Empty Udders

Udders are fifty percent of the linear appraisal score card or conformation points on a dairy goat. Makes sense since milk equals udder and it is a DAIRY goat. So since I have not blogged in a while and I am going crazy with end of the year school events and babies, babies, babies as our eight year old says. I thought I'd give you a brief lesson while I wait for the five year old granddaughter in the bathtub. Then it is clean stalls, feed the Nubian twins born last night once again, check on the baby bunnies and chicks being born, cook, and clean house.  Oh yeah, and plant the baby pine trees that will hopefully grow and become a wonderful wind break to protect the north side of the house.  

 This is Comedy and she won her Permanent Championship in the ADGA association. Her strongest area is her udder. It is a gem! Wish I could show you it full BUT it does not presently get full -adjustment problems. She was set in her ways and then she arrived here where everything changed. We had to modify the milking stanchion to her liking, work out disagreements in social status among the herd, and figure out a feed she will eat. So far it is this one this night and that one another night or morning depending on the day. Her score card for us today must have been good since on the way to pasture she dodged and dived; bucked and leaped and maa...d with joy. With a great improvement in her emotions we hope the milk production follows. This girl when first freshened this year gave 2 gallons of milk and before she arrived she was milking 11 pounds morning and night. Now we are lucky to get 3/4's of a gallon a milking.  It happens. The production will return next year if not in full this one.






















So empty udder is the lesson today. The Nubian on the left is about the same age as Comedy. Note how much fuller Belle's udder is than Comedy on the right. 

Belle has dense tissue in her udder. In a woman this puts her at a six times greater risk of developing breast cancer. Keep in mind there are all over dense breast and denser in a few areas type. Density makes it harder to detect cancer since it blends in. Belle has the dense in the top region but it is a good sized area. You don't hear of many goats getting udder cancer but you do hear a lot about mastitis which is harder to detect when there is a lot of tissue involved. Dense tissue takes up room and that is area milk will not be in. Hence same size udders can store quite a variance in the amount of milk. The same holds true for women. Breasts not udders in their case.

Belle had mastitis at one time before I bought her. I assumed the infection was treated immediately since I had pointed it out at an early stage. Obviously it was not since when I brought her home and milked her, I discovered a substantial rock hard knot. The entire one side of the udder can be lost to mastitis. The greater the amount of scar tissue, the less milk produced and stored. So the best udder is one which when empty is a wrinkled empty skin sack. 

When you have your goats linear appraised, the judge scores them full and empty. When you milk tonight. Check your girls. Also feel to see if the udder is soft and supple, another thing scored. You don't want thick, tough skin. It doesn't stretch well.

So tell me. What have you got? No, I'm not referring to ;your personal breast tissue. But at your next mammogram be sure and ask. There are four different tests that can be run and which is best for you is in part determined by your breast density tissue. Keep your doctor on his toes. It is your life on the line. 
So keep an eye on yourself but what I'm asking is that you to take a good look at your dairy cow or goat when you milk tonight. What kind of udder do they have?