# Pink milk?



## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Hi everyone! I have a question..

A couple weeks ago one of our does Libby, started having blood in her milk. We have two milk bins we pour into, and hers always goes seperate from anyone elses. We haven't noticed any specs of blood on the filter, her milk is always pinker than anyone elses, and it never used to be. We figured a blood vessel might have been disturbed or broken from being banged and the pink color would go away, but it hasn't yet. We did a mastitise test and shes come out clean.

She gives about a gallon per milking, but her udder always looks like its going to explode, her teats will be plump full and sometimes it can be hard to pinch them to get milk out (we're hand milking her, twice a day, 12 hours apart). Could her large amount of milk just be too much on her udder? Could the amount she produces strech her udder that much to cause the blood in the milk?

Any ideas or suggestions?

Maybe I should try milking her three times a day? I know that would cause her to produce more, but atleast it would relieve some pressure. Should I just milk enough to give her some space instead of all the way?

I also wanted to add, theres not a whole lot she could be injuring her udder against, expect her legs.. :shrug:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Hey Amos, sorry that Libby is having an issue...since you have tested for mastitis and she's clear and there are no external wounds, the blood in the milk could well be caused by the pressure against those teeny capillaries in the glands, milking her 3x a day _may or may not_ help with the pressure, she very well could produce more but breaking it down to milking every 7 hours instead of 12 might be the key til she starts drying off.
Check out this link on Fiasco Farms site.... alot of info dealing with Libby's problem.
http://fiascofarm.com/goats/milking.htm#clump


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## Cinder (Mar 3, 2008)

Thank you for asking the question and for the answer. I had a doe with some blood in her milk a couple weeks ago. It has stopped but I've been wondering about it.


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