Got a 10 month old doe that has not been exposed to a buck. She is bagging up then becomming flacid a few days later. She is producing milk. She is repeating this cycle. I have been raising goats three years now but have not seen this before. Have I missed something that is common? My books don't address this. She is not a hermaphrodite. Any ideas?

-- Judie Hansen (briarrose@main.nc.us), June 26, 2000

Answers

Sounds like a false pregnancy. If she's giving milk, that makes her a "precocious milker" - I believe that's the correct term. My vet says it's not an uncommon occurrence in goats. One of our neighbors said that she had a goat last year that experienced the same symptoms as your doe, although the doe had never had a baby.

-- Liz Rhein (merhein@shentel.net), June 26, 2000.

Judie, if she was mine I would start milking her, especially if she is filling on both sides, her going flacid means that she is either self sucking or leaking, neither things you want. We see percousious udders routinely in our high production LaManchas, we do milk out and use a dry cow infusion on does who are producing uneven udders, it is almost always staph mastitis when the tests come back on the fluid. Ironically the only mastitis we have ever had has always been in does who have never freshened. They also go on to be our best milkers, with the worst udders. Fine for family milkers or a diary situation, killers for our show string. If you don't want to milk her, I would at the very least milk her out, send a sample of this milk to the vet to send out to a lab, and infuse her udder with any dry cow infusion. When the results come back use the systemic antibiotic that they refer you to use. And get her bred this year! Percousious udders have everything to do with hormones and nothing to do with being with a buck, lopsided percousious udders are mastitis. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), June 26, 2000.