Ultra Thick Colostrum? Not to worry

[Pearce Pastures]

Interesting. We haven't had that here yet. but my sole pygmy does does have thicker colostrum than the NDs. She is the oldest and fattest.

 

[goatgurl]

hummm, since all my goats are full sized i have no input as to size but i can say that my older does colostrum is thicker than the younger girls. but it has never looked that thick, wowzer.

 

[jodief100]

Our colostrum is usually thick enough you need to use a spatula to stir it, kind of the consistency of cake batter. What we had two years ago was like sap. Sticky, gooey blobs. You couldn't stir it, spoon or syringe it. It came out of the nipple after some very hard milking and just clung to it. You had to scrape it off the teat. I almost lost two babies before I figured out what was going on. I milked out a few drops, tried again in a few hours. After a few cycles of this it would finally flow out. Still thick but at least the babies could get it out. This year I had one that was close, more like syrup and didn't completely stick to the teat but close.

I now have a hard rule, always check the teats...... every time.

 

[purplequeenvt]

We have a little saying in the sheep world - "strip, clip, dip". It's a lambing time reminder to strip the teat, clip the umbilical cord (I only do if it is dragging on the ground), and dip the cord.

I always strip the udder right after lambing. We've had some ewes with that ultra thick colostrum, but the lambs don't usually have too many problems getting it out.