[langdon]

got it finished yesturday!
it looks fab all made out of waste wood,
will put it up on ere once i have given it a coat of wood perserver.
just need to find its final resting place now!

langdon 

[Roxy]

Well done, looking forward to seeing the finished product.

You will be all sorted with everything by the time the goats can be milked, and have nothing to do except milk them

[langdon]

thanks roxy
working tomorrow will get started on it wed.
just out of interest, did you notice the post about molly's swollen udder?
i noticed it on the 8th of this month and brought her to the vet the following day.
he checked her over and said that it wasnt mastitis, but he was able to draw milk from her, which
i thought goats have to eithier be in kid or have kids? molly has not yet been to a stud ever.
he saw a little scab on the swollen side(forgot to mention only one side is swollen)
and gave her an injection of DRAXXIN.
it doesnt seem to have reduced yet, i did ring the vet back and he said maybe bring her in again this week.
what are your thoughts on this? have you ever seen this before?
any comments are app.
langdon

[Roxy]

Hello Langdon,

You must be feeding Molly very well, making her come into having milk!!  Only joking

Some goats can give milk, before having been in kid, usually happens in summer, when there is a lot of grass to eat.  I had a very large, and I mean large, British Sanaan nanny goat.  Took her to the billy, but never bred.  She got an udder every summer though, and I would milk her.  Then the udder shrank in winter, and she gave no milk.

That could be what is happening with Molly, but if you do not milk her, it should dry up, and she will have no milk.  I assume the udder is only slightly swollen, not a great big one?

The other possibility, is that where the scab is, could have been a cut or a graze maybe, from browsing and eating bushes and brambles or something.  It may have caused an infection in Mollys udder, but I am sure the vet would have noticed if that was the case, so probably not that.  Mastitis, usually in summer, when the flies are around,........definitely no flies here yet.

I would keep an eye on her udder, and ring the vet again if there is any growth in size of the udder, or any redness or change in the size or shape, or any discharge from the teats.   That could be a definite sign of mastitis .

Hopefully, its just as I said, she is so well looked after, she has started milking!!

[langdon]

thanks roxy for replying,
i have to say with all your positive feed back im still worried
i may take her back to vet to get her checked over again.
the udder to me looks larger than it shoud be on one side.
to be honest i more concerened about that than the fact that i may be able to milk her allready.
in saying that did you say milking could reduce the swellen.
im still baffeled that she has milk when she has not been to a billy yet.
as said i just want to see her udder back to normal, i will be at my wits end untill so!
thanks again roxy

[Roxy]

The swollen side of the udder is not hard, is it, or shiny?  Have you actually tried milking her to see what comes out?  One of my goats got mastitis in one side - had to put a needle up the teat every day, and she was very good about it.  The milk was horrible, all stringy and funny coloured.  Amazingly she went on to recover, and never got it again.

There is the possibility Molly may be having a phantom pregnancy.  I had a little Alpine nanny, who woke up one morning, started bleating, and running round the pen.  I was rather concerned, but she kept bleating at cats etc......it then dawned on me she thought she should have a kid, but hadn't.

I would not recommend you start milking before you have to.  There is not much point, as she will not give very much probably.

Without seeing Molly, none of us can say for sure what it is.  Just had another thought - some goats do drink their own milk.  You have never seen Molly  lifting her leg and trying to reach her teat?  I am sure you would have mentioned this if you had!!  Had she been doing so, that could encourage her to have milk.

Try not to worry, if it was mastitis, she would appear uncomfortable and not look herself.  Probably kicking at her sore udder too.