[BRFarms]

Tonight I noticed that the underside of my lead doe's tail was very swollen on one side. It looks like a hematoma...the swollen area is soft to the touch.

She did give birth to one kid (her first) about two weeks ago. Unfortunately, we lost the doeling one week later (this past Monday). I noticed a couple of days ago that the lead doe had dried blood on her tail hairs. I looked this up and saw several places where it stated that it was normal for a doe to "leak" blood about a week or so after giving birth (????).

Well, tonight, while checking on the herd, I noticed that on the underside of her tail, where it joins her body, one entire side is very swollen. I did not notice any external injuries. I could not find anything or any pictures online showing the underside of a goat's tail being swollen. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?

 

[dezak91]

Seeing pictures of her would be best but it most likely is the result of either a difficult birth or a large baby. Was this her first freshening and or was the baby large? Even if both of those questions are no she could have still have pushed very hard causing the swelling. It will go away in a few days. As for her discharge, this is a normal post delivery occurrence and can go on for several weeks. Just keep an eye out for a change in color or odor which would indicate infection. As the doe "cleans out" the color will go back and forth between dark and bright colored blood. Hope this helps.

 

[ksalvagno]

A picture would definitely help.

 

[lottsagoats]

Some doe "clean out" for several weeks after kidding.

The swelling could be from a bad kidding or she could have injured it.

 

[BRFarms]

Thank you all for your reply! I was going to get pictures of her tail today, but the swelling had gone down! This was her first baby, but the baby was not a large one. We were not present when she gave birth, so I am not sure how it went. When we found her, the baby was already up and dried off and nursing. Thank you for the information about the discharge. I had no idea. We are new to this, only having our herd for less than 2 months now. The doe is acting normal and eating normal as far as I can tell. I am happy that her milk seems to be drying up as well. Her udder was very tight for a couple of days and she seemed pretty uncomfortable. I hope the underside of her tail doesn't swell up again, I will keep a close eye on her. Is it normal for that swelling to have not appeared until more than a week after giving birth?

 

[nancy d]

She may have gotten a spider bite, that would cause the swelling. Swollen vulva from kidding is one thing, tail itself is another.
Post a pic when you can.