Never ever bred ONE YEAR OLD DOE has milk

[EvaJoy]

My year and a half year old doe who has never been exposed to a buck ever now has a little udder and actual milk in it. Is this normal?

 

[OneFineAcre]

It's called a "Precocious Udder". Usually seen in animals from heavy milking lines who are about your animals age.

Not necessarily considered a good thing in that often when they do freshen their udder will be lopsided.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

x2

It can happen in bucks too.

 

[EvaJoy]

wow ok so what do I do about it? Milk her>? Leave her alone?

 

[OneFineAcre]

wow ok so what do I do about it? Milk her>? Leave her alone?

Feed her less feed. I suspect she is very well conditioned.

Try to dry her off.

Breed her.

When she does freshen her udder will likely be uneven. I don't know if you care about that or not. If you aren't showing it doesn't matter. You will most likely have a good producer when she freshens.

The only way you could have avoided it was to have bred her last fall. Too late for that.

 

[EvaJoy]

Good to know. I breed every October so the kids will come in March and I can stop milking during the winter. Bambi was only 7 months old so I decided to let her skip that breeding.

 

[Queen Mum]

Don't milk it and don't worry about it. I have had several girls with precocious udders and they are great milkers and have beautiful udders when they come in. Just let nature take it's course when she is ready to breed.