# Hard Udder



## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

I had a doe kid this morning, two big healthy does :kidred: :kidred: I was stripping her out, and I could only get milk to come out of one side. The left side of her udder is hard and no milk is coming out, but the udder is not hot :shrug: I waited a few hours thinking that maybe she had not let her milk down yet. I have massaged her udder and tried to milk her every few hours, for the last 12 hours and nothing has changed. I have been reading on the Fias Farms site about mastitis, somewhere in the article it said a hard udder may be congested. What is a congested udder, is it the start of mastitis? Should I treat the doe for mastitis? What is the best treatment for her?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Try some very warm to hot wet compresses....a hand towel soaked in a bucket of hot water and wrung out then wraqpped around the back of the udder towards the front, massage firmly but not to the point of pain, each time you need to warm up the towel try milking her, repeat this as often as you can, peppermint oil rubbed into the udder helps too.


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

if its not mastitis it could just be congested as you mentioned. Vigorously massage the udder and put hot compresses on it. Milk out what you can and keep doing this several times each day.


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## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

WOW, thanks for the very fast replies! :thumb: I will try the warm compress and see if that helps her. What does the peppermint oil do?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

The peppermint oil works the same as Vicks vapor rub would do for you...helps break up congestion, and I guess I should add that Vicks would work on a comngested udder as well with the menthol and eucalyptus oil thats in it. Just be sure to wash her down after wards if her kids are on her...it does irritate the eyes.


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## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

Thank you very much! Now I get why you said peppermint oil, that makes a lot of sense :thumb: I would of never thought of using that! Thanks again!


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## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

I have been doing the hot compress with peppermint oil for the last 2 days, with no change. The vet recommended we give her 2cc Oxytocin and 1.5 cc of Baytril. The udder is still not hot, but not producing milk and is still rock hard. It is still only on the one side and the other side is still good. Do you think that I should treat her mastitis with Today or something? She still has her kids on her.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

You can try to treat her with the Today but you'll still need to massage the med up into her udder...and tape up her teat very well so the kids can't nurse that side. I had to use duct tape on Binkey when I was treating her...worked well too.


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## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

How hard is it to give Today? I have never done it before and I am kind of reluctant to because I don't want to mess up.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I never did the udder infusions before either...it's pretty simple, just be sure to wipe the teat with the alcohol pad and twist off just the small cap on the tip of the tube...and infuse the entire tube, pinch the end of the teat and massage the med upward, wipe with alcohol again allow it to dry and tape her, milk out 12 hours later and repeat.


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## BareCreekFarm (Nov 20, 2011)

Ok, Thanks Liz. I will get some Today, tommorrow


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

Have you tested for mastitis? Its not presenting as mastitis and I have heard (someone more experienced with dairy goats correct me if I'm wrong) that sometimes a congested udder can go on for weeks. But that is in dairy goats and I'm assuming by your avatar she is a boer goat? Having said all that it wont hurt her to give the mastitis treatment. Also, sometimes CAE can cause a hard udder.


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