A goat has hard seals in the udder: what it could be, treatment and prevention

Goats have a fairly strong immunity, they rarely get sick, but their most sensitive organ is the udder. Goat nipples thicken, become painful when they are affected by infectious and non-infectious pathologies due to illiterate care and maintenance of animals. Also, the reasons that a goat has hard seals in the udder are injuries. The farmer must find out the cause of the pathology in order to start proper treatment.

Goat udder structure and lactation

To find out the cause of compaction, you need to know how the goat udder is arranged, how lactation occurs. Udder includes:

• connective tissue that gives shape to an organ;
• mammary glands;
• excretory ducts;
• drives;
• nipple channel.

Goats have a pair of mammary glands "packed" in a skin bag. The udder is divided into two parts. Each part synthesizes milk separately from the second. The nipples are made up of muscle tissue covered with several layers of skin. At the end is a sphincter - a ring-shaped muscle that prevents the spontaneous flow of milk. Synthesis of milk occurs in the alveoli - bubbles with a diameter of 0.1-0.3 mm. Their inner surface is covered with secretory tissue. The cells of this tissue take vitamins, minerals, and nutrients from the blood, which are converted into casein and milk fat.

The secretion-filled alveoli increase in pressure. Milk is squeezed out into the ducts, from which it flows into the storage tanks. From there it penetrates into the nipple canal. When a goat suckles its mother or when milking occurs, the sphincter opens and the milk flows out.

When milking, milk first comes out of the reservoirs and ducts, then - from the alveoli. To stimulate the release of alveolar milk, the udder is massaged with patting and pushing movements of the fingers.

Possible causes of udder compaction

The udder is a delicate and sensitive organ of the goat, prone to many diseases. A he althy udder is symmetrical, without ulcers, knots and seals, the nipples are elastic. With pathologies, the milking organ is deformed and becomes unattractive. The amount of milk decreases, its taste deteriorates.

The most common pathological hardening of the goat udder:

• bumps (cystic and tumor formations);
• mastitis;
• furunculosis;
• edema;
• injuries (open and closed wounds, bruises, cracks).

Cones

The appearance of benign and malignant tumors are prone to elderly goats, because their body changes the hormonal background, and then the structure of the tissues of the udder. Benign cysts and malignant tumors look like bumps. However, other lumps should be distinguished from tumors:

• milk stones - accumulation of phosphate s alts or lime hardening of casein in the ducts;
• petrification - saturation of abscesses with s alts of minerals.

The causes of milk stones are an inflammatory reaction in the udder or stagnation of milk. Seals are mobile, usually located in the storage glands, come out in the form of grains of sand with milk. Crystallized boils form in small numbers, they are always preceded by the appearance of a purulent rash.

Tumor formations are dense to the touch, causing pain and discomfort to the animal. Unlike milk stones, they are immobile. When the tumor grows, ulcers often appear on the surface of the body. Cysts are fluid-filled blisters. When they appear, glandular tissue gradually turns into connective.

Mastitis

Goat's udder often becomes inflamed. Seals are especially common in pregnant and giving birth goats, in which immunity is temporarily reduced. Less often, mastitis is a consequence of unsuitable conditions for keeping animals:

• dampness;
• draft;
• cold;
• unsanitary conditions.

Possible mastitis due to incomplete milking. If milk is not fully milked, it stagnates in the alveoli, causing inflammation.

A goat with mastitis is nervous because the lump in the udder is painful. The disease is accompanied by severe symptoms:

• puffiness;
• body seal;
• hot to the touch on udder skin;
• sluggish state of the animal;
• temperature increase;
• swollen lymph nodes;
• lack of appetite in a goat;
• outlet of foul-smelling, watery, lumpy milk.

If the goat has swollen lymph nodes, but there are no other symptoms, then there is no need to worry. This is the reaction of the body to the birth process.

Bruised

Sometimes lumps in the udder are the result of an injury. Young male kids are vigorous and playful, they can injure the mother's udder. Therefore, you should not keep a goat with cubs.When bruised, seals under the skin are bruises that look like cyanotic sores. The goat is in pain, the skin of the udder becomes hot, there are blood inclusions in the milked milk.

Edema

A swollen udder swells a lot. Causes of the pathological condition:

• poor circulation;
• animal sedentary lifestyle;
• poor diet.

Usually swelling disappears a week after the appearance. If not, then you should call a veterinarian. Also, veterinary attention is required if the swelling increases, the nipples become cold, and the milk has become watery.

Furunculosis

Purulent inflammation affects the sebaceous glands and hair follicles. Goats with dense hair covering the udder and weak immunity are prone to inflammation.

But the main provocateur of seals is illiterate animal care: poor hygiene in the barn, a rare change of bedding.

Boils are small pimples with a diameter of 0.5 cm, gradually growing up to 4-5 cm. They cover the nipples, the base of the organ, the depression between the lobes. The rash is painful, the skin is irritated, reddened, swollen.

After ripening, the boils burst, pus flows out. Sometimes papules appear - nodular seals filled not with pus, but with connective tissue. With extensive furunculosis, the goat resists milking, as it is in severe pain.

Wounds

When a goat's boobs are mechanically injured, a laceration is formed. An animal is injured while walking in a thorny bush, among heaps of solid debris or metal fragments. Lacerations heal slowly, but deeply penetrating and closed injuries are much more dangerous. The second outwardly look like black spots.The skin swells, becomes inflamed, and abscesses form inside.

Cracked nipples

Nipples of goats crack due to mechanical impact, illiterate care, the development of a bacterial disease or hypovitaminosis. Cracks are painful, the animal resists milking.

Treatment methods

Having identified pathological seals in the udder of a goat, you must immediately provide first aid, and then call a veterinarian to make a diagnosis. A sick animal requires careful care, feeding with high-quality succulent feed and concentrates, keeping in a clean, dry and comfortable barn. Each udder pathology requires a specific method of therapy.

Mastitis in goats cannot be treated with ointments and hot compresses, because of this, the disease becomes chronic. The animal is given tetracycline antibiotics, injections are placed in the udder after milking. The seal is treated with Lyzol or Creolin.

If inflammation is provoked by pathogenic bacteria, then bactericidal external agents are used. There should always be clean, warm water in the goat drinker.

Furunculosis is treated like this:

1. The udder is shaved off.
2. The skin is treated with manganese or other antiseptic solution.
3. Unruptured pimples are lubricated with iodine tincture (opened boils cannot be lubricated).
4. Ichthyol ointment or Synthomycin is used to accelerate the maturation of acne and tighten breaks.
5. Large boils are opened by making an incision crosswise.

Antibiotics for furunculosis are not required. It is strictly forbidden to apply hot compresses to the seal.

The wound is treated as follows:

1. Giving an injection of novocaine.
2. Clean out the wound. Remove dead tissue, purulent exudate.
3. Treat the injured area with a manganese solution or hydrogen peroxide.
4. The purulent wound is partially sutured, leaving a hole for the exit of exudate.
5. Treat with an antiseptic ointment or powder, such as streptocide.
6. The animal is given a systemic antibiotic.
7. When the purulent discharge stops, clean the edges of the wound, suture.

A cold compress is used for bruises. Do an intravenous injection of calcium gluconate to increase blood clotting. 3-4 days after the bruise, the seal is smeared with iodine or ichthyol ointment. A bruise usually lasts no more than 10 days.

To sleep the edema, the goat is often walked, properly fed. For cracked nipples, streptocide, ichthyol ointment, balsamic liniment are used. It is forbidden to use iodine tincture and other aggressive substances.

There is no cure for tumor indurations. Surgical removal of tumors is possible, but this is not economically feasible on farms. Therefore, a sick goat is slaughtered.

Possible consequences

In most of these pathologies, serious consequences do not occur. With proper treatment, the animal quickly returns to normal. Only mastitis and furunculosis are dangerous. In the acute form of mastitis, ulcerative and necrotic processes begin in the tissues. Milk becomes purulent, smells of rot. A goat that does not receive timely treatment dies.

Launched furunculosis captures the entire udder, which complicates the treatment. If the goat has weak immunity, then the disease can develop into phlegmon - an acute inflammatory process with the accumulation of pus in the subcutaneous adipose tissue, which has a vague border that spreads to adjacent tissues.

Disease prevention

Goat's udder should be checked daily before milking. Call your veterinarian immediately if you notice any suspicious symptoms.

Goat udder care includes 3 treatments:

1. Wash. The udder is wiped with a towel moistened with warm water, wiped dry.
2. Lubrication with baby cream or vegetable oil. The procedure is carried out after milking, as well as on cold days. Antibiotic ointment is used for pimples and cracks.
3. Massage before milking. With creamed hands, first gently knead, then pat both udder lobes.

The farmer should have on hand potassium permanganate, iodine, hydrogen peroxide, ointments for disinfection and wound healing, in order to help the animal if necessary. It is necessary to maintain cleanliness and order in the barn, regularly change the bedding, prevent drafts and lower temperatures.

Recommended