# breeding buck with slight underbite?



## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

I have a 7 month old buckling from good milking lines (registered purebred nubians). He has a very slight underbite (I think that's the right one - it's the opposite of the parrot mouth) His mother's sister had a doeling (same sire) that has a bad underbite. I know this is a trait that does pop up in Nubians but I am wondering if I should keep him to breed for the good milking production or is it better to get rid of him?


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## Cotton Eyed Does (Oct 26, 2007)

Depends on what you intend to do with your goats. If you are breeding for milk production or for show goats. Remembering an undesirable trait can affect the longevity of the animal by causing problems in the future. Does with lop sided udders, pendulous udders, crooked teats are often accepted in milking herds where milk production is the main focus. However, when looking at the long term picture a goat with high, tightly attached udders and straight well formed teats will be producing without the problems from the other type for a longer period of time. If the underbite is so very slight that it will not cause problems eating or if this bad trait is not metastasized in the young he throws and your priority is just a few milk goats then you can keep him for now with plans to "up grade" to a buck without this trait in the future. You don't want to keep this bad trait rotating throughout your herd with daughters and granddaughters and bucklings from this buck, etc., because the problem tends to grow. I personally would cull him and disclose this trait to any potential buyers and sell all offspring from him.


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## billinohio (Jun 24, 2009)

I agree with what Christine said. I would never want to 'double back' and bring these gens back into a herd (assuming that some of your does are related). Every goat has something that could be improved. IMO, you want to double on strong areas, and never build on weaknesses.


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## Ashley (Oct 25, 2007)

My buck has that, not to the point of any trouble eating etc. I have had ten kids out of him and they all have correct bites. My does all have correct bites.


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

I personally would butcher him. Now that is just my opinion


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Depends on how bad it is. Alot of nubians with really good roman noses, have some teeth showing if you look at them from straight on. There is certainly degrees of bite faults, including a doe who has an excellent head on appraisal here. A good number of nubians have teeth showing as they age, so I would be more critical of what you keep or register out of this line. Run your fingers on the dental pallate, when you run your finger down the gum of where he would have front teeth, it should meet evenly with the front of the bottom teeth. Vicki


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## Bernice (Apr 2, 2009)

Your mention, and Vicki's of the underbite and Nubians reminds me of this one 4-H girl's Nubians yrs ago. That Nubian had a slight underbite but always did well showing for her. That doe also snored loudly too!


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

When one of my bucklings out of my best doe was really young, he had a sight underbite. His brother didn't but wasn't as nice overall. I hung on to both for awhile, and now this buckling seems to have outgown it and his mouth looks normal. He comes from a line with strong Roman noses. Had the underbite been bad, I would have kept his brother.


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## Tim Pruitt (Oct 26, 2007)

Like Kathie says there can be a lot of changes during growth developmental stages. It does depend on how bad it is. While a perfect bite is desirable, if the animal can eat well and is otherwise structurally correct I would step back and look at the overall picture. We forget that the best of goats have faults - none are perfect. Stressing over a "slight" fault is not a good thing to do. Some things are trade offs. One buck might have shorter ears but has the genes to make high rear udders or in your case have a slight bite problem but high milk production. Take a look at his offspring and see how often this is passed along. 

Ultimately though, you have to decide what you can live with and what you can't.


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## kuwaha (Aug 22, 2009)

Thank you for all the advice. I think I'm going to keep him and see how he turns out. At least give him a chance


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