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fcnubian

fcnubian

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Ok well I wasnt sure where to put this. If this is in the wrong place Im sorry.

I was wondering how common is it in beef cattle to get calves with 6 teats? And if you get a calf with 6 teats do you immediately cull it?

My calf was an orphan. She showed up in the mare pasture where I take care of horses...Well the other day she was laying down I thought I saw something wrong with her and moved her leg, sure enough 6 teats. I was just wondering if its common, if it isnt maybe she was dumped? Thinking if some one owns horses they may take on a calf? I dont know maybe thats just completely crazy. Lol.
 
As far as I'm concerned, your choice of where to post your question is fine. :) 6 tits is pretty common - usually only 4 of them are functional. I sure wouldn't cull based on an extra pair! I believe the dairy industry usually snips off the extra 2(but I could be wrong on that), but beef people usually just ignore them. I also don't see a thing wrong with someone who owns horses taking on a calf - it will present some new challenges, and I sure wouldn't put the calf with my horses - but nothing a little research and a few questions won't take care of. ;-) :)
 
Ohk I was just wondering.

The baby calf wasnt more then 2 weeks old when I got her. She was in the middle of the pasture with the horses. The owners of the horses didnt want her because they couldnt take care of her so I brought her home. She was skinny and dehydrated.

She's now my baby. Lol. She's a keeper. :roll:
 
If you do your homework and raise her right, she could very well be a keeper - in every sense of the word. Just because she is a bottle calf does not mean that she cannot grow out, develop properly, and become a good, breedable heifer.
 
Yep, fairly common. Dairy blokes around here get out the scissors if they have one with extra teats. We generally dont care about extra teats on ours, the only exception being the heifers we show, we tend to have our vet take the extras off, just for cosmetics sake.

Have fun with your new baby!
 
I have a couple of heifers that calved, that has 6 teats. We just left them alone. The calf will learn there is nothing in them.
 
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Some times the extras are functional... we have a cow that we are milking now with 5 teats that work... a pain in the ass to milk because you have to change it around at half time, A couple of years ago we had a heifer calve that had 6 functionla ones... we just left them alone and they dried up.
 
I've also had them with 6.. we snip them at weaning as well. Primarily because the udder seems to keep better shaped without them all.

I had an old Hereford that had 6.. and one year when she had twin heifers, one had 6 and one had 7. That was 19 between the three of them! :roll:
 
It is common and some people do remove them but if you decide to do so make sure you are positive which are the dummy teats and which are the working ones.
There can be a problem with a newborn that is slow going after them and getting discouraged if milk does not flow but generally they are smaller and so cause no problems.
 
We have a cow with 6 tits that is actually raising her calf on the back two. The 4 big ones were too big so the calf started sucking the two in back. Both will be going to the sale soon tho.
 

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