# Swollen udder?



## cleo

We have two female goats, one of which has had an enlarged udder for months.  It doesn't seem to bother her 99% of the time, but sometimes she will be more vocal when it looks more swollen.  Her friend's udder is not as large, and she doesn't seem to have a problem with it.  We don't really know much about goat ailments; can anyone help?  Thanks!


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## dkluzier

Has she been bred?


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## ksalvagno

Are they milking or nursing kids? Is the udder hot to the touch? Have you taken a temp on the doe? Is she overweight? Do you have a vet or a very experienced goat farmer that could actually look at it? Sometimes it is hard to diagnose things over the computer.


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## cleo

No, she has not been bred.  From what we can tell, she is not overweight.  Currently, there's no one that we could ask to look at her.  She is (and always has been) very touchy about her stomach and udder.  She doesn't really like us touching her in general unless she wants to be pet, or we have treats.  Her udder is not hot to the touch.  I'll try to get some pictures up soon.


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## aggieterpkatie

It's been this way for months?  :/


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## cleo

Here are the pictures.












Could it be that she's a milking breed?  My mom did some reading, and she said that she saw a breed that was a "milking breed" that had a larger udder.
It really doesn't seem to bother her most of the time.  Is it possible that, at those times when she's vocal, she is just in heat?


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## ksalvagno

Do you know what breed of goat she is? It is hard to tell from the pictures. The udder doesn't look bad but without actually touching it, really can't tell. If she is a dairy breed than that would probably be normal. Many goats don't necessarily like their udders touched so it may not be a pain problem when you are touching it. Is there a cycle to when she is louder? She may be cycling and louder during her heat times.

Since this has been going on for a long time, I'm thinking that there may not be a problem and may just be how her udder is but I'm no expert with goat udders.

As long as the udder isn't hot to the touch and the goat doesn't have a temp, she is probably alright.


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## cmjust0

Put her in a stanchion or nose-tie her to a tree, get up under there, and feel around..  If the udder's hard to the touch or hot, that's not a good sign.  If the udder's pliable and not hot, she's probably fine.

Bear in mind that when you say _swollen_, goat people would pretty much automatically think _edema_..  Edema is that 'hard/hot' condition, and indicates infection.

Also...when you say "she's not been bred," do you mean she's never been bred, or just that she's not pregnant _right now_?


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## Roll farms

You're sure she's not bred...?

(Just asking, she could be uddering up to kid...)  You say it's been months, and I have some that udder up a good 2 mos. before their babies arrive.

Otherwise, I'd say she's just 'precocious'...when they come into milk w/out being bred.  As long as she doesn't develop mastitis, it shouldn't be a problem.


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## cleo

No, she has never been bred.  Thanks for all the help!  She doesn't have any heat or hardness in it.  We may try to check her again just to be sure.  Thanks again!


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## cmjust0

You _sure_ she's never been bred at all?  From the pic, her teats -- not the udder per se, but the teats specifically -- look awfully well developed to never have been nursed..

Could be the pic, though...or I may be crazy...but she don't look like an unbred first freshener to me..


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## cleo

Well, I don't know anything about the difference between developed and undeveloped goat udders or teats.  But I am absolutely sure that she's never been bred.  We got them as kids; they are about four years old this year.
I know what you mean, though, there is a little bit of a difference between her udder/teats and her friend's.
But, no, she's never been bred.


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## cmjust0

Shame on you, Cleo.  

I just saw full-body pictures of those two beauties over in the other thread, and I gotta say...there's just no sense in them being four years old and having never been bred.

I mean, if it's a matter of wondering whether or not you can find homes for their kids....someone here can probably help you out with that.  Heck, you could probably find someone willing to take them free of charge!

 

(For the record...I'm just giving you a hard time... )

Seriously, though, have you considered trying to milk her to see if she's actually producing anything?  Like someone else mentioned, she could just be a precocious milker.  

I've heard tell of an Alpine that developed an udder out of thin air and went on to produce milk every day for seven straight years.

You could be sitting on some really interesting genetics, ya know.


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## Roll farms

I sold a doe to a lady 4 years ago, there's no buck on her place....

She calls me last summer to come look at  Pearl....she's swelling up in her 'boobies'...as she calls them.

I explained when I got there what was going on and told her to leave it be...if she didn't mess w/ it, there was a better chance she'd dry off and be fine.  (She didn't want to mess w/ milking, that's why she doesn't ever breed them...)

Her brother had other ideas, milked her a couple times...then quit.  Poor Pearl ended up having a 'boobie-ectomy' because she got a severe staph infection.  Good thing the owner doesn't intend to ever have kids.

My point here is, if you don't *want* milk goats / milk, and she's ok now, don't go seeing if you can get milk out of her and risk causing a problem.


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