# Freshened doe has chunky milk!!



## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Good evening..My daughters Lamancha Doe kidded four days early today..of course I was not home and my daughter (15) had to assist kidding on her own first time!! She did great then remembered to breath lol Both babies are doing great both are large.one buck (Geronimo) and one Doe ( Francine) Ok her problem..My daughter went to unplug the teats and its was really plugged...she kept milking and more and more "cheese" like stuff kept coming. I got home and put her on the table to check on her..no fever..she looks great..but there are lumps in her udder..soft squishy.upon milking her out cheese like chunks come out like tooth paste...we can get the lump out of the way and milk a little until another gets lodged there...I gave her tums tonight for calcium..and probios ...other than the chunks everything seems fine...this is not skin or meat chunks...its like solid milk....thank you for any advice you have...Ps She freshened last season with no issues...: )


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## JaLyn (Oct 10, 2012)

I'm not positive on this but i thought i read somewhere that could be a sign of mastitis..i would research taht and see what you come up with..hopefully someone else on here knows cause i have no idea..I'm sorry.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

It could be mastitis, but she also may just be congested. do you have a mastitis tester? We tested one of our does for flaky milk but it wasn't mastitis -- just cream flakes.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Yes thank you..we are testing tonight for Mastitis ..


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## Dani-1995 (Mar 11, 2011)

I agree... chunky milk is a sign of mastitjs


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Ok..this is our first time in all our years doing goats we are testing for Mastisis..we have the CMT handy ...however the instructions say not to use colostrum milk..she kidded today...so we wait? Last season our Sannen did the same thing...chunky milk pieces...kind of feel like monzerella cheese, very soft..not cottage cheese like at all..if that helps lol..we milked Misty out and kept getting the junks out until there were no more..she finished her season with no issues...no fever..not off feed..not strange behavior..>> so now Summer doing it...any way..any thoughts on testing colostrum? Tonight we are doing hot compresses with a rag..seems to helped She was able to get the harder side milked down..she is now working on the other side..also we are giving the babies bottles to be sure they get moms colostrum after we strain it for lumps lol..plus they suck a lot we hope that helps too..this girls gives a ton of milk!


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

I would just watch her, and test her once she is done producing colostrum. No hotness of the udder or inflammation?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

no ...she seems fine..we just milked her out completely and she seems more relaxed..it was much easier to milk once we added the hot rags...( not too hot).we will keep milking the chunks out...and wait til maybe day three or four when colostrum is gone..


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Wow....let us know how the test turns out...and congrats to your daughter!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Summer is doing great..tonight when we milked her out there were only dustings of chunks..so small they passed just fine..Babies are nursing fine..other than them favoring her right teat UGH...we are keeping her left even with the other until these kiddos find out there are two teats lol...not sure we will test for mastitis after all since everything is cleared up...what do you think?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Really hard to say. I wonder if her colostrum was just that thick. It certainly wouldn't hurt to test her to be sure.


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

In cattle, we wait 3 milkings before deciding to treat (unless downright obvious flaking, clear, or hot sensitive quarters). Sometimes tissues come out with milk, especially senior cows with those big hard bags. Other times during birth bacteria may make its way into the udder and the colostrum starts to "chunk up" to stop the foreign material. Other times it may be mastitis. Have you rubbed it between your fingers? Does it pull apart easily, smush easily? It is oily like cream? Is it tissuey? 

If it is stringy when you pull it apart but breaks it's probably mastitis. If it is oily, it is probably just creamy colostrum. If it's tissuey, it's probably some bruising. Go ahead and do the CMT. Many times they say not to test because of the dry-up medicines in the milk and the level of antibodies. 

Not all mastitis are the same. Many different types of bacteria cause mastitis infections. You won't see hard quarters/teats with some, others will just make it tender and sore, others just have flaky milk, others cause the animal to fall sick, etc. If she's getting better on her own and she's milking out nicely without fuss she's probably ok. Don't bite the bullet so to speak without giving her a chance to fight the bug off, in many cases this will happen too.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Thank all for your responses...mjs500doo..the chucks at first were a lot like a soft glossy cheese..easily squished.. some what crumbly at that point...last night when we milked her out it was soft crumbs...the limps that would fall into the teat I could smash with in the teat..so not hard.... She is not ill acting..as a matter of fact she is acting quite well...This morning we didnt milk her..babies are keeping her udders even and empty...Summer is a high milk producer and her udders are well established...large and roomy...no fever...I will go a head and test to be sure no indication of Mastitis is lingering.. We wont treat unless she needs us too...as you said we like mom to have a chance of building antibodies..but if she needs us to we will treat : ) Thank you all again : )


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

happybleats said:


> Thank all for your responses...mjs500doo..the chucks at first were a lot like a soft glossy cheese..easily squished.. some what crumbly at that point...last night when we milked her out it was soft crumbs...the limps that would fall into the teat I could smash with in the teat..so not hard.... She is not ill acting..as a matter of fact she is acting quite well...This morning we didnt milk her..babies are keeping her udders even and empty...Summer is a high milk producer and her udders are well established...large and roomy...no fever...I will go a head and test to be sure no indication of Mastitis is lingering.. We wont treat unless she needs us too...as you said we like mom to have a chance of building antibodies..but if she needs us to we will treat : ) Thank you all again : )


Sounds like a great plan, and looks like you already know what to do.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Mastitis test was negative..sure hope I did it right...she had pink milk this evening...BUT we let her out with the herd and she and my Due tomorrow Saanen Daisy bashed heads...we kept an eye on them to be sure no one was overly mean..we know how returning to the herd can be...But they just wouldn't stop...so my daughter brought them both to the table for dinner. She thought once they eat like normal they would forget about their fight...well we put Summer back in the pen with her babies so she can rest and she seemed weak...even stumbled...I know she was tired from fighting with Daisy, but we went a head and gave her Calcium drench and will check on her hourly if not sooner...NOW Daisy who is due to kid tomorrow was on the table I noticed a lump on her right side..I put 
my hand on it and it kicked me !!! I tell you the truth..never in our almost 8 years of goats have I ever felt a baby like that!! It was tossing and turning in there..kind of worried me....so we will of course keep a sharp eye on Daisy too...UGH...now Daisy is at the fence pestering Summer..//by the way...its always these two...they get mad at each other a lot and will bash heads...wish they would just get a long...


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Sounds like fun.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

More like a rodeo Karen lol...I dont know what is it is with these two lol..they just never clicked...but usually they are quiet...Last fight was in the rain which is nice since Daisy looked very pretty all washed up lol


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## mjs500doo (Nov 24, 2012)

Pink milk is usually due to bruising, basically ruptured capillaries in the udder. Nothing to worry about, it should heal fine. Had a first calf heifer calve in with a FL quarter that was literally blood. Huge blood clots plugged her canal repetitively. I couldn't leave all the bruising inside her quarter so I continued to milk it into a quarter milker. I'd say within 3 days it was light pink, and for sure by the one week mark was milk. We did see flakes of bruised tissue once in a while after the week had passed however. She and a "playmate" had been arguing over something at the feed rail. She ended up getting pushed through and hit her quarter pretty darn hard. The poor thing was nearly purple. 

Eh, me and my babbling.  

As for the fighting, the other doe is just "jealous".  hehe Hopefully they'll get over themselves soon for you.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

lol..thank you..I like to read babbles lol..Im a babbler too...Summers milk was normal this morning : ) Im sure the bashing around with Daisy caused it..both are such brats lol..Daisy is due to kid today but dont seem ready just yet..but you know how fast that can change lol


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