# doe not bred but has milk!...



## kmaddox (Jul 10, 2012)

I have a 2 yr. old doe who has never been bred and a few months ago her udders filled with milk- out of the blue. I talked with my vet who suggested not to milk her and her body should re-absorb the milk naturally. It has been several months now, she has no discomfort and seems to be healthy otherwise and when I give her a brief squeeze to look at the fluid it is now clear instead of milky. Also one udder has shrunk smaller than the other but has stayed this way for about 2 months. How long should I wait, is there a risk of infection? Can I go ahead and milk out the fluid or will it refill? Any suggestions are appreciated!


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## SMaxwell (May 20, 2012)

I have a doe that does that also. It is called a precocious udder, or precocious milker. 

From Fiasco Farms website:

"This is what is called being "precocious" and it is not uncommon. On rare occasion, a doe may start making milk without being bred. It is best to just let it be and not milk her. She will eventually reabsorb the "milk". She will probably be a very good milker once she is bred, kids, and begins a true lactation. It will not effect her udder negatively once she kids. From our experience, every precocious doe we've had has filled up on one side more than the other, but once they kidded, they had very nice even udders."

I've also heard that you can go ahead and milk them. I dont think you will get a ton of milk though. My doe connntinued to fill up more on the left side even after kidding.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

You get this quite often when dealing with high production milk lines. We only use bucks outta 3500+ lbs milkers so we get more then our far share of this. We even have kids of all ages do this this and you can get milk outta them  But as mentioned its best to just let it go away on its own. If its bad lopsided, it could take a couple of years for the udder to even out over a course of a couple of freshenings. And yes, you can milk a doe that has not been breed. You can even milk a milking doe non stop indefinably if she is form the right bloodlines and is willing to stay in production.


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## kmaddox (Jul 10, 2012)

Thanks for the great information... I just wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing by continuing to wait it out. Our wethers and does are definitely from high production milk lines so that make sense. We will just continue to monitor her and see how long it takes to go down.


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## Cazz (Jun 9, 2010)

In Australia, it's called 'maiden milking' and again, normally with high-milking lines - it can usually also be brought about by massaging and milking the teats of an unkidded doe over 10 months old if she is from any decent lines. However, of course, it's not usually done for several reasons - they don't normally make much if they are brought into milk this way, and also, it can strip a lot of condition off a growing doe. 
Every single one of our Swiss does has actually come into milk at a year old unkidded, some we've had to milk for a while to stop them getting mastitis, some were fat and we milked them as it was no detriment to them, but most I milk a little while and then dry off. 
As has been mentioned, when unkidded, they may have an uneven udder (though none of our home-bred girls ever have :? One we bought as a maiden five year old was pretty uneven before kidding though) however this does not usually predict the type of udder they will have after kidding. 
Although there is a threat of mastitis if the doe is not milked, unless the doe is in extremely good condition or overweight, and you have the time and inclination to milk her, it's usually recommended to let them dry up while keeping a close eye on them to make sure they don't get too full and uncomfortable, or contract mastitis.  For does who are not producing a lot, you may not have to do anything, while others may need partial milking, as in lactating does, to safely dry them off.  
Cheers,
Cazz


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