# Tricks of the trade



## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

Every one has their tricks so save time, money, stress.. 

I would love to hear these  They can be about anything, (the barn, fence, feed, vet, meds, ect)


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Don't wait until your goat is at death's door before calling the vet. If you can't figure it out or what your doing isn't working, get the vet out.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Blackberry root tea, phenominal scour/diarrhea stopper.

Milk cartons and jugs, great chicken feeders and waterers

Tylan200, great for eye infections when squirt onto the eyeball itself

Feed bags make great garbage bags

Yogurt is a good probiotic

3 drops of liquid dish soap in 3 squirts of milk is a mastitis test


I have several more, I'll post as they come to me.


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## fd123 (May 29, 2012)

If you use electric fence.>> Run a wire from your ground rod/rods to the actual fence itself. This way if the soil gets super dry causing you to lose your ground ... you will have a VERY STRONG "Back-Up". No more running/hauling water to your ground rods during droughts. I do this with every electric fence that ive installed and I have had ZERO ESCAPES!!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Well stress, because Im going threw this right now lol, just cut your losses and send trouble makers down the road, especially jumpers, you will spend time and money putting a top fence up and they will just laugh at you and jump any ways lol. To save money, shop around. Try to go to the growers on hay, they usually sell large amounts but in the long run is soooo worth it. Another thing, I hear a lot about jeffers, but in the long run valley vet having free shipping I end up spending less, well at least with the stuff I buy. And the copper for bolusing, I dont buy the goat ready, I guess it would be ok if you have 1 or 2, but I buy the cattle ones for large cattle and break them down. 9 out of 10 times more will end up costing less in the long run, and if there is a sale on anything, I buy the heck out of it. TS really disliked me when their minerals were on sale lol


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

Love them  

Would be interested to see a pic of chicken waters/feeders.. 

I have a few.. 

Hay and grain feeders together, after they eat grain the trough catches the little particles of hay that fall (especially when feeding alfalfa) the goats love it.. 

Brooms! Great to clean water tubs with  

Just lost all of my brain power and can not remember them. will come back when I can


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Darn! I don't think i can add to this thread....everything we did was the more expensive route....
Oh WAIT! What NOT to do.......anything NYGoatMom did!

LOL


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

That's what my husband thinks! I am $1,000 in since march.. not bad at all!. He just don't understand lol 

Every one has to have one little trick lol


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Haha.. don't laugh.
Pallets. We build everything with them. They are free & a great way to recycle! I am planning to pick up a load in the morning so we can start on a much needed shelter in the young does pen.

A small pallet tied to the wall is a great organizer for rakes, brooms, shovels, etc.

Milk jugs with a section on the front cut out can make great mineral feeders especially in kidding stalls. I'd use something stronger like laundry detergent/fabric softener bottles if they get too destructive with the milk jug. You can figure out how to mount them, or just cut holes and use some twine to tie them to the wall <again pallet walls, so easy to tie things lol>.

Pallets with the right size spaces, cut down can make great hay feeders.
We put some OSB and make a tray in front of them that away if they drop any, it will fall on the tray so they eat it.

Prune trimmers <not the kind with rounded blade> can make great hoof trimmers for small herds, they are about $5-7 and will last a long time if you take care of them.

Always keep a couple of decent spray bottles on hand, you never know when you'll need them lol

LA200 is awesome stuff, it's inexpensive and can be used for a variety of problems.

Bottle babies... just weaning our first bottle baby. We used the whole milk recipe and she great wonderfully on it. Someone somewhere once told me to put a little probios in each bottle. In the beginning she'd get runny poo. Started using probios and never ever had a problem since then.
We use the goats prefer brand goat probios from TSC, it's about $10 for a large jar, powdered, lasts a long time. Once in a while I'll take some out, put it in my hand and the adult does will lick it right off, they love that stuff. Easy to use for the others too, we put some in their feed <especially when the kids show them, we use it the night before/morning of>.
Mixes super easy in bottle baby bottle too.


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

Keep all your baler twine!!!! 
-tie buckets so they don't get tipped
-make a make-shift lead in a time of need 
-fast fence fix (panels) 
-one of my gates is tied with it
once again brain fart and can't think of all their uses but I love love love baler twine  

GOODWILL 
Watch out for collars, leashes, baby blankets, baby bottles--lamp/kid nipples will fit in the rings of most baby bottles (you can pick up bottles for .25 or .50) baby nipples work too, towels, feed bowels (stainless steal bowls, deep pots, pans are good for chicken feed), clothes to make sweaters out of, old dog sweaters, stuff for toys  
--- Yes I love goodwill.. I just got like 10 collars and 3 feed pans the other day! I paid .50 cents for my feed pans verses $5 at TSC!



I always have wire, wire cutters, a knife, pruners, plyers, and a hammer extremely handy at the barn ! Picked all of these up at yard sales.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Haha, I'm a master with uses of baling twine!


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Baling twine is useless at my place - the little snots simply untie it.


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

I have never had one untie it, Although I knot mine then just cut and get a new piece.. 

It's all my dad uses for our gates at the "main barn" for our beef... Holds in our 2,000 pound beef steers 

I made a set of driving reins for my horse one time out of baler twine.. braided three pieces together, then used three strands of that and braided it


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Automatic waterers. Keep hay stack near feeding area. I can feed and water 100+ goats with 2 string small bales in about 15 minutes.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

If you are in my region, baling wire is great to save. You can wire up any gate, fence, or anything that needs hooked together. I can't begin to tell you how much baling wire we have laying around...

Pallets are awesome, we just made a shed out of them. We also stack all of our hay, round or square on pallets to keep the bales off the ground. Especially with the round bales it prevents them from sitting on wet ground when it rains. 

If you are going to feed round bales, make or buy a goat round bale feeder. Otherwise you will just have a ton of waste, goats laying in the hay, on the bale and if they can get in with it the bale can fall over and kill them.

For all of our larger water tanks, a little hydrated lime (the powdered lime) in the water keeps algae from forming and if it does the lime takes the algae with it when you clean it out. Lime is also great for putting down on the floor to dry out the barn floor and it can get rid of ammonia.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

A stomach tube kit for a kid is like 4 bucks and can save a life. 
Sometimes if you don't need a whole bottle of something it is cheaper to go to a vet and get a couple syringes of a product than buying the entire bottle ,and sometimes it is not. So know your prices on things. 
I try to support our locol co-op as much as possible, but I am not willing to spend more than a dollar or two more no a product that I can get cheaper on-line. Again check your prices and your brand options. For example Ivermectin(the name brand) is $35.00 for a 50ml bottle at Jeffers and normectin is $27.00 both would be fee shipping with a $60.00 order. Our co-op only carries ivermectin brand so I always order normectin on-line. Then compare the 250 ml size bottles, still free shipping, but for 5 times the amount normectin is only $60.00 and ivermectin is $103 for onlyl a 200ml bottle compared to normectin being $60 for a 250 ml bottle. Of course if you wouldn't use 250 ml in the next 3 to 4 years then you should get the smallest bottle. But that is a big price difference. 

I just priced probiotics, and decided the 240 grams powder probios tub is $9.00 at Jeffers it is $12.00 at our feed store, then I priced the 5 lb tub, because we started using it more. it is $35.00 on Jeffers plus $10.00 shipping so $45.00, but a tub is 5 lbs and a 240 gram tub is 1/2 lb so 10 x $9 = $90is. Even though I could get free shipping with the 240 gram tub and have to pay additional shipping for the 5 lb tub it is still half the price. Of course with a probiotic you really need to use it with in a reasonable amount of time. We started using more of it so it pays for us. 
Then I talked to FAsttrack and they can ship me a 5 lb tub of probiotics for $34.00 right from the factory, shipping it in the fall or spring when wether conditions. I was just working on that, that was not meant to be a FAsttrack sales pitch, I don't sell it. LOL. 

Safegaurd can seem cheaper at $19.00 for a small bottle for goats, but you have to give like 3 to 4 x the dosage on the bottle for 3 days. making it in the long run way more expensive than synanthic which is $100 for a bottle. 
A tube of ivermecitn horse wormer is way cheaper for a couple goats than getting a bottle of ivermectin. But horse wormer is more expensive per animal. 

If you have any amount of livestock, order a 100 count box of needles and syringes on-line. Way way cheaper. Not like they will go bad. 

Just discovered a generic powdered corid that is almost 50% cheaper thru Jeffers than name brand powdered corid.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

You can never have too many double end snaps. Brass not nickel plated which rusts.
Top that with a few eye bolts placed at different heights along fence inside & out. 
When you have a goat needing attention you dont have to bring her out just put collar on & snap to eye bolt.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

Just thought of something else.. When you are buying feed pay attention to how many lbs of feed is in the bag. TSC, Orscheln's and Atwoods carry almost all of their feed in 40 lb bag anymore instead of 50. Some of the grains are still in 50 lb bags, but most of the pelleted feed is not. So if you are looking at prices at a co-op vs the chain feed store it might seem cheaper at the chain, but if it is only 40 lbs more than likely it is more expensive. If I am comparing I always figure how much it costs per lb to know which one is the better deal. For example my alfalfa pellets (from the co-op) come in a 50 lb bag for $10, so $10 divided by 50 lbs is 20 cents per lb. Standlee brand pellets are $11.99 for 40 lbs which comes out to about 29 cents per lb. At this point I have to decide if it is still cheaper to drive over an hour away to the co-op to get a ton of pellets, or just drive about 10 miles down the road for enough pellets for the week. I usually go to the co-op because not only are the pellets whole 9 cents cheaper per lb, but when I buy a ton, they take off 1%, or $4 off the total which makes it a tiny bit cheaper. lol


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

Carry your calculator every where! -- this drives my husband crazy that I compare prices on everything! 

feeders that can be filled outside of the pen! 

A stick when you have to go into the pen to feed, especially in the buck pen. I have only hit a few, but the sight of it keeps them from attacking you and spilling the bucket of feed.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

Feed your hay off the ground in good hay feeders, Hay is not free these days. Well it is not free for us. Wasted hay is wasted money and Straw is cheaper for bedding. And in my opinion straw is a better bedding anyway.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Agree ^^^ not to mention the less they eat off the ground the less contact with worms


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

Round bales save lots of money if you have the right set up to feed them with  

saw mills will normally give away saw dust! you can load a full size truck bed full in about 15 minutes with just one person and a scoop shovel 
- some people hate saw dust, I love it


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

FYI: You should not use saw dust when kidding, It increases chances of infections. we did find a place that chips up pallets and we use those In our show pens at the fair, way cheaper than getting bagged chips for the pens. 

We do some round bales, but hard to find them stored inside and most farmers in our area cut their first cutting into round bales and then their 2nd cuttings, ect. into square bales. I just have not had too good of luck with good quality round bales, but if you can get them and handle them it is cheaper as long as the hay is not being wasted.


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

We looked into having our feed bulk delivered, they don't charge delivery cost, because we are close enough. It is way cheaper than having it bagged and going to the store and buying it and we don't have to spend the gas to go and get it. They charge $2.00 a bag to bag 50lbs of feed. So right there you are saving 2 bucks for every 50 lbs. 
We put our feed in tubs that hold !,200 lbs and use a floor jack, we got the tubs from a plant that was selling their tubs that were not good enough for production. You can also make wooden bins with lids, or use 55 gallon barrels, they hold 300 lbs each of pelleted feed. We move them on a dolly. WE do not have a big tractor or fork lift. But we do have a concret floor in the front half of our barn making it a little easier to move the things around. But I was told the boon on the truck can go through a door pretty well and dump into bins just inside the doorway. So there are possibilities of different set ups. We Share our deliveries with another farm, so then I measure and bag some of the feed. that is a bit of a pain. But saves us both a quite a bit of money. 
We do have to get a ton of each feed mix at a time. So I have to get a ton of goat pellets and if I want cracked corn I have to get a ton of that as well.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

Buy supplies on sale-stock up! I save up and buy once a year when Jeffers has a sale. I get free shipping and save a bundle because the prices are reduced.

I also buy off season. Most places up here have big fly control sales in the fall. I buy as much as I can and store it in boxes in the house for the winter.

I use vinegar for a lot of reasons with the animals-its cheap and non-toxic

I buy stuff at dollar stores (salves, buckets, vitamins, aspirin, collars etc)

Check out criagslist, yard sales etc

I re-use the 5 gallon sheet rock mud buckets for water buckets, storage buckets, container gardening, to catch whey when draining cheese...

Medicated body powder (generic Gold Bond body or foot) is cheap, usually about a buck a can, and is great for skin issues on animals

I grow several patches of comfrey around my property for the goats and chickens. Plus it makes a good medication for skin problems.

I like to grow herbs and medicinal plants around my small property instead of pretty plants. Most of the herbs do flower and they make the place smell really good and look nice, but they also have a purpose.

I use my goat milk for as many things as I can. I make my own ricotta and mozzerella for Lasagne. My own soft cheese to use in so many different ways from dips to main courses to dessert. The resulting whey gets fed to the dogs and chickens, used in cooking, as a marinade, to water my planst etc. I make my own ice cream, butter, yogurt, pudding, custard.

I have chickens for eggs. Extra eggs get fed to the dogs along with extra goat milk. Extra goat milk gets fed to the chickens. 

I trade eggs, milk and cheese for other stuff I need. I also trade other things for what I need, especially youngstock. I like to trade a kid for a kid of different bloodlines.

Extra male goats not sold get wethered and saved for freezer camp.

As mentioned before-grain bags used as trash bags, storage bags, weed barriers......

I re-use baling twine for so many different purposes!

I replace my dogs collars yearly. The old ones get washed and re-used for the goats.

I buy the big round bales rather than the small square ones. Even delivered 2 at a time I pay 1/2 the price for the big ones!

I scrounge for tree trimmings for the goats and bring them home to feed out. I also let parts of my yard grow wild with certain weeds that the goats LOVE! I cut the weeds and bring them to the goats for the middle meal in place of hay. Saves on gas for the mower and weedwacker. Christmas trees work well in the off seasons. Any branches and limbs the goats leave behind I cut up for firewood or kindling.

Dried horse or cow poop works great in the wood stove. No smell and it burns slowly, like coal. Helps keep the embers alive overnight or when I am at work.

I section off my lawn for the horses. I can usually save 2-3 hay feedings a week during the late spring, summer and early fall that way. Plus they save gas by mowing my lawn and weed whacking.

Use pallets! You can usually get them free or cheap. You can use them as is or pull them apart for the boards. Building, stacking, planting, burning-they have a million and 1 uses!

Sawdust or shavings are never free in my area. They are hard to find and usually pretty pricey. If I see a mill or something, I stop and see if I they sell them. Wood chips are great too. Not so much for bedding but as a layer under the bedding or in the lounging area outside for the goats, dogs, chickens or horses

Household leftovers can be fed to the dogs or livestock. I dry and grind up the eggs shells for the chickens, plus they get all sorts of leftovers that I don't want.

Compost household stuff that the animals cannot have-coffee and coffee grounds are great for making plants grow. Acid loving plants do great with coffee ground or old coffee which can just be spead around the ground under the plant without composting. Added benefit is that coffee grounds deter ants if spread around the foundation of your house!

And spekaing of deterents-I have a variety of mint plants, lemon balm, cat nip and Sweet Annie growing wild all over the property (escaped from the gardens and ran wild!) These will help keep ticks and fleas at bay outside. Basil is supposed to help keep flies away, too. I haven't tried that yet but plan on growing a bunch inside this winter to transplant outside next spring.


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## kramsay (Mar 7, 2013)

20kidsonhill, what bedding do you use in kidding stalls ?

Lots of great advance lottsagoats 
Never heard of the dried horse/cow poop.. 


*Non working deep freezers work great for storing bags of feed.. the goats can't get in them if they escape  and you can pick on up extremely cheap  *

*----Along with 55 gallon barrels which are great for feed (as stated) also you can make baby barrels *

*..... Take a 55 gallon barrel turn upside down... cut a 5X5 hole (size depends on breed of goat!) in the bottom side of it ( so babies can crawl through) drill a hole in the top (middle) 1 inch diameter. You can run a heat lamp up through the bottom of the barrel run the cord through the hole. We also drilled a board down across the top so we could wire it up so the light wouldn't fall.*
*--Keeps babies sooo warm! especially if your barn doesn't lock up completely. *
*We also put up a piece of plywood up at a corner (built a "roof" first) cut a hole in the ply wood wired the light to the roof.. all the babies would cuddle up at night in their. This was in their large stall that the does and kids shared after babies where 2 weeks old or so. *

*Make an account at your local farm store, they will send out coupons, I just got a 10% off entire purchase  *

*A few large stuff animals.. if you have a single kid who has to be bottle raised, or one that a momma rejected rub the animal all over the momma and put it in with the baby..  *


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

lol freezer camp!


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## 20kidsonhill (Feb 28, 2011)

We only use straw. I had a friend using shavings last year and when she had a kid born with a ruptured hernia and it landed in the shavings there was no saving it after that, the kid had to be put down. When she took the kid to the vet, the vet said that shavings were terrible bedding, led to more respiratory problems and during kidding season the dust and particles just get into too many places that you don't want them.


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## GTAllen (Jul 22, 2012)

1. Ag Tax exempt number

2. Single round bale pull behind two wheel trailer can be found for about $350. You can waste a lot of hay when it only cost $35 to $60 for a 1200lb to 1800lb bale. Pick them up from the field and store them covered for high quality year round feed.

3. Your local drug store may have needles for cheap.

4. Buy bulk rubbing alcohol 1 gal....also drinking alcohol in bulk for those winter nights waiting on that 3 day past due date ff to kid.

5. Buy bulk iodine 1 gal

6. comparison shop online vs CoOp vs tsc vs atwoods vs feed store. Then ask for a discount. I got a 250ml bottle of normectin for $20 when I asked for a discount when I purchased 20 bags of show feed, bag of minerals, and fly bait.

7. Craigslist...I went to purchase a trim stand from a sheep operation selling down. I got almost new clip on feeders that are normally $15 for $2 and tons of other stuff. They named their price I asked for a lower price on each item wanted. The took every price i offered. Except on a trailer. I have also purchased 2 highend livestock dryers that work perfect to include heat for less than $60 each.

8. Cull, cull, cull and cull some more...Bad teats, bad bite, bad temperments, bad feet, poor growth, poor mothering, verticle folded ears, poor health, bad pigment. keep the best, cull the rest.

9. Make friends with other goat people. They don't have to have the same kind of goats. I am friends with several ladies that have ND. They love my boers and will watch them if I go out of town and I do the same for them. I help them give shots, deliver kids, trim hooves, unload feed, hay, etc...The more goat friends the easier and cheaper things can be. You can split cost on bulk purchases. You have someone to help you and you help them. You have another knowledge base. You have someone who can care for your stock if you take a trip. 

10. Take a chair or something to sit on and enjoy some time in the goat field. The more your goats know you and you know them, the easier they can be to handle.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

20kidsonhill said:


> We only use straw. I had a friend using shavings last year and when she had a kid born with a ruptured hernia and it landed in the shavings there was no saving it after that, the kid had to be put down. When she took the kid to the vet, the vet said that shavings were terrible bedding, led to more respiratory problems and during kidding season the dust and particles just get into too many places that you don't want them.


I believe that. I made the mistake of using shavings the first year I kidded out goats. Mom dropped her kid head first into a pile of shavings and they stuck to the kids face. If I hadn't been there to get them off, that kid could have very easily suffocated. I've never used them again.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Shavings are best as a bottom layer to absorb liquids while stray on top to give a barrier between the wet and the goats. We only do this combination in the inside kidding/kid pens that have concrete floors. Out side in all the other shelters just straw.


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## olfart (Mar 7, 2013)

If you use pallets for gates/fencing, turn the pallets so the boards are vertical. That way the goats can't climb the gate or stand on the slats to break the gate.


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## Goatgirl21 (Jan 25, 2013)

Little-Bits-N-Pieces said:


> Blackberry root tea, phenominal scour/diarrhea stopper.
> 
> Milk cartons and jugs, great chicken feeders and waterers
> 
> ...


Please explain the mastits test


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

Super easy. ^^ 

Squirt out the first 2-3 squirts of milk from one teat, discard.
Then, with a clean cup, baby food jar, or what have you, collect 3 squirts of milk into the clean container.
Next add 3 drops of liquid dish soap( Dawn, Palmolive, etc)
Mix the soap and milk together. If mastitis is present, the mixture will get thicker. The worse the infection the thicker it will be. Normally any mastitis will turn it to a gel.
If the mix has no change in consistency, there is no mastitis or infection within the udder.


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