# Need help with 1st freshener -small udder and little milk



## 5goatsandcounting (Apr 3, 2015)

Hello,

Just had a goat freshen on Tuesday night with one buckling. Her udders have not filled out and the kid just sucks and sucks and gets very little. (we weigh him before and after). 

I can bottle feed him to supplement from another doe who kid a week earlier however I would rather not lose the months of milk from this doe. Have tried massage (she doesn't want me to and shys away) and also called the vet who simply told me to go buy goats milk at the store and feed the kid???? 

That solution doesn't help me at all. What can I do if anything to try and get her to start producing. (It's been 3 days now) The vet said she doesn't have anything that's legal for goats for this problem??

Thanks so much for any help you can offer!

5 goats and counting!


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

... not legal for goats for this problem? Um, animal medication, although not suggested for other animals that it hasnt been tested on, its illegal to use on them. Id suspect your vet just doesnt want to deal with a goat. Might be time to try and locate a new vet. There are many things this problem can come from. You need to test her milk with a fine strainer to see if you can see any flakes in the milk. If you do, thats a sign of at lease environmental mastitis. Meaning they pick up most likely an ecoli or staph based bacteria from the ground. The milk test will help determine that. Could be a congested udder. A number of people on here can talk more intelligently then I can on how to deal with that. Could be what you are feeding the animal. Low protein low quality feeds will not give a milking animal the nutrients they require to produce large amounts of milk. That also spills over into supplements. Do you have a good loose mineral out free choice? Did you bo-se before kidding? The single kid had a good deal to do with it. A does body will know how many kids its having and will prep for more milk production the more kids she is going to have. Could even be that the line of animals she comes from are very low production animals and this is what you can expect to see from her. Milk production also varies from one goat breed to another.


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## 5goatsandcounting (Apr 3, 2015)

Hi,

Thanks for that info - Should have mentioned that they are Dwarf Nigerians, come from lines of good milkers, and my other doe has no issues with milking up or mastitis etc. 

The vet does do goats! and has many dairy operations that she attends to. Just can't understand her replies to this issue. (only vet in the area) 

We feed top quality 2nd cut legume hay and sweet grain along with some alfalfa now that they are in milk. Saw somewhere that it may take up to 10 days for her to fill out but that seemed like such a long time.

Still hopeful for a solution


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## nigies4ever (Sep 19, 2012)

Bummer that your vet is being like that...in my experience, those vets who have the high-paying clients, such as large dairies, are reluctant to work with individuals because there's less money in it for them. Sad, but true. 

Anyway...while you try to figure out her production issues, be sure you're supplementing the kid. Like Dave said, check for mastitis and also make sure it's not a congested udder. Put her on the stand or tie her up and continue the massages (even though she may not like it). Also try a warm, wet washcloth on her udder. It stimulates the feeling of a kid's mouth. 

Can you get any of the good udder creams there? Dynamint is an awesome one for let-down/production, I've found. Lastly, although it's highly unlikely, has this doe been tested for CAE? If that is present, it's likely the culprit of her production issues. 

Good luck


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## nigies4ever (Sep 19, 2012)

Also...what's the % of protein in your grain, and how much of that and the alfalfa is she getting per day?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

In my experience, sweet grain can cause congested udder. It doesn't really matter what she thinks, if you need to massage that udder, do it anyway.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

There is something. You can give domperidone. You can get it in gel form called Equidone. Give 5g once a day. It is expensive and works about 50% of the time but when it works, it works. You can also try raspberry leaf. It is possible that she just won't have a good udder this year. I would also test for CAE if you haven't already


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## Inkspeller (Jun 20, 2014)

Hiya. Did your doe's udder ever get bigger? I'm having the same problem with my first freshener. A tiny udder, big as half a grapefruit; not enough for her little buck. It's only been two days so I'm wondering if it's likely her udder will expand at all. thanks!


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## 5goatsandcounting (Apr 3, 2015)

*There is hope! here's what I did*

First I got peppermint crème (at my local feed store) and used that twice a day (not on teats) on udder, massaged, and found pregnancy tonic on line. But I didn't feel I had time to order that, but I did have on hand raspberry leaves, rose hips, fennel, and cinnamon so I fed those (Largest amount of raspberry leaves progressing to less for cinnamon). (any herb or specialty food store.) Mine were all the dry type. Fed with their grain. Those herbs were what was in the tonic.

It slowly started to work but it took 11 days. The buckling was getting a little bit and am sure he got colostrum but he was thin and always hungry so I supplemented him with a bottle of another freshner's milk till his mom's udder started to really produce.

Now she has a really nice udder and she is producing about a quart plus a day and she is a first freshner. Hope this works for you!


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## Inkspeller (Jun 20, 2014)

Thank you so much! I will definitely try that! Anything will help at this point.


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