No. A cow only has four teats, not 16 or 8 or 7 or whatever number you come up with.
The teats on the udder.
a cow
Yes.
A cow should have four functional teats as maximum. She can, however, have two or more extra non-functional teats, none of which affect production nor milking ability. In dairy operations, though, these extra teats need to be removed so that the person with the milking machine doesn't hook up the vacuum pump to the wrong teat.
To suckle its dam's teats.
10 teats is rather minimal. 12 teats is common. 14 teats is a good breeder. 16 teats is a superior sow.
4 Teats on a Cow's Udder
4 Teats on a Cow's Udder
So they can nurse their babies and so they can be milked. that's how we get our milk in the store. so those are very important on a cow :)
For Sanitation purposes prior to milking the cow.
Average pigs have 10 to 12 teats, some as few as 8 teats. Good breeder pigs have 14 teats. Superior breeder pigs have 16 teats.
As many as 50% of the dairy calves are born with more than two teats on a side, but these extra teats, called supernumerary teats, always form on the same line with the two primary teats on each side. If the supernumerary teats are allowed to develop further then they can hinder the milking process when the cow is mature. Even though they usually are not very productive in making milk, they can add to the cow's risk of the udder becoming infected with bacteria. With those risks in mind, the extra teats usually are removed when the calf is only a few days old