Udder problems...

[Goatgirl47]

I have a 2.5 year old 2F Nubian doe that is due to kid in roughly 8 days. She began filling her udder at the end of November, but it is lopsided. Her previous owner (whom I've bought goats from before and trust) said that it wasn't so when she freshened earlier this year (with a single that she pulled and bottle-fed). Her previous owner also said that she could be getting mastitis because of her sickness (a couple weeks ago she had a temp and was not doing well at all).However, I check her all over everyday and so far there are no lumps and no swelling in her udder. Is there a chance that when she freshens it will even out? If it doesn't is there anything I can do to try to make it even? Like milking the smaller side multiple times per day?

And also, two of my young FF does (both coincidentally born on our farm) have developed some wart-like bumps on their udder - and in the case of one, her vulva area. They are due the 11th and the 16th of January. Any idea what these are and is there anything I can do about it? (pictures are of my Mini-Mancha doe - due soonest)

Thanks in advance!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

You might want to have a vet check for staph.

 

[Goatgirl47]

You might want to have a vet check for staph.

Check for staph in all of them? Or just Semi Sweet (the Nubian)?

 

[Southern by choice]

All of them. The wart like bumps remind me of staph.
The lopsided udder is odd.

tagging a few that may know more about the lopsided udder. Not sure they have had the issue (outside of kids nursing one side) but they may know why it is happening.
@goatgurl @babsbag @frustratedearthmother

 

[frustratedearthmother]

No idea....I second the vote for a vet's opinion. I will say that at first glance I thought the bumps might be fire ant bites....but after looking more closely I changed my opinion. That would have been too easy...

 

[babsbag]

I have one with Staph right now and it does look like those bumps. I clean it with Fight Bac or chlorhexidine. I scrub the heck out of it and the more blisters that pop the happier I am, but wear gloves. For me it has cleared up rather es

I have a few with uneven udders but they are from being over filled as first fresheners and having singles that only nursed on one side. I would suspect mastitis in the making but I sure hope I am wrong. If it is be prepared to milk her multiple times a day and massages with peppermint udder balm. There are a few different kinds so no way to know the prognosis at this point. Have you tried milking that side just a little and see if you can get anything out at all? It looks very suspicious.

 

[Goatgirl47]

@babsbag - I haven't tried milking the uneven side yet, but I may today if it won't do any harm. In the picture it looks tight and full, but it's not at all and is actually very soft. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[babsbag]

I would try and get a few squirts out at least, enough to see what the milk looks like. I would try both sides as perhaps the big side is her normal fill before freshening and it is the small side that is not making milk. You may be looking at this all wrong by assuming the big side is the weird one; I would be thinking that too, but maybe it is not the case.

 

[Goatgirl47]

Good point. Thanks!

 

[Fullhousefarm]

I agree that the bumps took like Staph. We've had bouts of it here as it lives in the ground and Florida in all it's tropical beauty harbors stuff like that quite well. I use FightBac (Chlorahexadine udder spray) on it twice a day. I've had a non milker with one or two bumps and they always go away on their own. Try to give them a clean dry place to lay, but goats doesn't always cooperate with where you want them to be.

I've had several goats get uneven precocious udders or start uddering up before freshening lopsided. Once they got very full right before kidding in went away and they all were able to stay quite even as milkers. Sometimes one side will have the tendency to produce more than the other but if the same amount of milk is removed from both sides regularly small differences will even out in time. Just watch closely the first week to make sure both sides are being nursed from mostly-evenly. If not you can teat tape the favorite side for a part of the day or milk it often. I usually do a combination of the two if a single baby likes one side. It it's twins or more they usually will start nursing from both once they are milked to be even and they are a few days old and are more coordinated (and greedy!) about nursing. For now I'd watch for heat, lumps, and fever and worry about mastitis if that happens.