I might have a sick doe. She kidded on 4/28 (two happy, healthy doe kids) with no difficulties and passed her afterbirth. She is still just a little off. She is only eating about half the grain she would normally eat at this production level. She is eating hay, but not as well as I might expect. She is still moving kind of slow most of the time (although she did race around the pen once with my children yesterday). Her body temp. is 102.7, but foolish me, I don't have a baseline temp. on her. (Guess what I'll be doing during milking tonight...getting baseline temps. on my other girls!) Her udder is a little odd. At the very top of the back of her udder near where it connects there is a hard spot. I don't know the history on this doe (she actually belongs to a friend of mine). I suspect she has CL, so I suppose it could be an abscess. (I actually have the vet coming on Thursday to check that out and do rabies shots for all my critters.) She hasn't shown any signs of mastitis and I would have thought that if she was mastitic that any hardness would be down farther in the udder. She is a fairly high producer (giving my about 12lbs. per day right now). Oh, I should mention that the udder isn't hot anywhere. There are no strings or off-color in the milk. She is just that little bit off, which I would expect last week right after birthing, but I would have expected her to perk up by now. Also, she gave about 2/3 lb. less this a.m. than she has been giving, but I did clean the barn yesterday afternoon and she and the kids were in a different pen for the afternoon, so that could have thrown her a little. I hate calling the vet to come out for this because I have found that if my animals are just that tiny bit off, the vet usually can't figure out what the problem is. They have to be showing signs that someone other than a mother would notice!!! I should add that this doe has always been a finicky eater and it can be difficult to get her to eat enough grain for her production level and to keep on condition.

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), May 07, 2001

Answers

Sheryl I would suspect that if this was mastitis, their is actually a form of mastitis that causes lumps in the udder (Actinomyces pyogenes). This will cause the doe to start loosing weight, and she will of course have more of these lumps pop up in the udder. But she would also be running a temp. And even during the heat of summer 102.7 is not a fever. Baseline in a goat is 102 with 103 being fine in darker goats or when it is hot. How I figure fever is if a doe in the barn that has her same color is 102 and she is 103 or 104 then I would suspect fever. Unless your vet has a large clientel of goat folks, or perhaps have a few larger herds he vets for several years, you would be much better off using a goat owner in your area. There are goat clubs to join all over the US. This is where you could find a mentor to call, would surely rather give 50$ worth of farm call to someone who can help you with this. Perhaps checking goatworld.com 911 site for a goat owner in your area.

You could have the vet pull fluid from the abscess, from the bottom of the abscess so that it can continue to drain, but then until the material comes back from test, you are stuck with a doe who should be quaranteened. This is one of those cringing times that you hear about, that you hope this does milk is not being used unpasturised on any elderly, sick or very young children. CL is indeed passed in the milk in a situation like this. Milk her last. Perhaps she will feel better once this abscess bursts, you know how badly a boil feels when the pressure is all building up, after it bursts it is actually a relief. Once this abscess if it is CL bursts it will infect your property. The horrid thing about CL is that by the time a doe shows outward abscess she is usually riddled with them, in her lungs she has already sprayed this by coughing onto your place and your does. Hope that this is not the case. It could also be something as benign as a clogged milk duct. With as good of a milker as she is I would also use some of the Milk Fever regimes on her, it certainly might make her feel better.

http://hometown.aol.com/goatlist/hypocal.htm also might want to visit saanendoah.com reading the serious goat stuff information. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 07, 2001.

Could also be milk fever, with her milking so well. It's not expensive to treat, won't hurt her if she doesn't have it, could save her life if she does. The symptoms and circumstances of milk fever are different with goats than they are with cattle, so don't expect the vet to guess it.

It's not uncommon for does to have a hard spot in the udder when they first freshen, especially if they are nursing their kids. you say that you suspect CL, does she have any hairless spots in the common areas? ( jawline, neck, shoulder?)

-- Chamoisee (chamoisee@yahoo.com), May 07, 2001.

Here's the latest on my doe. When I went out to milk this a.m., she was just passing a quarter-sized piece of afterbirth. I guess it was such a small piece that she didn't get sick like they usually do. One lutalyse shot and some pennicillin later she's already eating better and I'll be dumping 12lbs. of milk a day for awhile!! The vet is coming on Thursday to check on the lump on her side and if it's CL I'll return her to her owner. Such is life. Thanks for your help!

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), May 08, 2001.