# Poor girl's udders



## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

This poor goat is a rescue type of a situation (she was going to be let loose into the mountains by her previous owners - we have lots of predators- if I didn't take her). We have other goats but they are only a year old. We are beginners and have not dealt with kidding/milking yet. Supposedly this doe hasn't kidded in at least 3 years and the previous owners swear her udders have always looked like this and haven't given trouble. They seem rather large to me for not lactating. What is your opinion? Not red or hard or leaking anything. Doe acts very normal. Thanks.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Poor thing! What awful people who abandon their animals. I have no idea about her udder but it looks like she could use any kind of TLC you're offering. So nice of you to save her!

If they hadn't been milking her I don't see why you'd need to. You could have a vet look at her, & it might be a good idea before you put her in with your goats. Looks like she needs mineral supplement & maybe a little black oil sunflower seed to liven up her coat.

Thanks again for helping her!


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Any chance she's getting ready to kid?


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

I was thinking the same thing,they are good at suprising us. I guess you could try to ease the udder to see if there is clear fluid or if there really is some milk there.


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## ShireRidgeFarm (Sep 24, 2015)

Wow, that's a full udder! Some goats can produce for a long time after kidding, but 3 years sounds like an awfully long time to keep producing like that. She does not look about to kid, but given her circumstances that might be hard to tell. If she were mine, I would milk her a little and see what kind of milk she has - if it's thick and yellowish it might be colostrum she's making for some babies, if it's just normal milk I would try and dry her up, and if it's something strange I would test her mastitis.


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## sassykat6181 (Nov 28, 2012)

She definitely needs copper and minerals. 
She could have CAE or CL.
I would separate her from your other goats until you know for sure.

Good for you to save her. But, I wouldn't touch her with a 10 foot pole


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## arielmadison (Jul 25, 2016)

Sheesh, that is one roughed up goat. 
I've been around horses all my life but I'm pretty new to goats myself. 
I would definitely seperate her from the others ASAP.

What is on her udder?
Maybe a really terrible case of mastitis?
Maybe this could happen if a goat was never milked properly?

I would definitely test for mastitis either way.
You could get a vet to do a blood draw to test for CAE- or if you're brave you can do it yourself. I personally haven't done it. Putting a needle in a goat's neck would probably give me a panic attack.
I'm not an expert on CAE or anything goat related for that matter but i believe there is a possibility...

"Mastitis, especially interstitial mastitis, is another form of CAE. Clinical signs include a firm, distended udder from which milk cannot be expressed. The mastitis usually is observed around parturition."

Try giving her health boosters like Thorvins kelp, black oil sunflower seeds, maybe even some nutri-drench? Ever since I started giving Kelp my goats could probably blind you with their shiny coats. A clove of garlic a day probably wouldn't hurt either. 

I had a doe that had thinning hair around her hips like that- ended up being mites so you might want to treat for those. I'm currently using Ivomec on a buck that has mites on his head. I guess my area is kind of infested, it's very hot and humid in these parts, don't know if that has anything to do with it. I don't think Ivomec kills all parasites though so you might want to keep that in mind. 

And don't lose hope, as a fellow newbie, these circumstances are the best learning tools. Just make sure you get her seperated until you know she wont sicken other goats. I thought I was going to raise my goats the all natural way and I was incident free starting out. Then all of a sudden I was hit with a volcano of crap. Thank god for modern veterinary medicine when the time calls. ALSO, do not believe everything the vet tells you, especially if it sounds fishy, get more than one opinion. To be honest, the people on this forum have been more helpful than all three of the vets in my area combined but in this case it might help to find a vet knowledgable in goats. Try looking up mobile vets as well. Alot of the time they use a cell phone and you might even be able to send them a picture.

You also might want to try posting this in the Health & Wellness section instead so that more people see it.


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## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

Dayna said:


> Any chance she's getting ready to kid?


supposedly she came from an elderly couple who had to move (before previous owners) and they haven't been with a buck in over 3 years...


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## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

sassykat6181 said:


> She definitely needs copper and minerals.
> She could have CAE or CL.
> I would separate her from your other goats until you know for sure.
> 
> Good for you to save her. But, I wouldn't touch her with a 10 foot pole


Yes, I've wormed them and given loose minerals. I will copper bolus them this weekend.

Good idea to test for CAE and CL. Yes, they are in a quarantine pen away from our others.


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## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

arielmadison said:


> Sheesh, that is one roughed up goat.
> I've been around horses all my life but I'm pretty new to goats myself.
> I would definitely seperate her from the others ASAP.
> 
> ...


Some good ideas. Thanks!


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## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

She also acts very "bucky"... blubbering, tongue out, spastic posturing and chasing around her sister. She definitely is interested in our buck who is across the way. Is it common for a doe to act that way when she is separate from the buck? Our others never act like that but they are young (just over a year) and are always with the buck.

Could she have a hormonal imbalance which would cause the strange udder?

My problem is I haven't found a vet who knows goats. I've been to 3 and am not impressed. Supposedly the original owner had a vet look at her udder and it stumped the vet. 

What is the best way to milk a goat who *really* doesn't want to be milked? I also don't have a milk stand since I hadn't planned on milking my goats.


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

I saw a goat with an udder worse than that on a youtube video with someone 'delivering' fresh milk in China - they'd take the goat up on a motorbike system and milk it. I got the impression the goat was just constantly dragged from place to place and possibly never treated.

Perhaps the goat had severe mastitis once and now has scarring and thicker tissue in there?

If it's really unfixable, some vets are able to remove an udder, and the goat is none the worse for it (though will of course never be able to give milk).


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

She might be in heat as to why she is acting bucky and interested in the buck.


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## arielmadison (Jul 25, 2016)

As for milking her when she REALLY doesn't want to be milked...I'm probably the only one who has ever done it this way but I used to have a goat that would lay down on my hands if everything wasn't to her liking (i.e. too late at night, heard a loud noise that day, I was wearing the wrong scented lotion, who really knows) 
Somedays she absolutely would not let me milk her so my boyfriend and I came up with this method for when she was being sassy. lol. 
You're gonna need two people, she might struggle at first.
Find a good, sturdy chair and have the strongest/bulkiest of the two grab her front legs/end and hold her over their lap (like a child about to get a spanking) with a small bucket of treats/grain that she can eat (feel free to pet and love her, you want her to accept you). The less pressure she can put on her back two legs the better(you still want them touching the ground though)..if she has good leverage she will just knock you and the chair over. Don't ask me how I know. Don't bother with a bucket because she will most likely just put her foot in it at some point, get a glass jar or cup. You're going to hold the cup in one of your hands and milk with the other. If you've never milked before just watch a youtube video. It might take a little practice but you'll figure it out in no time. I swear my goat learned to love being milked like that. I think she was a brat on purpose sometimes just so she could be in my boyfriends lap lol.


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## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

I have a doe that is still in milk after 3 years but she only gives about 24 ounces twice a day. That udxder looks bad but some goats droop much more than othwera. Keep her in isolation and get her checked.


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## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

arielmadison said:


> As for milking her when she REALLY doesn't want to be milked...I'm probably the only one who has ever done it this way but I used to have a goat that would lay down on my hands if everything wasn't to her liking (i.e. too late at night, heard a loud noise that day, I was wearing the wrong scented lotion, who really knows)
> Somedays she absolutely would not let me milk her so my boyfriend and I came up with this method for when she was being sassy. lol.
> You're gonna need two people, she might struggle at first.
> Find a good, sturdy chair and have the strongest/bulkiest of the two grab her front legs/end and hold her over their lap (like a child about to get a spanking) with a small bucket of treats/grain that she can eat (feel free to pet and love her, you want her to accept you). The less pressure she can put on her back two legs the better(you still want them touching the ground though)..if she has good leverage she will just knock you and the chair over. Don't ask me how I know. Don't bother with a bucket because she will most likely just put her foot in it at some point, get a glass jar or cup. You're going to hold the cup in one of your hands and milk with the other. If you've never milked before just watch a youtube video. It might take a little practice but you'll figure it out in no time. I swear my goat learned to love being milked like that. I think she was a brat on purpose sometimes just so she could be in my boyfriends lap lol.


That sounds quite amusing! Lol!


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## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

What about a precocious udder? Anyone have experience in that? And if so, what do you do about it?


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

try and dry it off or try to ease it.Oh and it looks like she pees on it so could get a bit sore,teejae


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

One of my does is like that. I don't really milk unless I've sold her kids & she looks like she needs to be tapered off--I never want her to be uncomfortable. I just tie her up as short as I can (no one to help me) & milk with one hand into a large 5 cup measure that has a good handle to hold it up near her udder. A bucket is impossible-she either steps in or knocks it over. I end up kind of hopping around as I milk her while she spazzes out. She ignores the bowl of treats. Luckily I don't like milk & I'm really just milking a few times & just enough to alleviate discomfort or mastitis while she dries up.

A long time ago I worked for some truly awful people who had this poor goat. Her huge udder dragged on the ground & had for a couple years they said. They told me she had mastitis & the vet couldn't do anything. I didn't know one thing about goats back then but I sure felt sorry for her. It was just grotesque & would sometimes get rubbed raw from dragging.


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

catharina said:


> A long time ago I worked for some truly awful people who had this poor goat. Her huge udder dragged on the ground & had for a couple years they said. They told me she had mastitis & the vet couldn't do anything. I didn't know one thing about goats back then but I sure felt sorry for her. It was just grotesque & would sometimes get rubbed raw from dragging.


Man, having had a human kid, I can't even imagine how bad that would be!

With this one, maybe a goat bra would help hold the udder away when peeing?


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## Nissa_Paggi (Feb 7, 2016)

catharina said:


> One of my does is like that. I don't really milk unless I've sold her kids & she looks like she needs to be tapered off--I never want her to be uncomfortable. I just tie her up as short as I can (no one to help me) & milk with one hand into a large 5 cup measure that has a good handle to hold it up near her udder. A bucket is impossible-she either steps in or knocks it over. I end up kind of hopping around as I milk her while she spazzes out. She ignores the bowl of treats. Luckily I don't like milk & I'm really just milking a few times & just enough to alleviate discomfort or mastitis while she dries up.
> 
> A long time ago I worked for some truly awful people who had this poor goat. Her huge udder dragged on the ground & had for a couple years they said. They told me she had mastitis & the vet couldn't do anything. I didn't know one thing about goats back then but I sure felt sorry for her. It was just grotesque & would sometimes get rubbed raw from dragging.


Wow! Thanks. That was really helpful!


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