I recently took possession of a 11 year old doe with a kid. She had a rough kidding on Dec 7, one live and one was hung and was eventually got out dead. The previous owner doctored her with pen g and cmpk for milk fever. With everything that went on, she didn't produce much milk in the beginning and the kid must have been rough nursing as now there are sores on both teats where the teeth would grip the teat (photo is the back side of the teat, taken from behind the goat). One side of the udder with the worse sore isn't being nursed much so I have been milking it since I got her 2 days ago. Now, there isn't fever in the in the udder, but there are small clumps that come out, there were around 5 this morning on that side. The milk smells and tastes fine, is there any reason that it shouldn't be consumed? Also, it was mid 20's this morning and as we finished up milking I noticed that she was shivering a little, I have left out some extra alfalfa pellets for her. I am currently putting a salve made of some store bought bag balm in the green can, and to that I have added coconut oil, tea tree essential oil, lavender oil, and pepperming oil. I am applying this 2 times a day and separating the kid at night. Is there anything else or something else to get it to heal up quickly. Also both teats are firm and not supple. Let me also add that she isn't a ND she is a 50/50 mini lamancha.
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Glad to hear she's improving!
Udder still healing, the really thick scabs have scluffed off and I am continuing to doctor her with the salve. I am going to let her raise her doeling then I am going to try to dry her off slowly to hopefully keep the mastitis from coming back.
Good to hear! Yes, I'd expect at least a week, maybe 10 days for those sores to heal. I'm glad you have her. Keep us updated.
Thanks for the information. An update. This morning the milk was better, as in there wasn't any small chunks in it. It is going to take some time for those sores to heal though.
Ouch! That looks painful, and this does not sound good, especially with an 11-year-old doe. I stop breeding after they're 10 years old because they just don't bounce back like they did when they're younger. Shivering in Arkansas is a bad sign. The only time I've seen does shiver is when it's below zero, and they're in labor. I'm wondering if she has a fever. You didn't mention her temperature. Have you checked it? Mastitis can become systemic and cause death.
Clumps coming out usually means mastitis. The milk often tastes salty, but not always. A wound like that could definitely lead to mastitis, as it can allow germs to get into the udder. You can buy a California Mastitis Test to get a definitive diagnosis.
Organic farms use essential oils as you're doing, but you should also be milking 3-4 times a day, and you can put a warm wet compress on the udder (with your third hand) while you're milking. I either ask someone else to hold it, or just milk with one hand and hold the hot compress with one hand. In my book, Gianaclis Caldwell talks about giving a doe's milk back to her to help her body mount an immune response, as well as giving a garlic infusion. Hopefully the essential oils you're using are high quality (not purchased at a discount store or Amazon). If you happen to have oregano essential oil on hand, you can add that to the mix. If you put the oils all over the udder before milking, and hold the hot compress on the udder, that will help her body to absorb them.
Conventional treatment would be to use Today mastitis meds, which is an intra-teat infusion, and you can buy it at most farm supply stores.