dead kid...what about mom?

[ticklersgoats]

i have a pygmy goat whos baby died last night (it has been sick for a while) and now moms udder is looking pretty big will it dry up on its own or do i have to do something to her?..thank you in advance

[ChickenMom]

If the baby has been nursing you will probabaly have to milk her out some to relieve the pressure. It takes a while for them to dry up.

[ticklersgoats]

ok...i will try to milk her but she is a pygmy so it wont be easy the baby was about 2 weeks old so it was nursing for a while, about how long will it take her bag to go away? thank you

[Bearfootfarm]

With my sheep it takes a couple of weeks. I feed them nothing but hay and sometimes I have to milk a couple of them part way down if the udders get too tight

[ChickenMom]

Keep in mind too that even though they dry up it takes a while for their bodies to absorb the milk back into their system. She may look likes she has milk but won't actually be making more. I would only milk if the udder is real tight and then just enough to soften it. Keep a check on her though and make sure the udder and teats are soft and not lumpy so you don't have any problems.

[Anne]

Guys I am not a goat expert - know zippo about them - visiting from the poultry forum - but I work with human mammals and my speciality is breastfeeding. I am a full time human lactation researcher/practitioner. Here is what I am sure would work - milk her enough to ease discomfort, but not enough to stimulate further supply. If mammals are in full milk production and suddenly wean, they get engorged and everything in there gets backed up, not just the milk, and you risk infection in the worst case; major discomfort in the best case. If you express all the milk, they will just fill back up. Milk production will slow down once the stimulation of nursing, which keeps up the milk production hormones, goes away. So express a bit at a time, say every few hours, until the hardness is gone. Warm packs (to dilate vessels) can be handy before if you can't milk due to hard udder, and ice packs afterwards can ease the pain. Works with humans every time!

Anne