[Penninehillbilly]

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.

[Anke]

She may still try to keep the milk in for her kid rather than letting you have it (If the kids have been suckling her before). I think perseverance may be called for...

Washing up liquid test: Put a squirt of washing up liquid (like Ecover or similar) into a cup with some milk (taken from one half only, so you can see which one, if any, is affected) and swish/swirl round a bit. If the milk goes goeyy (forms a film between your fingers when you put your hand in and separate the fingers - it is very obvious), then increased level of proteins/bacteria indicate (sub clinical) mastitis, if it is only foamy milk all is fine. Usually mastitis would also be accompanied by a reduced milk yield, a hot udder half, it would be slower to filter through the milk filter and the nanny may kick a bit more as she finds it painful. The drop in yield is the most obvious indicator.

Hope this helps.

[Penninehillbilly]

thanks for the response
the kids were suckling, but was seperating them overnight and they have been off for about 1 month, she doesn't seem bothered when she can hear them bleat and they are well away from where the adults are housed.
She had been milking well till about a week ago (probably only a few days-seems longer), other half is still normal. she may be giving less but it could be I don't know when to give up trying to get the last bit out. I can't seem to get that half right down in size but it does end up 'floppy'.
the milk filters ok.
udder does not seem any warmer than the other side.
I did think she seemed to flinch slightly as I started to milk for a couple of days, but not since,
thanks for the info on the 'test' I'll try that tonight.

[tizaala]

Get a dark coloured mug , black or blue solid colour anyway, do you first squeeze into the mug and swirl it round , you wil see any lumps or coagulations easily against the dark background.

[wytsend]

I am inclined towatds a low grade mastitis... in this case you may not get any odd bits in the milk.

Aome antibiotic from the Vet would probably clear this up very quickly.  The kids are very rough with the mother's udder.. butting it etc  so may have caused some bruising internally which now is beginning to suggest mastitis.  This is very common.

[Penninehillbilly]

Hi
thanks for the replies
I tried the test and it seemed OK, but maybe I didn't get the quantities right, I didn't take enough off that side before it stopped. I'll try it again tonight
She still seems well otherwise.
her milk has dropped (on both sides) could she be not wanting to let the milk down, maybe drying herself off, (weather now v cold and wet)(or maybe my cold hands! , i do try to keep them warm but it's a fair trek down to their house)
In another post (possibly under cows) it mentioned feeding the milk back to the animal to create antibodies, apparently it worked, has anyone tried ths and/or does anybody think it would be worth trying? she does drink milk if I forget to move the bucket before I let her go.

[Penninehillbilly]

Hi
I'm still looking for advice, the washing liquid test seems negative, would low grade mastitis show up in this test?
the teat does refill albeit slower than the other side, she doesn't seem in any discomfort, stands there chewing cud while I 'fiddle about' with her.
I don't want to be giving her antibiotics if I can avoid it.
the other girl once had some very small rubbery bits of white which caused a bit of a blockage at the teat end, when I squeezed the teat harder a piece shot out like a bullet, this happened twice, (2 months ago), showed a dairy farmer who said it wasn't anything to worry about. is it possible there is a blockage further up where the teat joins the udder?
would milking 3 times a day help?
thanks

[Anke]

I am probably not experienced enough to really advise, but if she is not in discomfort, udder is not hot/tight - it may be she is just going down because its coming up for autumn - all of mine are slowly reducing their output.

Has she been milked through the winter before /milk recorded? Is she being fed according to the amount of milk she gives?

I would probably only feed back their own milk if early on in the lactation the nanny goes down with milk fever/hypocalcaemia. If you feed it to her now she may just make a habit of it and self-suckle (if she is agile enough).

Someone else may just have had this problem before.

PS.: Mine really do not like cold hands either - but it is usually only kicking...

[Penninehillbilly]

Another piece to the puzzle, tonight, as I was milking her, something startled her outside, hey presto-empty teat full of milk! so surely it can't be mastitis of any form, how can she hold back on one half? and milk is back up to 'full rations'. yesterday she was 'flickering' her tail, but definately no other sign of being on heat, wondering if they have a 'practise run' as their hormones adjust? still doesn't explain only one half being difficult?

[jaykay]

It's early for 'on heat' but the flicky tail suggests a practise one.
As for

how can she hold back on one half

  She's a goat, if it's naughty or annoying of course she can do it  (no idea how but hey)

[Anke]

Yes practice runs here too... milk yield reduced, then back up after a few days... no full on heat yet.

[Penninehillbilly]

It's early for 'on heat' but the flicky tail suggests a practise one.
As for

how can she hold back on one half

  She's a goat, if it's naughty or annoying of course she can do it  (no idea how but hey)

come to think of it, she does turn and watch me, could that be amusement in her eyes? maybe she just enjoys the 'attention'

[Lesley Silvester]

Not sure if it's the same problem but one of my girls (who has been milked for the last eight years barring a couple of months when she was pregnant) had one teat that only let a small amount out which meant it took ages to milk her.  The teat was full so I suspected a blockage and was going to call the vet.  I milked her and gave a hard squeeze.  there was a ping as something hit the side of the bucket and when I strained the milk, I found a small piece of what looked like solidified milk.  She's been fine since.

[Penninehillbilly]

there was a ping as something hit the side of the bucket
that sounds like the rubbery bit the other girlie gave up (that was a bit worrying too) but she's been OK since.
we seem to have settled down and letting the milk down OK again, maybe it was something to do with that teat being so big, there doesn't seem to be a 'neck' to it and I worry I I'm getting hold of her in the right place, anyway she seems happy enough to be milked.