On the farm, our last doe to freshen, had two lil does....BUT, she's not producing milk at all. Her udder is full, she DOES have openings in the teats, but....the most my sister could get out of her was about a tablespoon of milk.... Apparently this happened last year also, and figuring that it was her first freshening, no one thought much of it.... Unfortunately.... she had given birth to two kids, and they were both dead within three weeks.

This year, we are lucky in that there is another doe in the same pen with her, raising only one lil one, and she has been feeding Lucy and Lynn, along with a 4th baby whose momma doesn't want anything to do with her. So, though Helsa is being a great surrogate mom to 3 babes other than her own.... Has anyone here any CLUE as to why Luna isn't producing milk? Or, at least why its not coming out? By the way - she doesn't have mastitis, we've checked already....

THANKS!

-- Sarah Wilde (gilded_lily_1@yahoo.com), March 22, 2001

Answers

Sarah the very best answer with a udder full of hard nothing is always CAE. It simply is the prevailing answer that we get after we have ruled out edema, mastitis and all the other things we are hoping against all hope that new folks have. You can send in blood, just have a friend who can do this for you, pull out about 6cc of blood and send it in to Washington or Pan American in Austin. Write me for the addresses if you like, Pan American is chargin 6$. This way you will know for sure, it is only one of many symptoms, along with swollen knees, and also one of no symptoms. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 22, 2001.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure Vicki is right. Sounds like classic CAE. Hopefully your doe that is raising all your babies is negative, or they'll all be doomed to the same fate. Next year, PLEASE heat treat your colostrum and pasturize your milk before feeding the babies. I hope we're wrong. Good luck. Kathie

-- Kathie in Western Washington (twinrosefarm@worldnet.att.net), March 22, 2001.

Thanks Vicki, and I would appreciate if you could post that address, I know I have seen it in the posting before, but can't remember where.

As for heat-treating, etc.....there just isn't any time for that. I am unfortunately, 3 hours from the goat herd. My mom works full- time, along with doing the barn chores, my dad refuses to do anything with the goats, other than yell at them and throw feed in for them, and my sister, is a full-time student and mom, along with working in the barn. It wouldn't be too bad if we lived up there, I would have the time to heat-treat, etc..... We've never had problems with any of our other goats, but, now that you mention CAE, Luna's mother, Angel had to be put down (by me - oh joy), at about the age of 12. She was a great milker and mother, but by the end, she could only walk on three legs, dragging one of her front legs along with. I figured that it was just arthritis from old age...... maybe it was CAE *thinks*....

Thanks for you help!

-- Sarah Wilde (gilded_lily_1@yahoo.com), March 23, 2001.

Pan American Labs, 3921 Steck Avenue, Suite A-101, Austin, TX 78759 this is the most usery friendly lab, you can send in your own tests. I send in colostrum, squirt frist stream onto the ground and then fill up a 20cc syringe, or get a red top vacutainer (test tube) from your vet, and one day mail it in, a bubble envelope works great. 6$ a test, results back in the week, if you want them quicker ask them to call you with the results. Washington State Diag Lab P.O. Box 2037, Bustad Hall, Room 155N, College of VEt. Med. Pullman, WA 99165, they really prefer a vet to send this blood in and also they prefer to send the results to the vet, so I save this lab for all my for sale stock, and only use them for blood, which my vet does for me. Washington is the invogue testing site right now, though Pan American does the exact same test, go figure :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 23, 2001.