Hi
I have 2 goats and their kids, weaned about a month ago at about 4month old.
one of the goats, even before kidding had a huge teat on one side, I had to take a little milk from the bottom before I could milk her properly, otherwise I could feel the milk go back up into the udder if I tried to squeeze from the top down. the other side was normal.
about a week ago, when I started milking, the teat (now more normal sized) didn't refill, I can only descibe it as feeling like a squashed sausage. There is milk in the udder, and it does massage down slowly, a small squirt at a time, and eventually I do manage to milk her out but I am worrried about over stripping (I don't pull down when stripping just finger and thumb pressure on the bulge at the bottom of the teat. the milk is normal at taste fine.
main concern is some form of mastitis
She is OK in herself, eating and normal 'character'
Any suggestions?
all my books talk of mastitis and flakes/stringy milk.
reading back posts - what is the washing liquid test?
Hope someone can help, apart from the time it takes to milk and worry about damaging her I am worried I'm not getting all the milk out and causing more problems.