[Lesley Silvester]

My older girl (aged ten and a half) has twice this year had one teat slowly become blocked.  If I then squeeze pretty hard, a tiny piece of what looks like calcified milk suddenly shoots out and then the flow is back to normal.

Has anyone experienced this?  If so, what is is and do I need to do anything about it? 

[tizaala]

It could be just a small waxy plug- or the start of mastitis , make sure there is no heat in the teet and hand milk the first few squeezes into a dark container so that you can see any further lumps easily.

[wytsend]

sounds like a very low grade mastitis  that may not produce heat.

May clear up on its own account.... if not antibiotic will do the job.

[Lesley Silvester]

Thanks.  I did wonder about mastitis but she's had that before and not had the same problem.  Tizaala it's not waxy, it's very hard.  When I squeezed the first one out it pinged on the side of the milking bucket.  There was a few weeks between the first and the second one which is another reason I discounted mastitis.  I'll see how she goes on.  She's producing so little now that I doubt it'll last the winter but I want to keep going as long as I can as she's my special girl and I love milking her. 

[Penninehillbilly]

One of my goats did this a couple of times, took the bit to a dairy farmer and he said sometimes bits slough of the inside of udder/teat.
He showed me a horrible looking corkscrew thing they put up the teat to help clear it if it becomes a problem.
he said not to worry. looked like a tiny bit of cottage chees and felt like hard rubber.
Theres been nothing else since then.
Could she have knocked her udder or teat somewhere? I've realised mine take a short cut round a gap in a stone wall and the base stone is still there, maybe just high enough to catch.

[Lesley Silvester]

Thsnks, Penninehillbilly.  Don't like the sound of the corkscrew.  Maybe I'll mention it to her in the hopes it puts her off having any more.    I don't think she's knocked herself.  No marks on her anyway.  She was clearly uncomfortable being milked until it pinge out though.  Poor girl.