# Udder dried up on one side



## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

My doe who lost her twins has been having issues with her udder. I've been hand milking her once daily and everything was fine for the first week. Then, I started to notice her udder getting lopsided. 3 weeks later and one side is almost completely dry. I get 2-3 good squirts and that is it. However, I did notice my other kid has been stealing nursing time on this doe.

What can I do to fix this? I was hoping to continue milking her for drinking. Do I need to let her dry up first and try again as a 2nd freshener?


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## RMADairyGoats (Jun 20, 2011)

I don't know... :whatgoat: I don't think that happens often. :chin: Did you not milk the one side out all the way? If so it may have gotten full and just dried up. Very strange :shrug: :chin: :whatgoat: :scratch:


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## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

I milked both sides the same way. I didn't completey strip out, but came close to it (both sides). :scratch:


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## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

My husband reminded me that the first few days of milking went badly. I don't think I got as much milk out as I should have because we were fighting (FF and never been handled before). Could those 3-4 days have caused this? I guess the timing adds up. 

Since then, though, I've been milking out as much as I can on both sides. When my hand got weak, I finished off with my other hand.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Can you seperate her from the kids and see if they are stealing all the milk from that side?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Has the kid that you've seen nursing on her maybe been nursing more often?

How long has it been since she freshened?


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## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

I'm not sure how often the kid is nursing. I've only seen it happen a few times and it doesn't last for long. Maybe 30 seconds? Then the doe kicks her off. It could be happening more than I think, though. However, the two times I have seen it happen the doeling was nursing from the larger udder. Both times was after I had thrown alfalfa in for the girls. The doeling seems to know she can nurse from both does if they're distracted enough.

She kidded twins on August 5th and lost them both 2 and 3 days later. 

I thought about removing the kid, but she is the only one I have. I'd have to move her and her mother ... then this doe would be alone and get stressed. 

A friend suggested taping the udder, but I don't know what to use for this. What type of tape is safe and would stay on?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Since this was a recent freshening...did you start milking her as soon as she kidded? Sometimes all it takes is a few days with a full tight udder to put a stop in production.

If the dry udder is caused by other kids nursing, you can tape her teats. I've used the cloth athletic tape with some success but truthfully...duct tape works better!

How is her diet? Does she get a good amount of a grain mix and a good hay?


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

I have seen does actually milk off themselves...could she be doing this on that one side? :shrug: I try taping the teats like Liz said and/or making sure there's no way the kids can get to her.


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## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

Thank you guys. I will try duct tape ... but is there a way to take it off without it being too painful?

The first 2-3 days I was forcing the kids to nurse and left them with her hoping they'd nurse on their own. Maybe it just wasn't enough? for 3-4 days after that, I started hand milking her but it was a big fight.

She's getting 2 cups of a sweet goat feed, plus 1 cup of BOSS. However, I just started the BOSS only a week ago. She's also been getting 1/4 flake of alfalfa and about a flake of coastal hay.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I actually use waterproof medical tape, the wider stuff. she's getting enough to eat, not what I would feed but, that's just my opinion. sometimes a couple days at the beginning can make a difference on a very heavy producing doe, just seems like it would have come back by now.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

What breed is she?

As far as feed goes... my nigerian does who are newly freshened get 2 cups of a 18% with BOSS mixed into it as well as 1 cup alfalfa pellets 2x a day as well as freechoice alfalfa or clover mix hay. They NEED to be able to keep condition as well as put into the milk pail if your doe is in good condition but still not producing she may be keeping all she's eating for herself at just over 2 weeks fresh, she should be in full production.

Try to tape the teats, as far as taking it off, it does pull some but I have never had any problems ....also, be sure to tape the entire teat right up to the udder. IF the tape is gone after a 12 hour fill,and her udder is empty it's likely that she removed it herself....self nursing does are a pain to try and break the habit with.


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## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

goathiker said:


> she's getting enough to eat, not what I would feed but, that's just my opinion.


What would you do differently?

I spent hours at the feed store going over different grains. I think the grain I am feeding is pretty good. I believe it is 18% and also has added selenium (which we need here and not all feeds have). As for the hay, alfalfa is $20 per bale here ... so free choice is out of the question. As it is, they're doing very well weight wise on the alfalfa they do get. In fact, my other doe (who's the mother to the kid and lactating very well) just had to have a decrease in her grain. She was getting overweight. This doe, who was thin when I bought her, is now at an ideal weight.

Thanks again to everyone. I am going to tape her off tomorrow and see what happens. Amazingly, I did get more milk today out of the bad side. Not much ... only 1/8 of a cup ... but much better than just 2-3 little squirts like it was the last week.

Liz - she is a Nigerian x Pygmy.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Your feed mix sounds similar to what mine get....though, if she is on the thin side, if she were here I would have a fecal done to be sure it's not worms causing it( I do my own fecals, so thats likely easier for me) if she needs wormed, she'd get the med for 3 doses over a 3 week period andI would up her grain amount to twice a day. Another that may help, considering how expensive the alfalfa hay is per bale....do you have a feed/supply store available such as a Tractor Supply?....they carry alfalfa pellets as well as cubes, I get both and break up the cubes , mine get the little flakes of alfalfa in the afternoons, this helps supplement the first cut clover hay they have.


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## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

Hi Liz,

I was feeding alfalfa pellets, but these two girls didn't seem to like them. I'm not sure why? Maybe it was the brand or?? They would pick out the grain from between the alf pellets and then reluctantly finish the pellets over the course of the day. However, the alfalfa hay they go nuts over. :scratch: 

I could always try again and just use a different brand. I never tried cubes and wasn't sure if they could choke on them or not? Choke is why I don't feed them to the horses, so was unsure about the goats.

We did have a fecal done the day she had her kids and she was clear of everything, but I'd been worming her since we brought her home. I also wormed her again shortly after she had the kids and need to do so again now.

She was really thin when she came here and remained somewhat thin up until she had the kids. After she had the kids, I bumped her grain back up and she's packed on the weight in the past 3 weeks. She looks pretty good now. Her sister, though, tends to get overweight so they're both fed individually so that I can control how much they're getting.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

You're doing fine.
I mix my own feed and don't feed any type of by-product or high sugar grains is all. Hence, you don't feed what I would choose but, that's just my opinion.

I feed 3 lbs alfalfa pellets, 1 lb beet pulp, free choice hay to all goats. Milking girls get a mix of rolled oats and rolled barley. During the winter I add a little fat in the form of sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc.


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## BoringGoat (Jul 27, 2011)

goathiker said:


> You're doing fine.
> I mix my own feed and don't feed any type of by-product or high sugar grains is all. Hence, you don't feed what I would choose but, that's just my opinion.
> 
> I feed 3 lbs alfalfa pellets, 1 lb beet pulp, free choice hay to all goats. Milking girls get a mix of rolled oats and rolled barley. During the winter I add a little fat in the form of sunflower seeds, peanuts, etc.


Hmmm, I'd been thinking about adding some of those. I wasn't sure how much they'd like the oats or barley? Mine seem pretty picky about everything. It was even a hassle to switch them over to this new feed (which I thought would be easy since it's sweet).

I used to feed oats to the horses that needed weight. I'd love to give some to the does if they'd eat it.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Moving them to whole grains is a process. For one thing they don't have the micro-flora in their rumens to digest it. Adding a tiny amout for a couple weeks will give them a chance to build these up. Just giving them too much whole grain out of the blue will give them a stomach ache and they will refuse them from then on thinking that they make them hurt. Barley and oats are both excellent feed for goats and my girls do very well on it. 
You also might have the donut syndrome going on. After all who's going to eat their oatmeal when they know they can get a donut.


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