# Udder Supports



## cobaltangel33 (Jul 6, 2012)

Hello All! I am new... completely new to starting my own milking process with some does we got, and to this site. We got a Nubian doe 1 1/2 years ago and a Lamancha a year ago. We hoped the Lamancha was already bred but alas she didn't take. We got a boar this past January and put him in with the does and kept him for 6 weeks. Lo and behold they both took. (We were not thinking clearly since being so new about gestation timing and when they would be due). Our Lamancha (Buttercup) gave birth on the 4th of July (97 degrees out)... Her udder hangs VERY low, one side hangs so low that the kids ( 2 girls) would not eat off of it. I would milk it to relieve it, but milking it is difficult cause the bag is so misshaped as well. :-( Our Nubian doe (Dottie) gave birth last night 7/6 and it was 101 degrees outside. (My poor does!) Well Dottie was given to us from a friend and she is an excellent doe, she milks great and is a great mother, but the problem is she got mastitis real bad 2 years ago and will not milk at all from that side It is like the teat is dry but that side of the udder is full (we knew this when we got her). Well Dottie gave us triplets. So for now we decided to milk her and the Lamancha and bottle feed the kids so we know they are all getting enough cause we don't feel the Nubian can support 3 kids with only one side milking and do not want our Lamancha to not be a good producer from the other side. So the point of this long story is.. Has anyone created an udder support that can be used to hold the bag up to protect it yet be able to milk with it on? All the udder supports I see hold bag up and protect, but discourage feeding/milking??? Also I am sure Dotties other side is a lost cause, but has anyone else had a doe loose milking ability after mastitis that can be reversed?
Thank you so Much!
Marcia :chin: @ phillipspatch.blogspot.com


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## Di (Jan 29, 2008)

Hi, welcome to TGS! Everybody must have been busy this weekend!

I've never had a case of mastitis (thank you, Lord), so I can't help you much. I know there are teat dilators, but I don't know if that would help. I don't know if you can modify this to enable nursing by the kids...http://hoeggerfarmyard.com/xcart/produc ... at=&page=1 maybe you can call them and ask.

LOL, I guess I don't know much!

Anyway, from your experience you can see why we are always searching for that "perfect" buck to improve udders.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Wow!!! I am not the only lamancha owner with this issue....First I kept her kid with her, but the idea was that she would learn all her goat things from mom, and just bottle fed her, one day she just figured it out and started to nurse mom. It wouldnt let me look at di's site she gave you but am going to buy a support thing from vally vet, just type it in and it will come up (sorry if your looking at the same thing di gave you). I dont mind the whole drama of her kids nursing but since her bag hangs low she is always catching it on things and cutting her self. I also have another milk goat that is like your nubian just i cant get any thing out of either side. She is my pet so I keep her and breed her and just bottle feed the kids, but I have tryed EVERYTHING to get somthing out of her, once I got a small drop but that was it. I can not even get today into her. so what I have been doing with her to keep her from getting sick over it is just giving her vit c, and masto blast. Good luck with her, wish I had somthing for you to help with that one but Im at as big of a loss as you are on that one.


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## cobaltangel33 (Jul 6, 2012)

Update so far: 
Well I decided to "strip" my Lamancha's one side and I got almost 2 gallons!!! The kids are now nursing off of that side as well. I made 2 seperate pens... we were soft and did not seperate the Nubian momma from her babes. I only have to bottle feed one of the kids since the other 2 must be stronger and nurse off of her they will not take to the bottle. So I am milking am and pm and giving a bottle to the kids off of that milk between the 2 moms. (I have plenty at this point yo put on my garden as well) System seems to be going well. The Lamanchas bag still hanging extremely low and even with an extra step up to milk stand she caught her udder last night. Thankifully only a small scratch with no issues this am. My husband in the meantime is considering a new step system for her and maybe putting in a pully system above the milking area, and I am hoping to creat a bag lifter to attach to pully to maybe hoist it for milking, and then maybe something that she can wear that would still allow kids to eat????? I feel bad for my Nubian as her one side is sooo hard cause it full of milk that cannot drop... wondering if a procedure is out there that vets can do??? 
Thanks for the help!!!


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