[Josie]

Conformation question here...

I have a doeling who's ears are just wierd. I'll try to take some pictures to illustrate later. They aren't airplane ears or anything and she is a French Alpine. They just somehow tilt down a little bit.... although they are upright they aren't like my other goats ears.

bugs me everytime I look at her. Just wondering if its a big deal, or if it even matters. :blush

Thanks!

 

[Kaye White]

Re: Ears on Swiss Breeds

:biggrin Picture please, will explain a lot.
Kaye

 

[pokyone42]

Re: Ears on Swiss Breeds

I have an Alpine doeling who has the worst front legs and feet I have ever seen..........lol.......but she is my "Gracie," and I love her to pieces and spoil her rotten...........her front feet toe out like a Basset hound!!!!!!!! Good thing her personality grabbed me, or she would be in someone's freezer!!!!!!! (Not mine.....tho.......) she is a sweetheart, and we adore her, but every time I look at her walking toward me, I roll my eyeballz. lol........good thing we just raise kids for meat, huh? lol. she is the spoiled brat who also gets extra BOSS every night~ I am WAYYYYY too soft!!!!

 

[Josie]

Re: Ears on Swiss Breeds

Yeah lol you guys are supposed to have x ray vision... hehe... sorry about that. I just tend to think of things whilst i'm at work!

I went out and took about a dozen pictures but since a) no one to hold and b) I get mobbed every time i go in I only got one picture that shows what I mean about her ears.

Okay dokey... am i imagining something or is something very odd about her ears? The other ear looks exactly like the one in the picture

[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[Josie]

Re: Ears on Swiss Breeds

I have an Alpine doeling who has the worst front legs and feet I have ever seen..........lol.......but she is my "Gracie," and I love her to pieces and spoil her rotten...........her front feet toe out like a Basset hound!!!!!!!! Good thing her personality grabbed me, or she would be in someone's freezer!!!!!!! (Not mine.....tho.......) she is a sweetheart, and we adore her, but every time I look at her walking toward me, I roll my eyeballz. lol........good thing we just raise kids for meat, huh? lol. she is the spoiled brat who also gets extra BOSS every night~ I am WAYYYYY too soft!!!!

Yeah i do know what you mean!! but this doe has no soft spot with me... maybe one reason why her ears annoy me so much hehe. I've had others that it wouldn't matter a bit... just love them.

I loved her mother to bits but her mothers personality she did not get!

She's kept because I need to see her udder. Ears aside she should make a very good little milker when she freshens.

 

[Kaye White]

:lol :lol You take pictures like I do. :sigh All I see is one eyeball, nose, and a white spot.????? Could ya' lighten it up a LOT so we can see the ears?
Kaye

 

[Halo-M Nubians]

I was curious so I lightened it up :biggrin

[attachment deleted by admin]

 

[Corky]

looks just like airplane ears to me.

edited to add, My Molly has ears just like that.

 

[Josie]

I was curious so I lightened it up :biggrin

Yiipes that was dark - looked ok on my computer at home!! Thanks so much. I just got this computer a month or so ago and it drives me NUTS - its a Mac and I'm used to PC, not to mention the programs are different. Ah well...

Insert Quote
looks just like airplane ears to me.

edited to add, My Molly has ears just like that.

Are they airplane ears? I had a Nubian cross who had them but they were level... didn't turn up or face forwards like hers do.

 

[Kaye White]

Hhhhmm...they do look like airplane ears to me. Can she prick them up or forward & up when curious or excited??
Kaye

 

[Josie]

Hhhhmm...they do look like airplane ears to me. Can she prick them up or forward & up when curious or excited??
Kaye

Rats. Well she can prick them forward, but that's about it, they don't really go up much higher than that picture. They are set just a bit higher as her face is tilted in the pic, but there is something very definately not right about her ears. Compared to all my others they are really low.

so.... why are they like this?? dam and sire both have normal ears. she's french so its not like nubian blood got in there somehow lol. Is this just a genetic quirk?

 

[KJFarm]

I've had a few Alpine kids through the years that had these same drooping ears. I fix them up with cardboard and tape just like I do the Nubian ears. Just a few days with some "splinting" and they will stand right up. It has to be taken care of as newborns, before they "set" this way.

 

[Josie]

I've had a few Alpine kids through the years that had these same drooping ears. I fix them up with cardboard and tape just like I do the Nubian ears. Just a few days with some "splinting" and they will stand right up. It has to be taken care of as newborns, before they "set" this way.

Oh wow - this is good to know. I thought her ears were wierd when she was born but just hoped it was something she'd grow out of. Never even crossed my mind to splint them. So you've had this happen, splinted them and they straightened normally?

 

[KJFarm]

Yep, just seems like in some, those ear ligaments are weak at birth, the splinting helps them to strengthen. I've never had any that revert back.

 

[KJFarm]

Forgot to mention. When using cardboard, I keep toilet paper rolls around for this. Just split the roll, cut a section of it out, roll it back up, however small you need it to fit in the ear. I use masking tape and put plenty on it, making sure some of the tape holds by the hair on the bottom of the ear and the ear tip. Sometimes, if the ear just wants to flop out there flat, but will stand erect from the head, I just fold the ear together and tape it. BTW, when putting the cardboard roll in the ear, don't put it much past the opening of the ear, just enough to make it stiff at the base.

 

[Josie]

Forgot to mention. When using cardboard, I keep toilet paper rolls around for this. Just split the roll, cut a section of it out, roll it back up, however small you need it to fit in the ear. I use masking tape and put plenty on it, making sure some of the tape holds by the hair on the bottom of the ear and the ear tip. Sometimes, if the ear just wants to flop out there flat, but will stand erect from the head, I just fold the ear together and tape it. BTW, when putting the cardboard roll in the ear, don't put it much past the opening of the ear, just enough to make it stiff at the base.

Awesome! Thanks so much. Once I had a buckling born with floppy ears - like nubian floppy ears. But they straightened out on their own.

I will definately keep an eye out for this with the next kid batch. Honestly never thought of splinting.

Do you notice certain lines that you always have to splint or is it a one off random thing?

 

[KJFarm]

I really think it's a random thing. Just make sure you take care of any ear problem as soon as the kid is dry enough for the tape to adhere.

 

[Corky]

Now that you lightened the picture up I can see that they are definately airplane ears.
My Alpine carries her ears forward most of the time but she can and does stand them up corectly. She is just lazy. When she hears something they are up and turned forward. When she is excited they are straight up.

 

[Josie]

Thanks a bunch you guys! This one isn't just lazy ... her ears are actually set differently. I'm definately going to try splinting if I get another kid with the same deal this spring.

I really appreciate it!

 

[Tracy in Idaho]

Those look pretty strange, Josie! Are you breeding her this fall? It'll be interesting to see if she passes those on.

Tracy