Confused about Precocious Udder vs. Mastitis

[Nancy_in_GA]

In one thread recently the consensus was that precocious udders are not that rare in dairy breeds in the spring, and on another, the conclusion was that if the development is uneven, it is almost always mastitis. Is the unevenness the key, or did I read these incorrectly?

Here's the problem...

We have a 3yo never-bred Nubian who has developed a small (uneven) udder. Didn't happen last spring. One side would fit easily in one hand, the other side would need two hands. The teat sizes are different, too. The udder is not hard or hot, but I don't know how to judge the temp for sure. It feels about the same temp as her nose. (Don't laugh, that's the only way I could think to describe it ). Her body temp is 102.6.

I also read that it was a bad idea to try to express any milk, because this is just asking for trouble. Still correct even in this case?

What would you check first/next, or would you just assume it's mastitis and go from there?

She acts perfectly normal otherwise.

Nancy

[ozark_jewels]

No, precocious udders are not always mastitis, and lop-sided precocious udders do not neccesarily mean mastitis either. I had four dry yearlings(did I tell you how much I detest dry yearlings....)last year who developed precocious udders before they were bred. Almost all were lop-sided. One did develop mastitis in one side, but the others were fine. They freshened this spring with even udders.
If it was my doe, I would feel her udder carefully every day, checking for signs of mastitis(warmer than normal, swelling, hardness, etc), and otherwise leave it alone. You can milk it out if you are trying to bring her into more milk, but if you want her to stay dry, I would leave it alone. I have only ever had serious precocious udders in my dry yearlings before, never in my does who freshened as yearlings, since I will be freshening everything out as yearlings from now on, I should hopefully not have to deal with many precocious udders from now on. But then there is my 2 week old doeling that I just spotted a precocious udder on.....

[Nancy_in_GA]

Thanks Emily. Will keep checking her.

Yes I read about your little doe. She is a real cutie. Both of them are.

We do not breed or milk, so we have some wethers too. At first all I read about was UC, and wished we had all "trouble-free" does. But now I read about mastitis, and the does DO seem to have a bit of an "attitude," so now I wish we had all wethers.

Nancy