posted 2 years ago
Firstly, I have milked goats, sheep, and cows for a number of years now, so I know the difference between edema tight and unnatural tight. I've also encountered mastitis a number of times, and this is different. Our doe, Fantasia, kidded Saturday morning, and had a single buckling. She's a Spanish doe that we got last fall, and she came from a farm that was pretty hands off. Because of that we didn't milk her until this-morning to try and ease her into it without causing lots of trust issues towards us. I realize now that we should've milked her out the first evening anyways, because she only had one, but it looked like her little guy was drinking from both sides, so I didn't do anything and wasn't concerned. When we milked her, we discovered that one side was hard and wouldn't milk out at all. It's not hot to the touch, and isn't causing her pain, so it isn't mastitis. Her teat isn't blocked at all, but the milk still won't go into the teat. Her other half is completely normal.
I read online that we should soak it with hot water and rub it a lot several times a day, and it will eventually clear out. Another possible tip was to use peppermint oil, but we haven't tried that yet. We'd really like to be able to milk her this lactation, so any advice would be greatly appreciated! Has anyone experienced this? How did you treat it? How long did it take to clear up? Did it have any lasting effects if done right? What may have caused this (besides her kid not nursing, is there anything else that could've caused it)? Once it does clear out, will it dry or just go straight into her lactation? Thanks in advance!
