# Doe with mastitis



## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

I have a French Alpine (3 year old and this was her 2nd kidding) that I bought about 2 months ago that was already bred. She kidded 2-26-09 with twins. I noticed that the kids are only nursing on one side so I put her on the milk stand to check her over, I milked her out on the side that they were not using. It looks clear (no lumps in the milk) But there is a large hard lump all along the upper section of the utter but the other utter feels about the same. I chilled the milk and looked for lumps in the milk in a black dish and it still seams to be clean. I tasted it and it does have a real bad taste. I am sure that she must have mastitis but I have been real lucky in the past and I have never had a goat with it so I need some info on what steps to take and if I should pull the kids and bottle feed them. A vet is almost impossible to get to look at goats here and I am 50 miles out of town. I am trying to get in touch with a vet tech that I know but I could use any help and info that I can get right now.
Thanks
Clay


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

*Re: Doe with mastidis*

I left out the temp. I took hers it is 102.4 and I tool one of my Nubian's and hers was 101.9
Thanks
Clay


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

*Re: Doe with mastidis*

You can send a sample of the milk to LSU mastitis clinic and have it tested that way you will know what type your dealing with and how to treat. You don't want to treat with anything until you pull that milk. The address is in Goat 101 then after that you could start treating her with dry cow or tomarrow while waiting for the test results. 
I would massage the udder and use warm compresses then milk her completly out at least twice a day and even 3 times 
Be real clean when doing this also keep in mind that milk doesn't taste very good the first week or so after freshening.


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

*Re: Doe with mastidis*

Thanks I will get the sample in the mail and find out what type this is but my main concern right now is the kids should I pull them and start bottle feeding them from another doe or will they be alright with this until we get the results back. They seem to be doing fine. 
Thanks
Clay


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## homeacremom (Nov 6, 2007)

*Re: Doe with mastidis*

If you do pull the kids ( I probably would not at this point) milk her out often- 3-4x a day. It won't hurt here and will help keep it from getting worse until you know what to treat with.

Did you mean both sides have a lump? Are the lumps parallel with her body? Is the lump as large as the whole half of the udder?


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

*Re: Doe with mastidis*

Yes both sides have a lump and yes they are parrallel with her body, on the front part of the utter it is the size of your open hand and it gets smaller as you go to the rear. I have always milked Nubians that will give around a gallon a day give or take and this is my first French Alpine. She is a registered French Alpine and is supposed to be from good milk stock. They said she gave 1 1/2 plus gallons as a first freshener. Could this just be normal for a heavy milking Alpine? Could this just be me worrying to much about a new goat?
Thanks
Clay


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I would hold off. First your talking about a dairy goat. When they kid you have to get out there and empty her of colostrum after the kids are about 12 hours old. Save it. Then milk her out, both sides everyday if not twice a day, until when you go out one timeto milk, there is little milk and the kids are keeping her empty.

IF you leave colostrum to cooagulate and try to be absorbed by the body, in the udder, it does make the udder feel like a shelf up near the top of the udder, it can even form a ring around the bottom of the udder where the teat attaches.

I would get out there and milk her everyday for a week, massage after milking and make sure she is empty, both sides. This forces the kids to nurse off both sides and also gives you more milk. When the kids are older, she hasn't dried up one half which gives your kids less milk and eventually you, none.

I bet in a week her udder will be softer, the milk will taste sweeter and she doesn't even have mastitis. The lumps will dissappear also. Vicki


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

:yeahthat What VICKI said !! ....I had the same problem this year ,I put the Boer doe on the milk stand and fed her while I milked out the side , she didn't milk much ,so I massaged the hard side and milked again, got a little more milk .I finished up with massaging again and then taped the teat the kids prefered and I made the kids suck the hard teat side thru the day as I wanted to watch and also make sure the good side wasn't getting too engorged, I untaped the good side in evening .... The next morning, I put her back on the stand and repeated my process and continued every morning until .... The kids are now sucking both teats and no hard area in udder,this was also the doe with the blown teat so the teat was a fat sausage now it looks like the other good teat . This doe is N/Boer mix and she has a large udder,2 teats and lots of milk ,she has always wanted to be a milker, I am sure it's the Nubian in her . I hope you get your doe straightened out, mastitis is bacteria and I dont know what your herd management is without seeing the doe, I have never had any mastitis ,so not sure what to do on that but she might just have a congested udder from the milk release let down from kidding and also the kids sucking just 1 side will do this to a doe. I would try anyway as she needs some milk released from this big udder side situation also warm compresses should also help with congestion .


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

Thanks everyone, I will send in a sample just to be safe. I never even thought about her making to much for the kids to handle. I will keep her milked down to a point that I am sure the kids are getting plenty for a while with the massaging and see where it goes.
Thanks
Clay


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

Clay do just as Vicki said she is right and milk her completely out don't leave any in there for the kids. It is a supply and demand situation and she is producing milk all the time the kids will get all they need and more probably. With this type of milk production you are doing more harm than good leaving milk in worrying abt the kids. Don't worry they will get their milk. 
I misunderstood when you said lumps I was thinking in the milk thus telling you to send off milk for testing.


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

I will do it like Vicki said and milk her all the way out at lest once a day and keep a eye on her to see if she needs it done two times a day.
Thanks
Clay


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

Clay, last year I had an alpine doe do this also. She was nursing two big boys, who were only nursing off one side. It took two to three milkings a day to straighten this out. I wasn't any fun for her to be that engorged. It took a couple weeks until the kids kept her evened out on both sides. After that I started seperating them at night and milking the doe once a day and everything turned out fine. (she was a brat on the milkstand though and she put her foot in the bucket every chance she got). This year though she is Mrs. Nice as I pulled her kids at birth. She thinks I am her kids and NEVER tries to upset the bucket. So much nicer.
Anita


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

I am glad to here that it is probably not a problem. I just went for the worst and thought mastitis. I take real good care of all of my animals and have never had any with it in the past. I don't have a problem milking her, that is why I have them is for the milk and she is great on the stand or any place. She is a very gentle natured doe. I checked her a little while ago and she is already filled up on the same side again so I will milk her out again when I milk my Nubian this evening and just watch her she might need milked out 3 times a day. Her kids are pretty small. The woman I got her from did not feed her goats very well and she was real poor when I got her. I have been giving her everything she would eat for the last two months just getting her to look fair but I think she is going to be a good addition to our place.
Thanks everyone
Clay


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

Hi Everyone,
I have been milking her out completely morning and night, milk her out and message for 2 or 3 min. milk her out and message for 2 or 3 min. at least 3 times every milking for 6 weeks. She has no fever, her milk is clean (no lumps) I have tried milking her in a pail with frozen bottles of water in the milk pail. And her milk is still real goaty tasting. Does anyone have any ideas on this? Could it be something to do with hormones? She acts like a buck when she is with my Nubian does (She makes the same noise flicks the tongue and smells the air with her head and upper lip up just like a buck) I would really like to find out what is up with this doe she is a good milker, I am getting 4 1/2 t0 5 quarts of excess milk out of her a day after the kids but at this time it is just animal feed.
Thanks
Clay


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## Patty13637 (Oct 26, 2007)

What are you feeding her ? How about wormings ?

Patty


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

I am feeding her the same as my other goats (Nubian's) that have great milk. Good quality alfalfa and super goat sweet feed. I am having a vet tec I know checking her worm load now. Can worns make the milk taste bad? We don't have many problems with worms. We stay very dry here, we have no pasture and we keep our pens clean.
Thanks
Clay


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## cloverhillgoats (May 23, 2008)

I have been having this same problem. My LaMancha kidded Monday and she didn't really bag up shiny like usual. She started acting like a billy and even butted the little boy away for a few hours and would only let the girl nurse . I figured it was hormonal. She was VERY aggressive in cleaning both of them. The kids are nursing fine, but the udder has hard lumps in it. No signs of mastitis in the milk, no fever. It is like the milk pooled down by the teats and hardened there--colostrum, (Vicki said). I've been milking her out with warm compresses and not much milk will come out of one side. I don't think the girl has very strong sucking power and she folds the teat when she nurses. I think I am going to pull the kids and bottle feed them. They both have taken the bottle once, when they were very hungry. Is there anything I can give her? BoSe, maybe?


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

She is giving way more milk then the kids can handle. The amount of milk is not the problem it is the quality of the milk that is the problem. It is the worst I have ever tasted. This is my first Alpine is it just that a Alpine has bad milk and I am wasting my time trying to fix this or what. I have had several different breeds of milk goats over the years and this is the first one I have had with bad tasting milk.
Thanks
Clay


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## homeacremom (Nov 6, 2007)

Did you send a milk sample off earlier? If not, I would run one now.

I have Alpine/Togg crosses with very good tasting milk even within a week of freshening. I don't think it is the breed and probably not the doe either. Something else going on. 

Our general milk flavor improved when we got away from sweet feed.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Clay there are does of all breeds who simply have awful milk. We had a grade Togg who was the worst. You could smell her milk as you hand milked, it wasn't goaty it just had a bad flavor.

You likely aren't timeing the 2 or 3 minutes, but that is way over the top as far as massaging goes. After the edema is gone you just run your fingers up through the udder to bring down any milk left, maybe twice.

I wonder, since you can break the fatty acid chain in the milk to loose the quality of the taste by agitation, if you could be doing this with too much massage? No clue 

Other than shipping, and it has to get there cold, it would be worth it to send in a sample from each side to LSU, being free, at least it would get your last question answered before you sell her or? Vicki


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## Patty13637 (Oct 26, 2007)

If I feed my girls feed with lots of molasses I hate the taste of my milk.


Patty


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## hamilton40 (Jun 21, 2008)

I never sent a sample in. She has no temp. and the milk is clean (no lumps) As far as the sweet fed goes I know most people don't like to use it but it works great for all of my goats. I have always used it and all the rest of the goats have very good sweet milk. Her milk smells good warm or cold it just has a strong goaty taste. I am not timeing this but it is pretty close. She will milk out completely after you message her you will get a good 1/2 to 3/4 cup more milk out of each side the second time you will get about half that and the next time not to much but you still get milk. I am now getting about the same from each side but it tasted the same to. I have milked out each side separately to see if there was a difference.
Thanks
Clay


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