[KatieT]

My doe freshened in mid-April with two bucklings, who always did a fairly good job of nursing both sides of her udder evenly. I began seperating them at night when they were a few weeks old, then fully weaning them about 3 weeks ago. Margo's udder was always even when I milked. Starting just a few days ago, one side was be considerably smaller when I went out to milk in the morning (I milk just once a day). I thought that perhaps one of the other kids was sneaking a drink, so I stalled her by herself last night. This morning, that side was still very underdeveloped. Her udder is not hot, texture is normal, there is no clumps or blood in her milk, and the milk from both teats looks, smells, and tastes normal. I think that this is her 5th freshening (I don't have my records in front of me at the moment). I've never seen her self-nursing and don't think that it's something that she would pick up this late in the game, but I'm not positive about it. Does anyone have any ideas of what might cause this, and if there's anything that I can do about it?

Thanks!

 

[2 lil-does]

:whatgoat: Maybe she is nursing her own udder? some does do that....... that is my only guess

 

[liz]

If she freshened in previous years with a single kid and was not milked to keep her even...the larger side is the one that produced the most, the mammary glands will be bigger as well. Also, if you hand milk, sometimes it depends on how well your "weaker" hand can empty the lesser side.

 

[lissablack]

I have one who did this after her kids were separated. I just keep milking her. I know this one has nothing to do with my milking, it is the stronger hand that has the smaller side. Maybe that side got used less by her kids. But it seems to be fine otherwise.

 

[KatieT]

I can understand all of that - it just struck me as odd that her udder looked even for 3 months after freshening, and then became quite lopsided in only a few days.

She did have a single last year that favored one side ( I did try to keep her even with milking), but would it be normal for that to have an effect on her udder now, 3 months after freshening and nearly 3 weeks after weaning her kids?

I appreciate the replies - it's just a curious situation to me!