If you get into homesteading and you decide to buy dairy goats, one of the things that you will have to learn, is how to judge if a goat has a good udder and conformation. If you buy does with poor conformation or udders, they will very likely either be hard to milk, hard to kid out, or just poor milkers.
Here are three udders from our own does.
The first doe is a great milker, and she’s easy to milk by hand. Her teats are thick, but not too thick and they point straight down which makes getting the milk in the bucket easier. Her teats are also nice and smooth to the touch. You won’t find lumps in them which makes them much better for milking.
The second udder in this line up, has extremely fat, and splayed teats. She produces a ton of milk, but it’s hard to get her milk in the bucket. My hands usually are a little stiff after milking her because the teats are just too thick and pointed outwards.
The third doe’s udder has nicer teats than the second doe, but she is a first year milker, and her teats are pointing slightly outward at this point. I’ll know by next year if her teats will correct themselves or not. She milks nicely but not as much as the other two. It takes a year or two for a doe to come into full production.
When looking at conformation on a milking goat, look for a long back and a wide space between it’s back legs. You can especially see that in the picture of the white doe.
That Ozark Homesteader 