Yearling Nubian/Alpine cross doe that has not been bred has very swollen Udder

The condition developed in the last 24 hours.  She has never been bred and I have no idea what is causing swelling.  Her udder is very firm and swollen but does not feel hot.  I can not see any sign of injury.  Any help would be welcome.  

Maybe something got into the udder and caused mastitis, or it could be edema, or maybe a sneaky buck got to her when you weren't looking.

Feeding her dolomite may help, and vitamin c as well. If it's edema then parsley might help as well.

Some goats are virgin milkers, so you could try milking to see if this is the case.

My first thought was also "maiden milker", but if it has come on very sudden it sounds like maybe she is in fact about to kid...

I keep my Buck well secured and there has never been an "incident" where either the nannies or buck were out and about unintentionally.  Plus she is slim and trim like her sister no sign of carrying a kid.  Photos taken this morning

I'll wrestle her up on the milk stand and see what happens ... be back in a bit

After 10 mins of trying to get milk I only got some "moist dribbles" off one teet just enough to wet my fingers.  there was no "let down" so I got no clue.  There is no discharge and ligaments seem to be intact.  I will try to get more photos.

Some more photos ... I remember that you are supposed to be able to tell from the tell tail signs if a goat is pregnant. Her abdomen does not feel like there is a kid there

Maybe if you keep trying to milk, it will start flowing a bit better.

The remedies I mentioned earlier are all very safe, and good for goats, so there's no risk in giving them if it turns out it's not mastitis or edema.

By the bye, she is a very pretty little goat in lovely condition, and looking a little puzzled as to what all the fuss is about!

Sounds like she is a precocious milker. It's not that unusual, and it's not a big deal. You really should not milk unless you plan to keep milking every day. If you just do it now and then, she could wind up with mastitis. There is initially a plug in the teat so that bacteria can't get in there, but once you pop out that plug, bacteria can get in, so you need to keep milking to essentially keep flushing the pipes.

Deborah Niemann wrote:Sounds like she is a precocious milker. It's not that unusual, and it's not a big deal. You really should not milk unless you plan to keep milking every day. If you just do it now and then, she could wind up with mastitis. There is initially a plug in the teat so that bacteria can't get in there, but once you pop out that plug, bacteria can get in, so you need to keep milking to essentially keep flushing the pipes.

I agree, and I see no indication that she's bred.  If you want the milk, you *could* milk her and keep her going, but if you don't need extra milk, best to leave her be.  One thing to note, though -- lines that produce precocious milkers tend to be your heavier-milking lines.  So hopefully she'll be a good producer for you eventually.  (I've actually heard of bucks that were 'precocious' milkers --- one lady told me her BUCK gave a gallon of milk a day!  I don't know how palatable it was!  But that was from one of the top-milking lines of Nubians in the US.)

After several attempts and screaming goat battles I decided to stop trying to get milk.  Her udder is still a little bit enlarged but gradually reducing.  I plan to breed her and the other does the end of September with my nubian buck.  Thank you everyone for helping me figure this all out :)

Laverne Hendrix wrote:After several attempts and screaming goat battles I decided to stop trying to get milk.  Her udder is still a little bit enlarged but gradually reducing.  I plan to breed her and the other does the end of September with my nubian buck.  Thank you everyone for helping me figure this all out :)

Sounds like she maybe just had a hormone burst or something, and it's easing off.  

I don't know if you plan to bottle feed your babies (after dealing with several dam-raised -- and NOT well-socialized -- goats over the last year, I HIGHLY recommend bottle-feeding--I've always bottle fed most of my own kids, but after we moved, I bought several goats that had been dam-raised.  Big mistake.), but what I've found works the best, with about 35 years experience, is to dry the kids off with a towel, take them away from their mother immediately, get her up on the milking stand and let her smell the birth fluids on you -- they bond to their babies by smell, evidently, not by sight, and she will think you are her baby, will let down for you, will even squat and hold really still for you.  Do this even if there is still afterbirth hanging out.  Then, of course, she's going to cry when you leave (because her baby is going out of sight!), but that's so much better than having a rodeo on the milking stand twice a day for weeks until she settles down!  It's kind of weird to experience this with does that you bottle-raised, so they have grown up thinking you are their mom -- then they kid, and you start milking them, and they think you are their baby!  I think Kafkaesque is the word I'm looking for, not sure, LOL!  But it makes milking time SO much easier.

My 1 1/2 yr maiden doe has same issue. Rock rock hard lumpy udder. No fluid to get. Nipples soft but bone dry. Been getting bigger for about 3 weeks.  Negative cae not pregnant.