# Blood in milk



## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

I have a doe that has had flecks of blood in her milk when I strain it for about a week and a half. There is a tiny blood that settles in the milk jar overnight. The milk taste fine and is okay otherwise. The udder is fine, no swelling, not warm or tender. She is nursing 8 week old twins. I used my CMT test kit and the milk was a weak positive or a little slimy. I have read that a weak positive with this CMT test kit does not necessaily mean mastitis. What should I do now?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Blood in milk can be caused by three things (that I know). A doe new to milking and bleeding in there, but it usually is in FFs at the start of milking (I doubt your doe has that). It can be caused by mastitis (if she's showing no other symptoms, then I doubt it, but it could be an early sign). And it can be caused by an injury to the udder. But if it's been like that for a week and a half..... :whatgoat: maybe someone else will know.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

I had a doe last year (a FF then) who had blood in her milk, but was not ill, had no obvious injury and did NOT have mastitis. A goat friend who had had a similar problem with one of her Alpines suggested putting my doe on a lower protein grain. Apparently this bleeding problem happens in dairy cows (Our farm store owner used to raise dairy cows and assured me this was so) - and in some dairy goats; They produce more milk than their own udder can handle and the pressure bursts small blood vessels in the udder. The resulting milk is safe to drink, but rather unappetizing. I also found that it goes "bad" a lot quicker than bloodless milk. 

So I went to the feed store and got some 12% protein horse feed and slowly switched her over to that. Her production went down, but the bleeding problem stopped completely. My bleeder is due in a week or so. So soon I'll see if the problem persists year after year (My friend's doe had a continuing issue and had to stay on lower protein feed) or if it's a first freshener thing.

While you're waiting for the blood to clear out you can use the milk for soap or for animal consumption...


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## sassykat6181 (Nov 28, 2012)

8 week old kids are probably bumping her hard pretty hard too.


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