# congested udder



## SALTCREEK_Nubians_Linda

My 2yo 2nd freshener kidded with triplets yesterday. Trying to get the congestion out of that udder. I massage, massage and massage. Still only able to get out a fraction of what looks like ought to be in there. Her udder is beautiful. Don't want to mess it up. Does anyone recommend a topical product which might help break up the congestion so it will soften up and let that milk flow? Peppermint maybe? :???


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## NubianSoaps.com

Just keep on milking her. Congestion is nearly always nutritional most of ours went away when I stopped graining my does so much before kidding. Slowly starting them back on grain after drying up, just a handful really, and moving very slowly back to grain. I have no idea the mechanics of it but with less grain we simply have less congestion.

Now edema, where you put your finger onto the udder and your finger print stays on the very firm udder, or worse pitting edema where the udder looks like it has cellulite  that is sometimes CAE and my vet also thinks it's hormonal.

A friend gave me some salve in little tiny tubes one time that had dex in it, likely a DMSO base in petroleum. It was remarkable in getting inflammation out of an udder quickly, obviously wear gloves. Because I had no idea what the percentage of dexamethazone in the salve was compared to the mg/kg in my bottle of dex, I took the little tube to a compounding pharmasist and have a tube of it made for me.

Anything that you want to use topically that you are comfortable massaging into the skin, is fine, just know that without a solvent carrier it isn't penetrating into the udder and helping much. In severe cases or cases where a doe has a show to get to in a week, you can give anti-inflamatories via injection.

Don't start down the oxytocin road, that is about milk let down, and a doe with a congested udder has tissue that is inflammed it is not milk that needs to just be let down and everything will be fine.


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## Anita Martin

I have a doe that has freshened twice with a congested udder. Not hard. CAE negative. Just can't seem to get the milk to empty out completely for a couple weeks. This year we are feeding grain with a lower percent of protein, (16% vs. 20%). I'm curious if this will help with the udder congestion in this doe.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians

The congested udders we had to deal with were due to Nutrition. Not bad grain,just too much at the end of pregnancy...I goofed up on the amounts when figuring how much I needed for each pen...Silly mistake that I won't make again. I double and triple check it now! 

It took a bit for the congestion to subside but I did alot of massaging while I milked. Since I fixed that problem I haven't had any issue with congestion in their udders.


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## supermom

We are having congested udders this year. How do I know how much is too much grain? I thought by the time they kid, we should be just about up to the amount they will get when they freshen.


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## SALTCREEK_Nubians_Linda

Thanks Vicki. :blush2 I know what the deal is now and will watch that in the future. Ellsie has a very lovely udder too, by the way.  OK, udder balm and here I come Ellsie girl.


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## SALTCREEK_Nubians_Linda

I have been giving them oats and a small handfull of BOSS with a smattering of corn, slowly building up to what she usually ate on the milk stand by kidding day. Plus 17% alfalfa pellets free choice. And a good goat mineral. Selenium paste once a month. But it is quite a bit of grain I'm giving her. She's not gonna like it, but I'll cut her down a little until she has a soft udder. (It was soft and a cute li'l ff udder last year.) And I'll give the girl my most special massage. They all get that on the milk stand...my working girls deserve a nice massage, right?  I expect I need to cut back Hot Chick some then also, because I have just begun to offer grain in preparation for kidding. And I think the first freshening girl is gonna do twins for me. Her udder is just beginning to swell a little. Oh Vicki, it is high up there in her escutcheon!!!! I can't wait to see it full. I bet it's gonna be even more wonderful than Ellsie's I think it was just my old habit for readying the girls for kidding, because Tanya and Arwen required that grain.........and they put every ounce I fed them into the milk pail too. Ellsie and Hot Chick are not Tanya and Arwen......yet. They are prettier. 

And well, I've been shoveling the food to Hot Chick because her body is growing rapidly with this pregnancy.


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## goatkid

I think some lines are harder to milk out when they first freshen. I put Caprice on the milk stand today and she took a while to milk out comparing to the other does. She's a two year old FF with a high, tight udder. I had to keep massaging it to get her milked out. She's been on the same diet as the rest of the milkers.


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## hsmomof4

A breeder that I know had a lot of problems with congestion one year...the next year she cut waaaay back on grain until after they freshened (they got plenty of hay and alfalfa) and no issues with udder congestion that year.


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## burnettrracer

I had a friend recommend massaging peppermint oil on to the udder. It seemed to have helped my doe. From what i understand is it helps increase circulation and boy does your doe smell good.


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## NubianSoaps.com

That would be a huge balancing act Stacy, especially in does who carry litters. They need the energy and calories they get from grain. Perhaps if they were young does who had never been grained but older does who are bred while milking and being grained and then off grain just as kids start aggressively growing is a recipe for disaster. Vicki


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## hsmomof4

Yeah, I don't know, Vicki. I only know what she said. Might have been her younger does, as those were the ones that I think that she had the most problems with the year before. I wasn't trying to endorse the approach, as much as confirm what you had already said:


> Congestion is nearly always nutritional most of ours went away when I stopped graining my does so much before kidding.


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## pjt367

Can someone explain just what a congested udder is? After reading this I am wondering if one side of my doe's udder is congested because it is firmer than the other side and doesn't milk as much. It's the side the kids tend to prefer to nurse off so I have chalked it up to either the doe holding back for the kids or not as many left overs. 
Paula


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## adillenal

It is interesting to note what people are doing in one herd to the next and having different results. When I lived in East Texas I fed grain all year long and grass hay and had congested udders. I now live in central Texas, still feed grain year round, feed grass, hay sudan and alfalfa hay and have not had a congested udder in the ten years I have lived here. Now there are several variables. Different brand of diary feed, addition of more alfalfa hay and this year the sudan hay. 
Whatever it is, I will continue what I am doing since it is working for me. In my humble opinion, I also feel that water has a part in this as well.


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## hsmomof4

I don't know if this is what you meant, Paula, but I don't think that a goat can hold back from one side and not the other. A congested udder is like when in people, your milk first comes in and the tissues are swollen and uncomfortable and it's hard to relieve the pressure.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians

Ever since being careful with how much grain the girls get at the end of their pregnancy and when they start milking, we haven't had issues with congested udders.


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## SherrieC

what do you do in the case of a skinny minny who you need to put wieght on during the dry period? Dry her up Early grain her well until day 120, and then go to handfuls?


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## NubianSoaps.com

You only have the dry period in which to grow out the kids and get the doe back into condition. In nubians who don't milk really well you can do some of that at the end of lactation. Not that I never have a doe who is congested anymore, but we sure have alot less of it with the new calicum, protein, copper information we have now. For myself focusing on my alfalfa pellets, grass hay and pastures/woods, and much less of the huge amounts of grain I used to feed...I feed 4 times as much alfalfa pellets as I do grain now, where before all of that poundage would have been grain (and nicely is that my alfalfa pellets are cheaper than all that grain is now)..and it has simply done away with so much of the nusiance problems like this. The does are simply healthier all the way around with so much less grain and it being grain they can utilize, and not byproducts you have no idea what they are. Once again a regional problem. Vicki


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## NWgoats

So, if it is nutritional, why did my doe who gets 1 handful of grain a day, 4 cups of alfalfa
pellets and orchard/alfalfa hay 24/7 freshen with a congested udder? It was too cold and
I had to pull her kids. She did not get milked until late that afternoon. Could that have
caused her to become congested?

And, is there such a thing as milking too much? I massaged and milked her 5 times yesterday. :/


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## KJFarm

I'll put in my 2 cents worth. I don't feed any Alfalfa during pregnancy. They get a 12% grain ration during that time, plus free choice Sudan hay, then go to a 16% ration, Alfalfa hay and pellets when fresh. I don't have udder congestion, edema, or milk fever. This has worked for me since I started my own herd in the early 80's. You just have to find a feeding program that works for your herd - there's not a one size fits all.


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## NWgoats

I was just kind of surprised, since none of my other does has done this.
I keep racking my brain to see if it could have been something I did a bit
differently with her, but they all get the exact same feed. Amounts are
based on age, lactation or pregnancy status.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians

KJFarm said:


> You just have to find a feeding program that works for your herd - *there's not a one size fits all*.


 :yeahthat

Very true!
Some on here can feed alfalfa pellets & grass hay and have good looking goats! It does NOT work here. I tried it and my goats looked like crap.
Some can get away with feeding just oats....not here. Milk production goes DOWN with out the rest of the grain.

Every herd is different, it's why I say once you find something the goats thrive on, don't change it! No sense in trying to fix something that's not broke!


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## wheytogosaanens

KJFarm said:


> I'll put in my 2 cents worth. I don't feed any Alfalfa during pregnancy. They get a 12% grain ration during that time, plus free choice Sudan hay, then go to a 16% ration, Alfalfa hay and pellets when fresh. I don't have udder congestion, edema, or milk fever. This has worked for me since I started my own herd in the early 80's. You just have to find a feeding program that works for your herd - there's not a one size fits all.


The lower grain % seems to be the key with most folks I have talked to. So you feed grain to your does pre-kidding (and hopefully can get some condition on your skinny minnies) just at a lower protein %. We always feed alfalfa year round though.

As far as udder massage, we have used DMSO (awesome carrier) with peppermint oil in it. You can even add herbs to this mixture, such as slippery elm.

Massaging 2-3 times a day should be plenty for edema - the multiple multiple milking would be more for mastitis.

Also, for those who like Rx to help, Dex is useful. About 3 days in a row. Also 1/2 doses of banamine to help with inflammation. Also just for the 3 days in conjunction with the Dex.


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## NWgoats

I tried my girls on a grain mix, but they give more milk for me with the alfalfa pellets.
I am thinking that her trouble was my fault for not milking her out after I took the kids.
Her udder is greatly improved this morning and emptied mostly out after massage.
The congestion is down to less than 1/3 of what it was, and she gave 1 1/4 lb. of milk.
Yesterday she gave 3 1/4 lbs. I think she is doing well considering that she is a FF
and the congestion issue. (She is also a Mini)

I really don't want to use RX unless necessary, but that info is good to have. Thanks
Camille.


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