Engorged Udders

[Our animal house]

Hello, I have a small female goat that is not pregnant. She started to develop Udders back in March and they are now super big. Can anyone tell us why? We don't want to milk her, but not trying doesn't seem to be helping them go away.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

She could have mastitis. It can happen even when not lactating. She may need a course of antibiotics. I would have a vet have a look if possible.

 

[Our animal house]

Thank you!! I had no idea that was a possibility.

 

[cassie]

She could have mastitis or she could be a precocious milker. Try to milk out some of the fluid. If it looks like pus it is obviously mastitis and she will have to be treated. Is the udder hard, sore, or hot? If it is that would make me suspect mastitis. Mastitis can be spread to young unbred animals by flies.

Just so you know, a precocious milker is an animal that comes into milk without being bred. It isn't all that common, but it isn't exactly rare either. I once knew a Saanen doe that gave a gallon of milk day in and day out even though she had never in her life been exposed to a buck. Occasionally you will have a buck that is a precocious milker. I have had more milking bucks than I have had precocious milking does. Precocious milkers. whether buck or doe, need to be milked out. Otherwise they can get mastitis and end up very sick or even dead.

 

[Our animal house]

She could have mastitis or she could be a precocious milker. Try to milk out some of the fluid. If it looks like pus it is obviously mastitis and she will have to be treated. Is the udder hard, sore, or hot? If it is that would make me suspect mastitis. Mastitis can be spread to young unbred animals by flies.

Just so you know, a precocious milker is an animal that comes into milk without being bred. It isn't all that common, but it isn't exactly rare either. I once knew a Saanen doe that gave a gallon of milk day in and day out even though she had never in her life been exposed to a buck. Occasionally you will have a buck that is a precocious milker. I have had more milking bucks than I have had precocious milking does. Precocious milkers. whether buck or doe, need to be milked out. Otherwise they can get mastitis and end up very sick and even dead.

Holy cow!!!! (Or goats. )
That's so weird.
Who knew that could even be a thing??!!

Thank you for the info.

 

[Echilde]

I apologize but I'm going to jump in on your thread since I have a similar issue. I have 2 Nigerian Dwarf females, sisters, about 8 years old and never bred. One of them suddenly has an engorged udder and one teat that is huge. It felt warm yesterday but not today. She seems to be acting fine and is eating as always. I did milk her today to see if that would lessen the pressure, which it did, but now I don't know what to do. The liquid was a cloudy off white/yellow color without a real smell to it. It doesn't seem like mastitis from what I've read on it though. Their house is as clean as possible lol. They are fed a small amount of grains, a little alfalfa mixed with Timothy and they browse freely. They also have fresh water, minerals, and extras like apples or carrots at times. The vet here requires that I bring her in to the office to be seen but that is nearly impossible as I don't have a truck. Any thoughts? Thanks and again, sorry OP.

 

[cassie]

I can tell you this. You need to keep the udder milked out as necessary. If not, if she doesn't have mastitis now she can develop it. I personally know of at least three precocious milking bucks (yes that happens) whose owners did not milk them out and they developed mastitis and died. You can ask your vet for something to collect a sterile sample in and have a culture run. If it turns out she has an infection and you need to infuse the udder, if the teat catheter is too large for your Nigerian, you can get a tomcat catheter and use that to infuse medications.

 

[Folly's place]

Good advice! Get your veterinarian involved and fix it before she actually feels sick.
Mary

 

[Echilde]

I can tell you this. You need to keep the udder milked out as necessary. If not, if she doesn't have mastitis now she can develop it. I personally know of at least three precocious milking bucks (yes that happens) whose owners did not milk them out and they developed mastitis and died. You can ask your vet for something to collect a sterile sample in and have a culture run. If it turns out she has an infection and you need to infuse the udder, if the teat catheter is too large for your Nigerian, you can get a tomcat catheter and use that to infuse medications.

I've milked her the last two days and today it was a lot less full and still not warm or anything. And the liquid was actually more cream colored than yesterday. For now, I will just milk her and see how it goes. If anything changes I will take her to the vet. But I will call tomorrow about obtaining a culture cup. Thanks for the reply.

 

[chickens really]

Look up bacterial mastitis