How to Prevent Mastitis in Goats

Mastitis prevention is always easier than curing mastitis. Mastitis causes udder swelling, heat, pain and sometimes bloody milk. Often caused by infection, mastitis is preventable most of the time.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Milking equipment including a strip cup
• Mastitis
• Regular milking times
• Clean barn
• Healthy feed

1. 
   Milk on TIME!

   Always milk at the same time of day or as close as possible. Goats are creatures of habit and can tell 'time' better than most people wearing a watch. They do not like their schedule messed up. Also, milking late increases the pressure on the udder which can cause mastitis. Milking is often done once a day, twice a day or three times a day. Most people milk 2 times a day. Just make sure that you do it consistently.

2. Keep barn, loafing area and barn yard clean and dry. Bacteria loves wetness and goats sleeping in dirty pens are much more likely to have issues with mastitis.

3. 
   Hot soapy water and paper towels

   Clean the doe's udder and belly thoroughly before milking. Clipping the hair from the udder and belly will help it stay cleaner. Mastitis often occurs from bacteria entering the mammary gland during or shortly after milking. Be sure to dry udder well after washing it.

4. 
   Strip cup

   Before milking your doe, express the first two squirts from each teat into the screen of the strip cup and look for any lumps or abnormalities. This is more for early detection than prevention, but it is much easier to treat mastitis if you catch it early on.

5. Be sure to get all the milk out of the udder when you milk your doe. Leftover milk will cause your doe's milk production to drop as well as increasing her risk of mastitis.

6. This next step is rather controversial... Many people recommend dipping the teats in iodine or another teat dip mix after milking. I do NOT do this any more. It is said to prevent mastitis, but several people I know and myself have found that mastitis has been less common in our herds since NOT using teat dips. In fact, when I used teat dip and had about 5 milkers, I'd have about 1 case of mastitis a year. Since I quit using teat dips about 8 years ago, I have not had a single case of mastitis in my herd even though I am milking over 10 each year. The theory around the teat dip increasing mastitis is that bacteria can enter wet teats much more easily than dry teats.

7. 
   A new born dairy goat resting in clean hay

   Try to keep your doe from lying down for 10 minutes after you finish milking her. Her body creates a waxy plug in the orifice to prevent bacteria from entering the teat. If they lay down before this plug forms, mastitis will be more common.

8. 
   A goat with horns

   Disbudding your goats can reduce the risk of udder injuries (which can result in mastitis). If you do want your goats with horns, all your goats should be horned as a disbudded goat in a horned herd is at a serious disadvantage and is at more risk of being injured.

9. 
   Browsing goats - they LOVE brush!

   A healthy immune system will go a long way in keeping your doe mastitis free. Goats need plenty of fresh air, sunshine and exercise in addition to a healthy diet and clean living quarters.

Tips & Warnings

• If you do not have a strip cup, you can used a piece of black construction paper to check for lumps. The strip cup is much easier, but the paper will work in a pinch.
• Milk testing can be helpful in identifying problems with your doe. A high somatic cell count (SCC) can indicate mastitis or other udder issues.
• If your goat's milk has lumps in it or is pinkish, you should do a mastitis check immediately. There are cheap milk test strips for the small hobby farmer as well as more expensive test that are more accurate.
• Another sign of mastitis is that it is hot and hard. The first few days after kidding the doe's udder will be harder, but it should soften after a few days to a week.

Resources

• How to Get Great Tasting Goat Milk
• CMT Mastitis Test
• Dr. Naylor Mastitis Test Strips ( I like using these for quick tests)