Said and just use the thumb and first finger cause thats all the room there is! One of my Nubians freshened the same way on the 10th tiny tiny teats, and worse than that Full bag of milk she's up to 6 lbs a day that s a lot for a little ff nubie with a single buck kid. She's much easier to milk already though. 
good luck 
Sherrie


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## Guest (Apr 23, 2008)

I feel your pain .......I have a FF ND that should freshen in a couple more weeks, and geez....right now it's not looking so good in the teat department for her. I sure hope to have my milker up and running when she hits the stand. :groan

Whim


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## J-Basqo (Oct 26, 2007)

I dont even know what it is like to milk a real teat!!LOL I have freshened 2 does in my goat raising so far, twin sisters. Both FF, one last year, one this year, both had VERY small teats!! I sold the sister that freshened last year, and the FF this year took a few weeks to get to a size that is milkable, but she is also a 2yo now, the first sister was a 2finger milker her whole lactation. But give her a chance! I will have to say I am getting really good at milking small teats, we joke that I am practicing for my Nigerian! My husband cant milk my girl though, so there is a benefit to having small hands, it can be frustrating though when it takes forever to get a quart of milk!
Good luck and dont give up yet!
Patina


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

I use a salve on my hands after milking a ff with teeny tiny teats.....as I get hand cramps. lol.. It is called Unkers........works pretty well, tho is stinly stuff. 
We had kids born friday to a ff Alpine... kids are only nursing one side, so I am milking the other..... OH MY LORD! It is so tiny, and she has about 18 gallons of milk in that side alone.. or so it seems...  Good luck! The teats WILL get longer and easier... at least in my experience.....


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## farm mom (Feb 25, 2008)

Thanks all, I'll give it a bit more time. I may end up selling her anyway after my La Mancha freshens and I see what she does. We almost have enough milk from our Nubian alone for our family of eight. We have been making yogurt, cheese, kefir, butter, and drinking milk and I am still giving some to pigs and chickens almost each day. I really don't need three milkers. But I'll keep her going so I can sell her as a milker.


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## Ravenwood (Jan 10, 2008)

I just went through this as well. I had 3 FF this year and one of them was supreme torture. I was feeling the same way as you - super frustrated and "Is this even worth it!". Those teats were more like pimples than anything! LOL She freshened 2 weeks ago and now her teats are a manageable size. She is a nice good, good natured and milks well so I am glad I hung in there. It will get better!


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I have an older doe with really small teats. She is extremely easy to milk though. What she lacks in teat size, she makes up in orifice size. The milk squirts out in large, easy streams. When her bag is full the teats stick way out to each side and it's hard to hit the bucket with both of them, but it's getting easier. I don't know what she was like when she was younger as I just bought her last year, but her former owner said that milking her made her hands hurt. My hands never hurt with this one, and she's done milking before I know it, which is good because if she runs out of food before I finish she will quickly stick her foot in the bucket. It's a race against time with this girl! 
Good luck! I'm sure it will get easier with time.


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

LOL! Anita! I have one like that, too! I just mix her alfalfa pellets with the grain these days, and she eats alot slower! It is always a small victory when I finish milking her before she finishes her grain/pellet mix! I always do a little happy dance, as it took me a couple of months to figure this out! LOL! My Elliot ALWAYS stomped in the milk pail as soon as she finished her grain, but once I started mixing the pellets with it, she eats slower. YAY!  I finish milking her before she is finished eating, and i happy dance all around the milk house!I am POSITIVE it annoys her. lol...


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## Chaty (Oct 25, 2007)

:rofl Yep got a LaMancha that does that but thankfully she has larger teats and is easy to milk...took about a week for me to move the bucket when she started to move around and paw her food...but we have a system now...and I have gotten faster with her too...


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## Guest (Apr 28, 2008)

I started my first milker without grain during milking. I fed it separate. She learned to stand still. Then I rewarded her. She is eating grain and milking at the same time now. I too, started mixing alfalfa pellets in with her grain.  It preoccupies her so she does not get bored or call for her buckling. She does get a little antsy at times when she hears him. And milking her takes longer because her FF teats are still small. It is getting better with time though. They seem to get a tiny bit bigger with each time that they get tight with milk before I milk her. Having her buckling on her does not help though as it makes her uneven. I have to tape a teat every so often to even things out.


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

BTDT
and now those high-capacity, tiny teated does have daughters who have freshened this year...with nice sized milkable teats....wonderful...I am happy with what their sire has done 

No more grueling chore to milk each doe out :really


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## LMonty (Oct 25, 2007)

Heres something you might want to try- put a couple or three medium sized rocks in the feed bin- too large to chew on, but not big enough to fill the whole thing. Maybe fist sized or a bit smaller. Makes them have to move things around, concentrate and work to get all the grain. Its an old trick from my horse days, to slow down those big guys that will just inhale their feed. I used to have a doe this worked great on, it ticked her off for a bit, then she got used to it, and it really did make the feed last longer.


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## Guest (Apr 30, 2008)

LMonty said:


> Heres something you might want to try- put a couple or three medium sized rocks in the feed bin- too large to chew on, but not big enough to fill the whole thing. Maybe fist sized or a bit smaller. Makes them have to move things around, concentrate and work to get all the grain. Its an old trick from my horse days, to slow down those big guys that will just inhale their feed. I used to have a doe this worked great on, it ticked her off for a bit, then she got used to it, and it really did make the feed last longer.


That is awesome. I vaguely remember hearing something about that. Thanks for sharing. What a great idea.


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## pokyone42 (Oct 26, 2007)

YES! I might try that too, as the goats seem to get faster at eating, but I do not get faster at milking! Thanks!


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