One More Newbie Question

[Bestoutwest]

How common are 6 teats? Any complications?

 

[M-5]

What are you studying for??

 

[Bestoutwest]

What are you studying for??

Stupid autocorrect. Thankfully nothing at this point.

 

[M-5]

I couldn't resist, back 2 are usually non working. Calves figure out there's nothing in them pretty quick

 

[slick4591]

I had one that had six and the two extra were out of order.

 

[M-5]

I have seen people recommend removing them and even had a poster on here suggest a calf would starve to death only sucking the blind ones . I would not go that far but i guess in reality it could happen .

 

[MRRherefords]

I have seen people recommend removing them and even had a poster on here suggest a calf would starve to death only sucking the blind ones . I would not go that far but i guess in reality it could happen .

I know a lot of people remove them, not just because of empty sucking, but also for looks. Then again they showed some of them and 6 teats don't exactly look good in the show ring. :hide:

 

[M-5]

I have seen people recommend removing them and even had a poster on here suggest a calf would starve to death only sucking the blind ones . I would not go that far but i guess in reality it could happen .

I know a lot of people remove them, not just because of empty sucking, but also for looks. Then again they showed some of them and 6 teats don't exactly look good in the show ring. :hide:

thats what ive seen for show cows . with just normal mamas its not an issue I have several with 6 teats

 

[True Grit Farms]

I've put a bands on the extra teats before, and heard you can just cut them off like a wart. IDK But I do know you don't want to sell a heifer with 6 teats at an elite heifer sale. Extra teats don't hurt anything on commercial cows.

 

[Bestoutwest]

Good to know. Thanks everyone!

 

[Putangitangi]

The ones that don't work on my cows are the 7th and 8th! ;-)

I have seen two calves in the last twenty or so years that have latched onto the supernumerary teats and kept sucking at them. They'd have got a little colostrum there to start with and so that's where they stayed. They would not have thrived without intervention. But I don't remove teats from cows. Most of my herd have them.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I do cut them off. I show and sell show cattle, sooo necessity for my herd.
I just pull them down and cut with scissors or scalpel. Spray with blu-coat if it's in fly season.
Just make SURE you have the right teats to cut off. Sometimes it's the middle pair.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I do cut them off. I show and sell show cattle, sooo necessity for my herd.
I just pull them down and cut with scissors or scalpel. Spray with blu-coat if it's in fly season.
Just make SURE you have the right teats to cut off. Sometimes it's the middle pair.

Jeanne, at what age do you cut the extra teats off? Have you ever had any excess blood or infection problems? I definitely need to do this with the one's I sell at bred heifer sales. And if it's that easy I'll do them all.

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I run the calves thru the chute at about 3 months of age and again at 4 months.
that is when I check for extras. I have never had one bleed?? Just pull it down a little, kinda like cutting off a wart (but warts DO bleed). If you use scissors, make sure they are sharp! I tail the calves and let my nephew cut them. He prefers a scalpel.
I have done it at an older age with no problem - like at breeding age.
Actually, last year one of my bred show yearlings had an extra that I missed & we got rid of it.

 

[True Grit Farms]

I run the calves thru the chute at about 3 months of age and again at 4 months.
that is when I check for extras. I have never had one bleed?? Just pull it down a little, kinda like cutting off a wart (but warts DO bleed). If you use scissors, make sure they are sharp! I tail the calves and let my nephew cut them. He prefers a scalpel.
I have done it at an older age with no problem - like at breeding age.
Actually, last year one of my bred show yearlings had an extra that I missed & we got rid of it.

Thank you, I'll definitely give it a try.

 

[sim.-ang.king]

I have a cow with 6 teats, and all 6 produce milk. Strange but true...