unbred doe producing milk

hard-to-handle · #1 05/11/10, 08:11 PM

I have a junior doe that has never been bred before and she recently started to produce milk on the right side of her udder. I had this problem last year with another doe, so I treated her with 'Tomorrow' once a day, every other day for three treatments, which did the trick.

I tried this treatment for my doe with this problem this year and it is not working. This doe is from very milky bloodlines, so I am not sure if she is trying to produce milk because of her pedigree to do so, or if she has an infection. Does anyone else have any suggestions?

saanengirl · #2 05/12/10, 07:38 AM

Young does from heavily productive lines tend to develop precocious udders. You need to keep an eye on the side producing milk to make sure that she doesn't get mastitis. In my experience, there can be mastitis on the side that is not producing milk rather than the side that is precocious.

motdaugrnds · #3 05/13/10, 10:12 AM

I have not as yet had a doe who has "never" been bred produce milk; however, I have had does who were bred in the past yet not bred one year who produced milk the year she had not been bred. (The milk was good and healthy and her udder healthy. She gave over 10 lbs a day that year. It did surprise me!)

HillsideWayCSA · #4 05/13/10, 11:17 AM

Now the trick is to breed dairy goats that don't need bred at all to come into milk. Wouldn't that be nice? Have a whole dairy herd just come into milk in the spring.

Heritagefarm · #5 05/13/10, 01:17 PM

Interesting, I've only had them start producing 5 days before giving birth!

CarolynRenee · #6 05/13/10, 03:23 PM

I'm glad this post came up!

I have re-inherited a purebred Saanen doe, three years old now. She wasn't bred until her second year, milked nicely but she wasn't bred last fall. I've got her in an area with her mother & younger sister, both who will be kidding next week.

I thought that her (the non-bred doe) udder was starting to bag up....not huge or anything, but definately got larger in the last few weeks.

If she continues to bag up, do I just milk her, or let her dry up?

I agree that it would be nice if we could get milk without the breeding part!

Sorry about the hijack!

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #7 05/13/10, 03:41 PM

We have alot of percocious udders here but they come in evenly, it's hormonal so of course both sides come in. The only times I have seen lopsided virgin udders when the fluid was tested it was staph. It is usually traced back to nursing or getting raw milk from a doe who was staph positive. Even our buck GE milks! I don't do anything if it comes in evenly, I would send in fluid before treating, now that you haven't, perhaps try a one time infusion of Pirsue and naxcel, it's our broadest spectrum antibiotic that does a good job of treating udder problems. If she is young and not even bred herself than I also would reinfuse with Pirsue 50 days before kidding, just like any doe would get here who had problems during a lactation. Vicki

LomahAcres · #8 05/13/10, 05:01 PM

I have 2 does doing this right now, only producing on their left sides. I pulled a sample off the first and sent it into the lab for testing and she came back clean. If it is caused by mastitis, could it be in the dry half only and not in the milking side? Is there a way to test the dry side?

saanengirl · #9 05/14/10, 07:29 AM

A lot of Saanen does will produce milk without being bred if they are dry yearlings. I have had dried-off does come back into milk in the spring without being bred as well. With these does, I generally choose to milk them and bring them into higher production. I have had does like this to show very well.

In unilateral precocious udders, it tends to be the non-producing side that is mastitic.