# Swollen udder in 4 day old kid?



## kerath (Jul 30, 2012)

Just a few days ago we had our first baby goat. She's only about four days old and already has pecan sized lumps where her udder would be. Is this normal at her age? 
I only have experience with young sheep, and I know they don't develop anything until much, much later. 

I can probably get a picture of the lump if necessary as well. 

Thanks so much!!


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## Pearce Pastures (Jul 30, 2012)

Goat's don't really have much udder development until they are pregnant/have kidded (at least in my experience).  She could have some swelling in response to her mother's hormones during gestation and it would diminish over the course of a week or so.  What breed is she?


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## kerath (Jul 30, 2012)

Momma is a LaMancha. We don't know what dad was. 

We got her mother off Craigslist already pregnant. I suspect dad was something small because she was only 4.4lbs when she was born and the only male around when we bought her was rather small. 

I should add that her mother was CAE+ so we pulled her when she was born to bottle raise. We are about 90% she didn't nurse before we got her. 

Here is a picture of our little Gwendolyn just a few hours after birth.


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## CrazyCatNChickenLady (Jul 30, 2012)

I had a goat that was born lactating. Got her in february at 6 days old and she had a pooch. My year old bred nigerian dwarfs udder wasnt even that big. She was actually producing milk too. I emailed my friend who is a vet and she said it could be caused by foods high in estrogen. It could also be cause by a few other things but I'd have to go dig up the email. Mammary Tumors was one.. Overuse of CIDR's.. I'm pretty sure though it was caused by the high hormone feeds. Anyways, I was told not to mess with them and she'll dry up within a couple weeks.  I was very careful to make sure her or her companion didnt try and nurse off her. She didn't actually dry up until I weaned her. I was feeding her Vit D milk from the grocery store.  Now from what I've read this is actually getting pretty common in California. Where are you located, do you mind me asking?   And she's sooo dang cute. Oddly mine is a pure lamancha. 

Now she has extra udder development.. for a 6 month old goat! I named her Squirt and hopefully she produces me more milk when she's a FF because her udder has already seen milk! (wishful thinking! )

http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=17486 Oh yeah and her who-haa was pretty red and swollen. I was told to keep older intact males away from her because they probably wouldn't leave her alone. 

Good luck with her!


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## kerath (Jul 30, 2012)

I haven't tried expressing the udder, but it feels more like tissue than milk. 

We are in South Louisiana. You know, the swelling started after I started using a little store bought cow's milk. 

Gwen's mother's udder went rock solid right after she was born. We started Gwenny off with some colostrum and milk from outside goats. When that ran out, we mixed store bought goat's milk with goat yogurt and a little cow's milk to stretch it. 

After a LOT of udder rubbing, momma is back in business producing milk. We'll be switching to that today (pasteurized, of course). 

It sure would be nice if this meant more milk down the line. I just don't want anything bad to be going on with this baby.
 As it is, she need antibiotic/vitamin shots the first couple days. She'd aspirated day 1 and was very touch and go at first.

ETA: The milk we got was from a local dairy. Also, she doesn't seem to have any genital swelling.


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## Tmaxson (Jul 30, 2012)

I have no information as far as her udder development goes, but she is just adorable.  Good luck with everything.


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## redtailgal (Jul 30, 2012)

This normally isnt something to worry about in most newborn mammals of any type.  Calves, puppies, kittens.......even human children (my nephew was born lactating and we once had a lactating bull calf).

The mothers body is high in hormones during pregancy and lactation, and some of that is carried over to the offspring, even in the milk they drink after birth, so many will continue to have swollen mammaries and possibly outright lactate until weaned.

Dont try to express any milk, just them them be and she should be fine.


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## Pearce Pastures (Jul 30, 2012)

redtailgal said:
			
		

> This normally isnt something to worry about in most newborn mammals of any type.  Calves, puppies, kittens.......even human children (my nephew was born lactating and we once had a lactating bull calf).
> 
> The mothers body is high in hormones during pregancy and lactation, and some of that is carried over to the offspring, even in the milk they drink after birth, so many will continue to have swollen mammaries and possibly outright lactate until weaned.
> 
> Dont try to express any milk, just them them be and she should be fine.


x2  Exactly.  Even male mammals have this happen and I have heard of female human babies having reddish tinged discharge in their diapers for a day or two after birth for the same reason.  They are reacting to mom's hormones and it will go away.


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## kerath (Aug 9, 2012)

Well, our baby is now two weeks old, and she STILL has an udder. 

Other than a little nasal congestion, she is a totally happy, healthy, normal gal. She is tanking down her mother's milk like it is going out of style. 
She gets a bottle with mom's milk that has been pasteurized and a little bit of plain full fat goat yogurt from the health food store. 

Should we be concerned about the udder? We do not mess with it or try to express it at all. The nipples seem to be leaking a little because there is a bit of white crust around the tips. 
Any suggestions? 

Here's a bonus pic of our little monster.....


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## boykin2010 (Aug 9, 2012)

Could you post a pic of her udder? I would be very interested in seeing it. I didn't know something like that could happen


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## kerath (Aug 9, 2012)

Sure, I'll try and get a pic of it tonight.


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## that's*satyrical (Aug 9, 2012)

I don't know about the udder, but she is very cute!


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## GladeCreek (Aug 9, 2012)

Just being curious here, but why pasturize the milk you give to the baby? Pasturization destroys all the good stuff.


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## SheepGirl (Aug 9, 2012)

The mom is CAE+, and pasteurization kills the virus.


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## kerath (Aug 9, 2012)

Exactly as SheepGirl said. That's also why we are making sure to add a bit of yogurt to every bottle. Give back some of the probiotics killed by the heat.


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## Rose N Lynne Farm (Aug 9, 2012)

Oh. My. Gosh.

That is the most adorable goat I've ever seen!  

I really have no clue about the udder,  but I hope it is okay!


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## Blackhereford boy (Aug 9, 2012)

She is adorable And your pictures are sooo good


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## GladeCreek (Aug 9, 2012)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> The mom is CAE+, and pasteurization kills the virus.


I had no idea it would kill the virus. Thank you for letting me know, I will file that one away for future use....


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## Pearce Pastures (Aug 9, 2012)

Not sure how transferrable human medical research would be here, but in a human newborn, galactorrhea can about 2 months before going away.


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## kerath (Aug 9, 2012)

I was able to get a couple of pictures of her udder....












And yes she does have what appears to be two functional nipples on one side. 

So what do you say folks? Is this something to be concerned about or is our Gwenny just an over-achiever in the dairy dept?


Completely unrelated, but the little nut took a flying leap into the open toilet a little while ago.
It was both disgusting and hilarious!


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## ksalvagno (Aug 10, 2012)

As far as dairy goats go, having a double teat on one side is a no no. I would personally sell her as a pet and not use her for breeding since she could pass that on.


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## CrazyCatNChickenLady (Aug 10, 2012)

Wow she looks just like my girl did. I just left her alone and she dried up when I weaned her. I was out yesterday looking at her udder (she's now 6 months old) and it looked pretty normal to me. Not even as 'developed' as she did a month or 2 ago. Well actually I'm not sure because she is the first doe I've raised from a baby. But the udder now looks normal for a 6 month old as far as I know.. 







She looks normal to me.


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