Udder Question

hopin2havfun · #1 05/19/11, 11:42 PM

My older (5+yrs) doe kidded 2 days ago and her udder is big and hard. She had 2 doelings we are letting her raise and all are healthy. Last year only a month after she kidded she was injured severely and we thought we would loose her. Needless to say she dried up and we worked all fall and winter to get her healthy.

Now when I milk her there seems to be old milk coming out. She is in no pain and chews her cud while I massage and work on her udder. Her udder is HUGE and it seems I should be getting more than half a cup of milk morning and evening. She has tiny teats and tiny orifices so milking is a challenge...but she is so patient and like I said is in no pain and there is no fever.

I will be using a mastitis test card tomorrow morning, just to be sure (I cant send a sample away) but I dont feel it is mastitis. I have started her on vitamin C and Im going to try to make a good udder salve (like Mollys).

My question is am I expecting her udder to soften too soon after kidding? She was giving a gallon a day when she was injured last year. Is there anything else I can do to help my old girl?

southerngurl · #2 05/19/11, 11:56 PM

Has she been recently CAE tested?

Try peppermint oil, massage and more frequent milking. Mastitis is usually one side or the other. If it's congested it should go away in a couple weeks usually. If she has not been CAE tested since that injury, I would get it done.

5 isn't old

It's actually a goat's prime age.

hopin2havfun · #3 05/20/11, 12:40 AM

She has not been tested. I dont even know if the vet that comes here every 6 weeks would even know what that is. The next nearest vet is 400 miles away. We are very remote.

If I milk her more frequently and she is giving so little then how do I know she will have enough for the kids?

Whats the connection between the injury and CAE?

I think she is closer in age to 10...I think the people that gave her to us were lied to and that she is quite a bit older than 5. How do you tell the age of a goat? She has her horns...can you really count "rings" to find out age?

Cheribelle · #4 05/20/11, 03:06 AM

NO, on the ring counting.
Are you sure you're not getting colostrum? It will be thick for a while.
I'm no expert here, but if you are leaving the kids with her, I wouldn't milk for a couple of weeks. YMMV

Alice In TX/MO · #5 05/20/11, 07:28 AM

Goats often get 'engorged' after kidding. Their body is gearing up for production, and the blood flow surges to the udder. It takes a few days to calm down.

Massage, peppermint udder cream, warm compresses, milking out all help.

No connection between injury and CAE. One is a physical blow, the other is a disease caused by infective organisms.

southerngurl · #6 05/20/11, 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hopin2havfun

She has not been tested. I dont even know if the vet that comes here every 6 weeks would even know what that is. The next nearest vet is 400 miles away. We are very remote.

If I milk her more frequently and she is giving so little then how do I know she will have enough for the kids?

Whats the connection between the injury and CAE?

I think she is closer in age to 10...I think the people that gave her to us were lied to and that she is quite a bit older than 5. How do you tell the age of a goat? She has her horns...can you really count "rings" to find out age?

The connection is an animal can carry CAE for years without showing symptoms. However, a stresser can lower the immune system enough to allow the CAE to come to the surface and rear it's ugly head.

You don't need a vet to do the CAE testing. It's very easy to pull blood froma goat and you can send it directly to the lab:

http://www.biotracking.com/

As for age, once they get past a certain age you can't tell exactly, but look at her front teeth, do they look healthy or do they look worn/have some missing?

I would give the kids bottles to make sure they are getting enough, but if she is CAE pos the kids will be too.

hopin2havfun · #7 05/20/11, 08:24 PM

Southerngurl... Thanks for the link. I looked and there is no affiliate lab in Canada.

Her front teeth look old and there are some missing (and 1 is loose). Her udder is softening and her milk has come up...whew...I think I was just jumping the gun.