This document provides information on udder anatomy, health, and management in does and ewes. It discusses the anatomy of the udder and teats, as well as conformational traits producers should select for, such as udders that are held high and tight. The document also covers udder health topics like mastitis prevention and treatment. It provides guidance on monitoring udder health at different stages of production such as late gestation, postpartum, and weaning.

1. Udder Health
in Does and Ewes
Angela Black, DVM, PhD
Department of Animal and Avian Sciences
University of Maryland

2. Udder Anatomy
3. Lateral suspensory ligaments
4. Mammary lymph nodes
5. Medial (middle) suspensory
ligament.
The suspensory ligaments provide
the support for the gland and
surrounding tissues.

3. Udder Anatomy

4. Udder Anatomy
• Udder should be held “high and tight” to the belly wall
and above the level of the hocks during lactation.
• Producers should select against pendulous
udders
• More likely to be damaged (bruising, lacerations)
• More likely to develop mastitis
• Difficult for lambs/kids to nurse

5. Udder Conformation

6. Udder Conformation

7. Udder Conformation

8. Inside the Udder
• Multiple gland lobes in each half of the udder.
• These drain into the milk ducts.
• Ducts coalesce into the gland cistern.
• Drains into the teat cistern.
• 0.5-1.0cm streak canal.
– Important barrier to protect the udder from
infection.
• Dead skin cells
• Muscular teat sphincter

9. Anatomy of the Mammary Gland

10. Teat Anatomy
• Teats can be classified as:
– Clean
• Single, normally shaped teat with one opening.
– Functional
• Ability to produce and excrete milk
– Nonfunctional
– Supranumeray (extra)
– Split, Cluster, Fishtail
– “Weeping”
• Dairy breeds – milk secreting tissue in the wall of the
teat. Hands may get wet during milking, may see
cyst filled with milk on teat.

11. Teat Anatomy

12. Abnormal Teat Anatomy

13. Teat Anatomy

14. Teat Anatomy
• Pay attention to teat anatomy in breeding females and males
(can pass this on to his daughters).
• Producers should select against:
– Abnormal teats
– Extra teats (depends on breed)
• Serious disqualification in dairy breeds
• Should never surgically remove them in registered or
purebred animals..
• Boer goat breed allows 2 teats per side, allows split teats.
• Can cause problems with nursing,
• Can interfere w/ milking equipment.

15. Milk Volume/Composition
• Sheep
– 7.6% fat
– 6.2% protein
• Goats
– Average about 4% fat, can be as high as 6.9% in some
breeds.
– Average of about 3% protein
– Smaller fat globules
– Higher proportion of short-chin fatty acids
• Compared with cows and goats, sheep milk is higher in fat,
protein, caseins and other solids, but lower in volume.
• Miniature breeds – tend to produce less volume but milk is
higher in fat and protein.

16. Late Gestation
• Ewe/Doe must be fed a high quality diet at this point:
– Limited space in the abdomen for roughage
– Sufficient protein and energy to produce colostrum and later, milk.
• Young ewes/does may not develop much of an udder before
giving birth
• A couple of weeks before the due date, examine the teat ends
for thick, waxy droplets indicating the presence of colostrum in
the udder.
• If it is not there, does not mean that colostrum is not present.
• Do not express the colostrum at this point.
• If there appears to be a lot of this thick, creamy/golden colored
liquid leaking from the teats, be aware that you may need to
supplement the lambs/kids with colostrum.

17. Immediate Postpartum Period
• If the udder is over full or unbalanced, enough colostrum
should be stripped out to make suckling easier for the
neonates.
• This colostrum can be tube fed to weak or slow to nurse
lambs or kids or can be frozen in 240 ml (1 cup) quantities for
later use in other lambs or kids.

18. Immediate postpartum period
• During pregnancy, there are waxy plugs inside the teat canals
to help keep colostrum from leaking out and bacteria from
getting in.
• May need to express a few drops of colostrum out of each
teat to be certain that these plugs are out.

19. Lactation
• Milk “comes in” about 24-72 hours after birth.
• Peak production occurs within 2-3 weeks of parturition.
• In non-dairy breeds, production declines rapidly to a low 8-10
weeks after parturition.
• Feed intake is generally the most important limiting factor
affecting milk production.
• Underfeeding energy to ewes in late gestation and early
lactation results in higher death rates in lambs/kids.
• Underfeeding protein in late gestation can result in reduced
or delayed colostrum production.

20. Udder Edema
• Presents as mammary gland swelling
• Common in recently freshened does or ewes.
• Need to differentiate between edema and mastitis
• Edema
– Normal milk
– Usually resolves without treatment in newly freshened animals
– Can be caused by significant internal parasitism
• Mastitis
– Udder is either hot or cold to the touch
– Painful to palpation
– Abnormal milk (color, odor)
– Animal may have fever

21. Asymmetric or Uneven Udder
• If animal is born with it, unbalanced suspensory ligaments.
• Acquired
– Uneven milk production
• Side with less milk production may have subclinical
mastitis, causing lambs to preferentially nurse the healthy
side.
• If this is a herd-wide problem in a dairy herd, could be due
to asymmetric placement of milking claws from the side
leading to different milk production rates.
• May be fibrous tissue in one or both halves caused by
previous mastitis or trauma. This may cause a “Bind Half”
– one side that does not produce milk.

23. Blind Half
• Mammary gland appears atrophied and no
milk can be expressed.
• Severe damage to the gland associated with
mastitis or trauma can result in fibrosis of the
glandular tissue and loss of function.
• May resolve by the next lactation or may be
permanent.

24. Hard Bag
• Accumulation of fibrous tissue in the udder.
• Replaces milk-producing tissue and results in lamb starvation.
• Udder will appear full but has little or no milk.
• Udder feels hard.
• Can be associated with previous severe mastitis, Ovine
Progressive Pneumonia (OPP), Maedi visna, Caprine Arthritis
& Encephalitis virus.
• Animals with persistent, lumpy bags should be culled.

25. Common appearance of udder with
fibrous tissue masses

26. Hard Milker
Small streak canal limits flow of milk
• Genetically small streak canal
• May be due to trauma/irritation and consequent scarring
of the teat end.
Primary cause should be determined before breeding the
animal.
Can be treated w/ surgical enlargement of the streak canal
opening
• Could result in permanent leakage
• Increased chance of mastitis

27. No milk (Agalactia)
• Absence of milk in a lactating animal
• Most common reasons
– Systemic disease leading to reduced feed intake
• Pregnancy toxemia, etc.
– Mastitis

28. Insufficient Milk
• A small bag doesn't mean she doesn't have enough milk.
– First time mothers will often not develop a large udder the
first lactation
• Colostrum will not fill the udder the way milk will later.
• Remember that milk “comes in” over a 24 to 72 hour period
after birth.
• Oxytocin will stimulate "let down” of milk, but will not increase
production. Do not give it in the first 24-48 hours after birth
unless it is for retained placenta.

29. Insufficient Milk
• How are the lambs/kids?
– If the babies are warm, alert, nurse normally, maintain or
gain weight and are not in any distress, ewe is probably
producing enough for them.
– If the babies are weak from the start, they may not nurse
enough to stimulate sufficient milk production. You may
need to milk the mother to increase production.
– If the babies are constantly trying to nurse but eventually
become cold, weak, lethargic, dehdyrated or lose weight
(more than the minimal amount expected within 24 hours
of birth) consider the following:

30. Insufficient milk
• Illness in the ewe such as pregnancy toxemia, retained
membranes, mastitis, etc.
• Nutrition:
– Insufficient energy
– High quality forage should be available 24/7 to new mothers.
– Insufficient protein – should be (16-18%),
– vitamins/mineral
• Parasites – milk production requires blood. Anemia reduces
milk production.
• Healthy rumen microflora, control acidosis.
• Lots of clean, fresh water

31. Precocious Udder
• Mammary gland development and milk production occurs
without breeding or is excessive for the stage of gestation in a
bred animal.
• Most common in dairy does from high producing genetic
lines.
• Generally not cause for concern but should evaluate for pain,
heat, texture of udder (should be soft, pliable)
• If true precocious udder, do not milk.
– The keratin plug protects the streak canal, prevents mastitis
– Will encourage milk production to continue

32. “Nell”
• 2 yr old purebred Nubian Doe
• Never exposed to a buck.
• Pastured with a flock of sheep that lambed in
March/April of 2015.
• In May, she developed a full udder, with milk.
• No mastitis, no problems
• Dried up about 4-6 weeks after we weaned
the lambs.

33. Nell

34. Teat lesions
• Lacerations
– Lambs/kids with sharp teeth
– Other animal stepping on udder
– Clean with Chlorhexadine or Betadine scrub and warm
water
– Apply a disinfectant ointment or spray to create a
barrier to infection
– If severe, may need to take lamb/kid off dam.
• Blisters/”sores” –
– Look carefully at the lamb/kid’s mouth/lips for similar
lesions – possibly Orf (contagious ecthyma)

35. Mastitis
• Infection of the mammary gland
• Clinical
– Udder is abnormal
• Swollen
• Hot, red
• “hard” or lumpy
• Painful to touch
– Milk is abnormal
• May be blood tinged or yellow
• Texture may be thick, “lumpy”, or very watery
• May have a foul odor
• Lamb/kid refuses to nurse
– Animal may be visibly ill
• Fever
• Depression
• Off feed

36. Clinical Mastitis
• Mild clinical mastitis Abnormality in the milk such as flakes,
clots, and a watery or other unusual appearance. Udder
may be swollen, hot or sensitive.
• Severe clinical mastitis Hot, hard sensitive udder, quite
painful to the ewe. The onset is sudden and the ewe may
become ill showing signs of fever (105° -107° F), rapid
pulse, depression, weakness and loss of appetite.
• Chronic mastitis -A persistent udder infection exists most of
the time in the subclinical form occasionally can develop
into the clinical form before returning to the subclinical.
The results are hard lumps in the udder from the "walling
off" of bacteria and the forming of connective tissue.

37. Most common pathogens that cause
mastitis
• Staphylcocci aureus is most prevalent
• Mannheimia haemolytica
• Coagulase-negative staphylcocci,
• Pasturella spc.
• E. coli and Klebsiella

38. Mastitic Udders

39. “Blue Bag”
• Severe mastitis that eventually results in gangrene of the udder
• Udder becomes dark red, hard and then turns blue.
• Female often must be euthanized.
• Affected gland will not be functional, if the animal survives.
• Generally requires gangrenous tissue to be surgically removed.

40. Blue Bag

41. Mastitic
Milk

42. Mastitis
• Subclinical
– Most common in small ruminants.
– Significant cause of reduced milk production and
increased bacterial counts or SSC in small
ruminants.
– Animal, udder generally appear normal
– May start as clinical and progress to chronic,
subclinical.

43. Mastitis Treatment
For all cases:
• Isolated animals suspected of having mastitis
• Keep affected halves stripped out.
• Lambs/kids generally won’t nurse mastitic milk. May need
supplementation until resolved.
• Mild clinical mastitis
– If mother appears normal other than the affected mammary
gland, intramammary infusions may be enough.
– Consult with your veterinarian to determine the most
appropriate treatment.
– Note drug withdrawl times!!

44. Mastitis Treatment
• Severe clinical mastitis
– Mother shows signs of illness such as fever, off feed,
depressed attitude.
– Consult with your veterinarian to determine the best
treatment.
– Will likely include both intramammary and systemic
(injectable) antibiotic as well as antiinflammatory
treatment.
• If very severe and unresponsive to other therapy, may need to
amputate teat if value of animal or situation warrants.
• Again, pay attention to drug withdrawl times, especially for
dairy herds.

45. Mastitis Prevention
• Hygiene
– Clean, dry bedding/environment
• If lambs/kids are not nursing well, need to
manually milk to prevent mastitis.
• Dairy operations
– Teat/udder hygiene
– Decontamination of equipment
– Cull animals with subclinical infections, or always milk
last.
– Do not feed infected milk to kids/lambs

46. Mastitis prevention at weaning
• Cut out all grain 3-5 days prior to weaning and switch to a
lower quality forage to decrease the amount of milk being
produced.
• Reduce all feed 12-24 hrs prior to weaning.

47. Questions?