Hard udder

[AshleyB]

My first freshner kidded yesterday in the late afternoon. We missed it, but she did great. Had the kid all cleaned off and nursing by the time we discovered her. Today the right side of her udder is hard down through the teat. The upper part of the teat is also a bit swollen. I watched the kid latch on to that side, and she was just latching onto the bottom half inch that wasn't swollen and hard. The udder isn't hot, and there isn't any blood and the milk isn't stringy. Could it be mastitis this early in the lactation? It's only been 24 hours. I was thinking that it was the kid who was irritating it. Should I go ahead and seperate them? Any ideas on what it could be?

[susanne]

this could be edema and with warm compresses and mint balm it will soften up again.
what did you feed her in late pregnancy? too much molasses in grain mix can do that.
was this doe tested for cae? if not please do so as hard udder can also be from cae.

[lijj]

After my nubian kidded she had so much milk she was in terrible pain and it was hard. No mastitis, just really full. She wasn't letting her kids nurse, so I had to tie her up, milk some out of both sides, and let the kids nurse. After a while, the kids got more rambunctious and ate more so it wasn't a problem.

[AshleyB]

I have milked out the side that is hard, and not very much came out. The kid has been nursing on that side the most. I'll try the hot compresses. Is there a recipe for the mint balm? I have peppermint essential oil and some carrier oils. She didn't have any molasses before kidding. We gave her a bit after she kidded, but she didn't eat it.

[PlowGirl]

Most of my really heavy milkers are like this the first few days after kidding. The newborns just don't drink enough to take the pressure off of the udder. I usually have to milk them down a bit for a few days until the new kids up their intake.

[susanne]

ashley is the doe tested negative for cae?
you can buy udder balm with mint in it. i don't have a recipe, sorry

[pookshollow]

I have peppermint essential oil and some carrier oils.

I'm sure that would work. I too use the udder lotion with mint - "Udder Comfort" is the brand I have. If you have some udder lotion, I don't see why you couldn't add some peppermint oil to it!

My NubianX doe had this as well, both last year and this. I use hot compresses, massage, the udder cream, and just keep milking her out as much as I can until the kids catch up to her production. It clears up within a few days. My only problem with her is she doesn't like to let down her milk for me - she wants to save it all for her babies!

[AshleyB]

She is CAE negative.

I have been milking out the side that is swollen really well, but honestly, there doesn't seem to be much milk in there. I have massaged it really well and used hot compresses and I rubbed some peppermint oil into her udder. I'll just keep pampering her and see what happens.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by AshleyB

I have massaged it really well and used hot compresses and I rubbed some peppermint oil into her udder. I'll just keep pampering her and see what happens.

I have used the peppermint essential oils with a carrier oil on udder edema in our Jerseys and it worked very well. Sounds like your on the right track. Does the milk in that side look normal??

[AshleyB]

Just a quick update, she's fine this morning.

I rubbed in some peppermint oil with carrier oil into her udder yesterday. This morning she milked out beautifully. She's a first freshner, and it looks like she's a keeper!

The milk looked fine the whole time.

[ozark_jewels]

Great news!