From 1997 to 1999 1005 new born German Holstein calves were investigated for the incidence of supernumerary teats. Age at inspection varied from 1 to 4 weeks. In total 110 affected calves (20 male and 90 female) and their 21 sires were genotyped for five chromosome 3 microsatellites. The average size of half-sib families was 5.2 ranging from 2 to 17. A non-parametric multipoint linkage analysis showed no evidence for linkage.