Sad day on the farm

There has been a problem with our herd queen's udder. Late in her pregnancy, her udder experienced quite a bit of apparent engorgement. She was uncomfortable, and hugely pregnant. I figured she was having multiple kids and didn't worry much. No fever, etc.


She has only half an udder, as she experienced an injury prior to my ownership of her. She's successfully raised twin kids for me each year.


She passed her health check for travel across state lines in April.


Shortly after our arrival here in Missouri, she kidded and gave us two beautiful Saanen cross doelings. The next morning, she was shivering and droopy eared and running a temp of 107 degrees. The vet was out of town for another week, so I called Yarrow, my go-to-rescuer. She helped out with meds and advice and support. THANK YOU, Yarrow. The doe's fever went down, and she became more comfortable except for part of her udder.


The remnants of the right side of her udder were enlarged and hard. It almost appeared as if she had mastitis in the 'blind side' of mammary tissue that remained. She has two areas of hard tissue, each about as big as a softball. She lies down only on the other side, with her right leg held up and out a bit so as not to press on the swelling.


She's not making her normal amount of milk, so I've been supplementing the doelings. They are both dam raised and bottle fed.


The veterinarian returned and came out today. He examined her carefully and we talked extensively about what I had seen and what had been done for her. He determined that the swelling is not mastitis, but tumors.


I'm completely flabbergasted.


She will be mom to these kids as long as she's comfortable. The tumors are already so large, that I don't think she'll be with us on the migration south to Texas in the fall.


She was one of our first 'real' milk goats. She's our herd queen, although she's not been acting in that capacity much lately. Her registered name is Bright and Beautiful Orange Ice, but we just call her Orange.