Mastitis

She has probably just decided that the milk is for her baby. Some goats are very protective of their milk when they have kids on them. If you let her off the milk stand when she acts up, she will only get worse. Actually, it sounds like that is probably what's already happened. You might need someone to help you by holding one of her rear legs if you're having trouble. If she is letting the kid nurse her, then she is not in pain. If a kid is causing pain, the doe won't let it nurse. She'd walk away. I used to be a lactation consultant in a former life and after about five or six years of having goats, I finally realized that one reason some does won't let a kid nurse is because it is not nursing correctly and is causing pain. It's fascinating, and I took pictures of kids correctly and incorrectly nursing, but that's a whole different discussion.

Mastitis usually happens on one side, and you can feel a difference between the two sides -- the side with mastitis is hard and hot. If you have a strip cup, or if you strain your milk, you might see stringy stuff or chunks in it. It is unlikely that a goat would get mastitis if a kid is nursing, especially if the kid is nursing on both sides somewhat equally. I've even wound up with three different single kids who only nursed on one side, and I didn't realize it until one side was about five times bigger than the other side, and they didn't get mastitis -- much to my happy surprise! I was worried sick for a few days after I discovered it.

As for the udder wash and FightBac -- I have never used anything other than plain water to wash udders because I just don't like stuff in my food that an eight year old can't pronounce. Our goats are our only source of dairy products, so I don't put anything on their udder that I don't think is safe to consume, but that's just me. That's the cool thing about having my own source of dairy -- I don't have to trust the FDA to decide what is safe for me to consume. If your doe is living in a really muddy area where risk of infection is likely, you might make a different decision.

I spoke to an organic dairy farmer once, and they use iodine as a teat dip after milking, so I always figured that if my system stops working, I'll just use iodine. However, if the kid is still nursing, she probably nurses the second that she is reunited with mom, so the whole idea of using any type of teat dip or spray is pretty worthless, because the kid is sucking it off as soon as you put it on there. Dips and sprays are made for goats that go 12 hours between milking. If you're worried about her getting mastitis, you could use it when you first separate the doe -- after milking her, use a teat dip or spray before locking her up for the night. Of course, you'll get anywhere from a few squirts to a couple ounces at that milking, but you could just give that to a happy barn cat or the chickens if you don't want to bother with straining it.

Replies

Kare February 20, 2011 at 11:39am

I started out using the FightBac and then replaced it with a homemade remedy I read about somewhere. I don't know if it worked, but I never had mastitis while using the homemade solution. (only had it once before that) The ingredients were simply water with grapefruit essential oil. The bottle was a mist spray. It certainly wouldn't hurt the kid. However, I don't know if you want to spray water on a teat in the freezing weather. It might cause frost bite. Does anyone know about this?
Rachel Whetzel at MigMog Acres February 20, 2011 at 4:19am

I use a mild soapy water solution to wash my doe's udder. I use Castile soap, and that's made from all veg oils. That's my compromise to the teat dip solution. Safe for me, and I know the teat is clean. I also put one drop of bleach into the soap water.
Amber Patterson February 18, 2011 at 8:59pm

I think you are right, my daughter was doing the milking this week while I was out of town and she was not as firm with the doe. I will have to work on her!

We are in a dry area and her bedding is dry, so I have not been using any sprays because I wash thinking the same thing, the kid would be nursing as soon as she got her mom!

Thanks for all the woderful info it was very helpful!
Deborah Niemann-Boehle February 18, 2011 at 8:46pm

She has probably just decided that the milk is for her baby. Some goats are very protective of their milk when they have kids on them. If you let her off the milk stand when she acts up, she will only get worse. Actually, it sounds like that is probably what's already happened. You might need someone to help you by holding one of her rear legs if you're having trouble. If she is letting the kid nurse her, then she is not in pain. If a kid is causing pain, the doe won't let it nurse. She'd walk away. I used to be a lactation consultant in a former life and after about five or six years of having goats, I finally realized that one reason some does won't let a kid nurse is because it is not nursing correctly and is causing pain. It's fascinating, and I took pictures of kids correctly and incorrectly nursing, but that's a whole different discussion.

Mastitis usually happens on one side, and you can feel a difference between the two sides -- the side with mastitis is hard and hot. If you have a strip cup, or if you strain your milk, you might see stringy stuff or chunks in it. It is unlikely that a goat would get mastitis if a kid is nursing, especially if the kid is nursing on both sides somewhat equally. I've even wound up with three different single kids who only nursed on one side, and I didn't realize it until one side was about five times bigger than the other side, and they didn't get mastitis -- much to my happy surprise! I was worried sick for a few days after I discovered it.

As for the udder wash and FightBac -- I have never used anything other than plain water to wash udders because I just don't like stuff in my food that an eight year old can't pronounce. Our goats are our only source of dairy products, so I don't put anything on their udder that I don't think is safe to consume, but that's just me. That's the cool thing about having my own source of dairy -- I don't have to trust the FDA to decide what is safe for me to consume. If your doe is living in a really muddy area where risk of infection is likely, you might make a different decision.

I spoke to an organic dairy farmer once, and they use iodine as a teat dip after milking, so I always figured that if my system stops working, I'll just use iodine. However, if the kid is still nursing, she probably nurses the second that she is reunited with mom, so the whole idea of using any type of teat dip or spray is pretty worthless, because the kid is sucking it off as soon as you put it on there. Dips and sprays are made for goats that go 12 hours between milking. If you're worried about her getting mastitis, you could use it when you first separate the doe -- after milking her, use a teat dip or spray before locking her up for the night. Of course, you'll get anywhere from a few squirts to a couple ounces at that milking, but you could just give that to a happy barn cat or the chickens if you don't want to bother with straining it.

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