# Swollen udder and teat?



## HomesteaderLexi (Jun 12, 2018)

Our doe gave birth a little over 2 weeks ago, everything has been going well but I noticed 2 nights ago that our nanny had one side that was larger than the other. I felt of it and it didn't feel hotter than usual to me but I'm not 100%. I saw that the baby was trying to eat off it and mom turned away after the baby butted the udder and tried to eat. I milked her just in case, and it was clean looking and it came out with a strong steady stream. I did the same thing yesterday evening and it looked better yesterday than it did the night before but was still larger looking. I'm not sure if I nees to be concerned or not. This is our first kid, so I'm not sure what to expect. The teat felt dry and chaffed, is there something I can put on it?


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## Latestarter (Jun 12, 2018)

Am I seeing things correctly in that first picture? It appears that she has a third teat... 

Since you're dealing with a single kid, they often times pick one teat and use that one almost exclusively. As a result, the other side of the udder will get swollen and over filled from lack of use. Some folks will use tape to tape off the favored teat so the kid is forced to use the other. Some kids may be obstinate and starve rather than swap over. Probably easiest if you just milk it out daily to keep them even.


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## HomesteaderLexi (Jun 12, 2018)

Yes, your seeing correctly! She actually has 2 extra teats, one on each side. The don't fill or work as well as the large ones.

I'd read about kids favoring and some people taping one side when I'd googled it but I wanted others with experience advice. I will keep milking it out and keep an eye on it. Should I put bagbalm or something on her to help with the dryness?


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## Latestarter (Jun 12, 2018)

Many on here favor the use of a product such as "fightbac" to spray on the teat's orifice after milking. The idea is the cold spray causes the orifice to "close" helping to prevent bacterial infection leading to potential mastitis.  http://www.fightbac.com/   I don't use it myself, but do use bag balm on my milker's teats after milking to help prevent chapping and drying. I think the balm also would help to form a "blockage" of the orifice to help prevent stuff from infiltrating. I'n glad your kid was able to find the working teat among the 4...

IMHO there's little difference between me taking the milk with my hands and a kid taking the milk with its mouth. Either way, when finished, the doe is going to go lay down somewhere that the teats and orifices are going to contact the ground. I'm in my second year milking and have had no instances of mastitis. I do wash the udder and teats as well as the general surrounding area with a dawn/Clorox and hot water wash and wipe dry prior to milking which also has the effect of washing (and drying) my hands as well before milking. I also try to NOT touch anything except the teats and the milk pail to help prevent contamination.


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## HomesteaderLexi (Jun 13, 2018)

Great, thank you thats very good information


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