My goat freshened last year for the first time. She had 2 kids - when I would milk her she was sensitive to my milking on one teat. I noticed the kids seemed to prefer one over the other.
Now she is bout 2 weeks away from kidding. That same teat she was sensitive with, is smaller than the other.
Is their anything I can do or is it just unfortunate I didnt realize something was wrong last year?
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thanks - now he has the other one doing it - who wasnt before.
I am going to run 3 strands of hot wire. I have the charger and though I dont want to - for me, it will be the easiest first attempt. -(
the both had my 3 does cornered in the barn yesterday - sigh.... ^^
If he were mine I would fix him a 6' high fence immediately, so he could get it in his head that it is OVER otherwise this may become a lifelong problem! And this is nothing compared to the trouble he will be when grown. The quickest and easiest thing would be a chain link dog kennel or even 2x4 welded wire placed as a second row of wire over an existing shorter fence to make it taller. I bet a lot of people on here have good ideasand you will come up with a solution but I do feel you need to find a fast cure.
it is field fence 3'6" he was jumping up to the top and scrambling over by climbing. I put a 4' high wood pallet at that spot and he jumped up and banked off the top board. ;/ today I put them inside the barn and closed the door just as he got "the look" and started backing up and setting his eyes on his jumping target. I closed the door just in time LOL - crash. he is 10 weeks as of the 16th - waaaaaa. /;
Mastitis is a bacterial infection and therefore something you do want to treat. Not treating can cause the affected side of the udder to become useless. It can be caused by a variety of bacteria, including staphylococcus, streptococcus and e. coli. My vet told me that the e. coli version can kill a goat in a day.
I've had a couple cases of mastitis here this year and, as per my vet's instructions, treated them with a 3-day course of injectable antibiotics as well as 3 days of an antibiotic infusion that goes directly into the udder. The infusion is in a self-contained tube with a cannula that is inserted into the teat. It seems like such an unpleasant thing to be squirting stuff up a doe's teat. There was a 3-day milk withdrawal on the infusion although it was okay for the kids to be nursing, and no withdrawal on the injectable, but obviously this could vary between different types of drugs.
It's also important to massage the udder and continue to milk it out as you want to get all the ickiness in there out. Hot compresses can also help loosen everything up inside as well as make the doe more comfortable. Mastitis can cause lumps and "strings" that take some time to work out of the teat.
I hope the flour cleaned up easily!
Margaret Langley said:
What type wire is he in now and how high? Have you seen him go over and know exactly how he does it or what? I can not imagine having one that young going over. I don't know what I would do.
I didnt name him "Romeo" for nothin' - sigh. chamoise with gorgeous blue eyes. sigh..... thinking hot wire, though I have been warned - that may or may not work. '/
Margaret Langley said:
I have a question about the mastitis, anyway. I am not sure how to ask it though. Exactly what do you have to treat it with? Do you have to treat it at all? How dangerous is it and how quickly do you have to do treatments? You said the kids could drink the milk. I remember having it myself and that they said for the baby to nurse, but I don't remember what else was done. It was a looooong time ago. I could not have done anything more than taking antibiotics in pill form, if that. Oh Lord, my big doe that is due has snuck inside again and gotten into a bag of flour. It is everywhere. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Gosh sweety that would be a real pain in the kester! It must be really quick sending things to the lab in Ga. Actually, speed was why I asked because I know if it were me the quickest thing would be to go with Jeffers and do it myself but you have to remember I am also in Al. and so is Jeffers. I can order from them and have it second day WITHOUT special shipping. Although I hope I never have to do that , it is one of those things that I figure if you milk long enough sooner or later you will have a doe w/mastitis. Another one of those things I am afraid of having to deal with. I seem to have a hard time with the idea of the unknown because I want everyone to just be ok.
Yes, I can order from them and do in fact have the California mastitis testing kit from Jeffers. I was just thinking that if Judy wanted a faster and clear answer she could try try sending milk to the lab in Georgia because if it is mastitis getting it treated as soon as possible is important to avoid longterm damage to the udder. Unless her local vet can do the test, mine can't.
While I understand why I can't send bodily fluids across the border it's kind of frustrating as there's nowhere in Canada that can screen for CL. I could have abscesses tested, but in order to have screening done would require that I drop a blood sample off with my local vet who would then ship it to a vet school out east that has a license to export such things, who would then send it to a lab in the US. I didn't even ask how much this would cost. Anyways, that was a little off-topic, just my rant for the day:-)
Can you order from Jeffers and Caprine in Canada? I should have just looked before posting, but I thought you could order both mastitis testing and treatment supplies. Am I wrong? I am going to check right now! Yes, I am correct, just in case you did not know they are available through both places. If that helps any.
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