# Blood in milk - please help ....



## MiddleRiver (Oct 30, 2007)

So my Alpine doe ( Gretta ) that just freshened on 2/22 ( FF ) and rejected her kids has me freaking out here. I milk her twice a day, am and pm - though this week work requires me to work 12 hour days 4 days this week only ( M, T, W, and F. ) which means i have 14 hours in between am and pm milking - but after this and on normal days i milk every 12 hours. This is only the 3rd doe i have milked, a Alpine doe last year, and a Saanen and Gretta this year.

Sunday evening milking i milked her using two different containers for the milk. The big one that most of the milk went into is what i was normally using, but the foam started to over fill so i grabbed a smaller one to finish in. The milk in the small container was light pink, i thought maybe it was the container as nothing seemed off with my doe. Monday am, milk was normal. Monday pm, towards the end of milking again, pink milk, about 6-8 squirts worth then white milk again. When i strained it in the filter were about 5 tiny little blood clots. Then this morning again towards the end of milking about 2-4 squirts worth, then white again. In the strainer was 2 little clots.

She seems fine, her udder seems fine, no heat, not hard, but full at milking time. The milk looks great, except for the pink squirts and the clots left in the strainer. It is towards the end of milking, but not when i'm stripping her out - there are still at least a couple ounces left of easy milking when the pink appears. It also appears to be just out of one side, i will check again tonight when i milk to make sure it's only one side. I got 32 oz from her this morning, and last night i got a bit more from her, but again it had been 14 hours 32 oz has been normal every 12 hours for her so far.

What am i doing wrong ? What do i need to do ? Is this safe for her kids to drink ? Please help, if this is something that will need treatment i want to do it asap, gosh i feel like such an idiot.


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

perfectly safe for her kids she has just burst some little vessels and it will clear up this happens quite a bit on different does. nothing to do for it I just don't drink it myself but it is fine for animals. It also happens is some goats when milked every 12 hours or more often when they are really coming into thier milk .


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## MiddleRiver (Oct 30, 2007)

Really Sondra ? So i'm freaking out for nothing ? Should i watch for something else or do anything ? What causes this ? Will she always be prone to it ? 

I try to milk her gently, and not grab too far up on the udder, and she is a very easy doe to milk, perfect sized teats easy flowing milk, milks out quickly - the only hard time is when i first start as her udder is full and tight :+)

Thanks again Sondra - you've been a huge help :+)


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## Patty13637 (Oct 26, 2007)

Yep she will be fine probally by the next milking. It happens every once and awhile . Mine tend to do it when they are just fresh.


Patty


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## MiddleRiver (Oct 30, 2007)

Oh man, i was SOOOO worried ! All i could think about is, is this mastitis and if it is, is she gonna loose her udder ! LOL ! So far she is my worst mommy, but best milker ( i've only had FF's so far ) and i really don't want anything to happen to that.

So you think maybe within a week for sure it would be gone then ? Does it usually keep happening to the same doe then, or is it usually just after they freshen ? 

Thanks !!!


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2008)

This is some notes that I have here by Tim Pruitt;


"""""Milking too high on the udder can cause blood in the milk. Pink milk will be an indication that you are being too rough when milking or reaching too high on the udder trying to get milk.""" TIM


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## goatkid (Oct 26, 2007)

I have a couple of does, who, even with gentle milking will give me pink milk for a few days when their milk starts coming in. I freaked out the first time I saw this, too. I wasn't on any goat forum then and had to call another goat breeder.It's nothing to worry about . None of these does has developed mastitis. Kathie


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## MiddleRiver (Oct 30, 2007)

Thanks everybody :+) I do milk nicely, and remind myself not to milk too high up on the udder - and am pretty good about it.

The pink milk freaked me out, and when i saw the blood clots in the strainer after i strained it i got very worried.

I feel much better though to hear it is normal. 

And goatkid - i'm glad to hear none of your does got mastitis - i was freaking out was hopeing this wouldn't mean mastitis or that she would be prone to it.

Thanks everybody !


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## Kalne (Oct 25, 2007)

Our first year milking we got that a lot from two does in particular. Oh wait....we only had two that year. LOL Off and on all year. Last year only saw it on one ff and it was short lived. For us though we couldn't see it in the milk until the milk had sat in the fridge for several hours. THen there would be a ring of pink on the bottom of the jar.


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## Sondra (Oct 25, 2007)

right and I goofed it isn't vessels it is little capularies that burst. and on some no matter how careful you are with the udder and teats it just happens.


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## LynninTX (Oct 25, 2007)

I had one do it too this year as she was ramping up.. FF.... my dd freaked and I calmly explained, and my dh noted how glad he was that I had this board so I *knew* this... LOL


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## baileybunch (Oct 26, 2007)

I was always told it could be milking top high up on the udder OR because (especially ff) the udder is stretching to capacity, little capilaries are breaking. It does clear up. You will notice the blood settles to the bottom of the jar after the milk cools. I guess blood is also thicker than milk...not just water!  After a few days or so, your milk will no longer be pink.


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## MiddleRiver (Oct 30, 2007)

I did notice it settles to the bottom. So did you all get those little blood clots too, or just pink milk ? 

I'm hopeing it is just because she is a FF and it gets over with soon - otherwise i'm going to have an even harder time getting DH to start drinking goats milk when we have extra - he is a bit freaked out by it anyways, but more so with the blood now too :+) I can't wait to get home and explain it to him, he was worried about Gretta too, even though he doesn't like her anymore since he witnessed her throw her boy around.


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## Bethany (Jan 9, 2008)

I had it happen with one of my does a few years ago as well. I think it took about a week or so to get back to normal.


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