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Author Topic: Mastitis  (Read 5359 times)

ScotsGirl

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • Wiltshire
Mastitis
« on: March 30, 2013, 05:29:12 pm »
I am starting to wish I hadn't taken on a dairy goat.  I'm not sure when she last kidded and was used for milk as she has as only udder. One side always big but supposedly never had mastitis.


When she had her two kids the breeder said not to take milk but let kids have it.  Problem is one side so huge they couldn't feed so took a bit to ease it.  Anyway all seemed ok except last few days i noticed the wonky side looked completely empty and teat really floppy. The other side had a floppy teat but the main part of the udder feels quite hard unlike the boer x udders which feel like the sheep and full but soft.


When I milked about 300ml out it seemed ok, not curdled and the lambs happily drank it. I don't know what to do for best as twice today I have gone to milk her and the kids race to her and start drinking from hard side.


What do you advise? Kids are about 4 weeks old now.

sokel

  • Joined Jun 2012
  • S W northumberland
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2013, 06:41:51 pm »
If your only getting 300mls I wouldnt bother, I am taking  1 1/2 ltrs  off each of our goats morning and night and thats on top of what the kids are taking and could take more, they are never without milk
Graham

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2013, 08:46:04 pm »
My girl had one side that produced very little and had a very small teat. Curry ignored that side so I milked it out every day.  Now it is almost as big as the 'good' side and produces almost as much so it's worth milking it gently if the kid isn't taking any.  Sucking stimulates milk production so it may help.

wytsend

  • Joined Oct 2010
  • Okehampton
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #3 on: March 31, 2013, 09:47:36 am »
Get you Vet to check for a low grade mastitis................goats cope with this much better than cattle. Take a milk sample in a sterile pot to your Vet and they will test and see what organisms are there........they can then recommend which antibiotics are best.    It is not recommended to tube goats as their teat mechanism is nuch more delicate than a cow and permanent damage can be done.
I have an AN who arrived lnowingly with a hard lump in her udder .....big one  ....but with perserverace I have reduced it to quite small and insignificant.   Massage, massage, massage.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #4 on: March 31, 2013, 02:42:35 pm »
Getting your milk sample tested by the vets will take a few days and cost about 100pounds....so only do this if a) the goat is clearly ill and b) doesn't respond to penicillin type AB's (as in Pen&Strep). If she has only got a hard/lumpy udder/quarter (but it's not hot and not clearly infected), then she may have had mastitis in the past and the hard lumps etc are just what remains...
 
If goat is well - give loads of caprivite and Vitamin C (powder from Doves, the millers (as in flour) have one fairly reasonable), also a drench containing Copper, Cobalt etc will do her good. Then also massage the udder with uddermint, twice daily at milking time. Mine also get loads of garlic in this case and cider vinegar in their drinking water.

ScotsGirl

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • Wiltshire
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #5 on: March 31, 2013, 05:18:01 pm »
Thanks for advice I will try massaging it. She is not distressed, lame and udder is not hot. I am now suspicious that she may have had it in the past as she was pensioned off I believe from the milk herd.


Annoying really as I wanted to be able to get some milk off for myself and the orphan lambs but she doesn't seem to produce enough other than for her own offspring.


Can any of you tell me when you are milking either with or without kids drinking, do you completely empty the udder each time you milk or just bat you want?  I could do with a bit more practise milking, it makes the hands a bit achy so possibly I'm not doing it right.

ballingall

  • Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2008
  • Avonbridge, Falkirk
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #6 on: March 31, 2013, 05:26:25 pm »
We take away the kids completely, from birth. We milk the mums and for the first three days we just take some milk, not all. Generally we try to just take enough to either ease the udder, or enough to feed the kids, whichever is more.


After the three days, we milk out fully, morning and night.


Beth

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #7 on: March 31, 2013, 07:01:03 pm »
If she has been "pensioned" off from a milking herd, but is still qute young, the most likely reason is mastitis. If it is sub-clinical it would mainly show in her milk yield, so a commercial herd would be more likely just to retire her....
 
If you are after a goat that gives enough milk for you and her kid(s) you really need to check out the parents and their milking figures, a kid needs about 2ltrs per day for at least two months, so if you have twins to feed you would need a goat that is capable of giving around 5 ltrs per day...
 
If you want milk for the house it is also best to ake the kids away and bottle them and strip the nanny out twice a day as Beth said above. That's what we do, I take the kids off anytime after day 4 (disbudding) and before 1 week old, but check the udder even before that and ease out if t feels tight.

ScotsGirl

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • Wiltshire
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #8 on: March 31, 2013, 08:33:33 pm »
I think I would feel really mean breaking that bond between mum and kids. I love that little bleat they both give.  Will have to think about it for next year

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #9 on: March 31, 2013, 09:57:43 pm »
I kept the kid on her and milked the side he wasn't taking, although I suspect he had from both as even the small side had less than I would have expected.  I forgot to say that she had a row of lums down the back of her udder by the join between the two parts and the vet said it was knotty veins (I think) but I've found that regular milking and massage (I always massage when I milk) and stripping her out completey has not only increased the yield but reduced the lumps to minimal.

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #10 on: April 01, 2013, 10:14:05 am »
I forgot to say that she had a row of lums down the back of her udder by the join between the two parts and the vet said it was knotty veins (I think) but I've found that regular milking and massage (I always massage when I milk) and stripping her out completey has not only increased the yield but reduced the lumps to minimal.

Yes I have got that as well on one of my heavy milkers, and she got checked by the vet and he was cerain it was not mastitis. She then went on to develop proper mastitis in one quarter anyway... and have now just finished on AB's, and she's getting better, but udder very lumpmy and not that much milk either... :-\

ballingall

  • Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2008
  • Avonbridge, Falkirk
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #11 on: April 01, 2013, 10:32:52 am »

Yes I have got that as well on one of my heavy milkers, and she got checked by the vet and he was cerain it was not mastitis. She then went on to develop proper mastitis in one quarter anyway... and have now just finished on AB's, and she's getting better, but udder very lumpmy and not that much milk either... :-\


 :(  Sorry to hear that- is it Skyee?


Beth

Anke

  • Joined Dec 2009
  • St Boswells, Scottish Borders
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #12 on: April 01, 2013, 02:05:29 pm »

Yes I have got that as well on one of my heavy milkers, and she got checked by the vet and he was cerain it was not mastitis. She then went on to develop proper mastitis in one quarter anyway... and have now just finished on AB's, and she's getting better, but udder very lumpmy and not that much milk either... :-\


 :(  Sorry to hear that- is it Skyee?


Beth

Yep.... she had sub-clinical mastitis in her last lactation, but her udder all cleared and was nice and soft just before kidding. But lumps and hot quarter within two days of kidding this time... so only about 2.5ltrs of milk (but she now lets me milk her out - still got tiny teats though). She is fine and eating well, had twin boys though. She's got her R and and a * too, so won't be showing her anyway. Just a bit annoyed, no idea how I could have prevented it... and not sure what's going to happen with her come autumn...
 
 

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #13 on: April 01, 2013, 11:45:40 pm »
As I said, Pom's has virtually disappeared now and I get nearly as much milk from that quarter and from the other side.  In fact, because that side's yield has increased, the total yield is very little less than that of the summer.

She's never had mastitis, thank goodness.

ballingall

  • Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2008
  • Avonbridge, Falkirk
Re: Mastitis
« Reply #14 on: April 02, 2013, 12:07:37 am »
Sorry to hear that Anke. I don't know if some goats are more prone to it than others, but it does seem like if they've had it before, it's more likely to come back. We had one who we got it cleared up as a first kidder, she kidded for the second time after 2 years, and she got it again!


And yet other goats are fine- makes no sense!


Beth

 

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