Goat milk compared to cow milk?

We have never had raw cows milk, but the our fresh goats milk tastes much better that store bought cows milk. My milk lasts about a week to 10 days before it starts to smell or taste off. I have read that if the milk if off tasting, there is something wrong with the goat or the feed. I think that there were and still are people that think that goats eat junk and garbage and expect the milk to taste good. My mom used to say that when the cows got into something in the pasture or even fresh grass affected the taste of the milk. My family can't stand the smell of store bought cows milk. Ohh the taste of store bought goats milk does not compare to to our farm fresh goats milk. It is wonderful to cook with cause the fats and the proteins are different. My ex didn't think he would be able to drink goats milk, cause it was from a goat, but he only drinks goats milk now and can't imagine drinking cows milk. I am sorry that there are bad experiences with goats milk, people beg to buy my goats milk because not only does it taste good, but my goats are organically fed (no feed from China here), but I can only sell for pet milk. I would find a couple of people that have goats and try the milk from several people. My buildings are immaculate and everything is scrubbed clean. I now have Nubians and Mini Nubians, but have several other breeds and x breeds, I like the Nubians and Mini Nubians. Carolyn

Ok I shouldn't have said organically fed, I try to watch what I feed them, I quit buying commercial feeds and have been able to get grain from my relatives. the hay is prairie grass. I read something about some organic dairies getting feed from China. I really try to be careful. CArolyn

Personally, I think you can tell the difference between goats and cows milk. Goat people always like to say there is no difference but I can tell. I have goats, love goats, and drink the milk. We handle everything as you should and it does taste good. But it really doesn't taste like Jersey Cow milk (which is what I'm planning on getting). I do have one goat (thank you motherclucker, she is a lovely La Mancha) that tastes really close to cow milk and she is our favorite. The others taste pretty good but one goat just has nasty milk, I have no idea why. We either don't milk her or give it to the pigs. Her daughters milk tastes fine so I don't know what her problem is.

Growing up my husbands family had a small Jersey Dairy and home milking goats (Nubian's). My husbands sister swore she could tell the difference. My in-laws said they were always trying to trick her, putting the goats milk into the cow milk containers and not telling her, ect. They said they never tricked her once, she still hates goats milk to this day. Love's Jersey milk though.

Whatever you do, don't try the goats milk at the health food stores! Blech! I've also tried the health food store raw cow milk (there was a company down in California that sent some up here to try and sell it because down in California you can sell it as "pet food". I don't know whatever happened to that, they sent it up to the organic distributors up here) it too was truly nasty. Undrinkable. Anyways, get a sample from the farm that you are thinking about purchasing your goats from. As others have said you should make sure they are following really good milking procedures as stated above. It really does make that big of a difference.

THis ain't gonna help you at all. There is a difference. I milked goats for several years. I had a Toggenburg, Nubian and LaMancha. My children loved the milk but I just could never get used to it.
So Dh bought me a little Jersey cow. I milked her and the kids drank it and threw a fit. While I was raving about this great tasting milk with the creamy texture, they told me they weren't drinking any stinkin' cows milk and they wanted their goat milk back. I said, "No way, I can't stand the taste and since I was the one milking, I pick what I milk." So we kept the Jersey and they eventually caved in.
I'm sure that info was very useful. LOL. I second tast testing.

I don't care for milk of ANY kind, so to me goat's and cow's milk tastes pretty much the same. DH is a big milk fan though, and loves goat's milk IF it is fresh. We bought goat milk a few times from a dairy north of Phoenix, and DH loved it. He said it was different than cow's milk but very good nonetheless. The dairy is long gone, and I'd love to find a goat dairy in the Phoenix area but no such luck, yet.

Scrounger, as my wife says and does, "Spoiled goats give sweeter milk". You have an open invitation whenever you make it to Atchison to try another taste test....

Seriously, I didn't drink milk after I left home,(21 years ago) so I really can't say that I am not biased to goat milk. We did get some milk a few years ago from a local commercial dairy with holstiens and it was ok. I would love to try milk from one of the jersey or other type cows. and compare the two. If I had more land, I would get a jersey cow just for the volume of milk, because we, I mean she makes alot of cheese.

I don't like store-bought cow milk at all. I would much rather have the goat milk, even though the doe I have now isn't one of the Kinders with their super-rich and sweet milk. Her milk is still pretty good, just not great.

I've done a lot of taste tests over the years and have never had anyone able to tell the difference between the goat milk and cow milk, except that the goat milk was richer. Not even my mother, who'd had goat milk when she was growing up and didn't like it. So you really need to go visit someone who takes good care of their animals and handles the milk properly, and taste the milk. Ozark_Jewels would be a good one! I will say that the higher the butterfat, the better the milk tastes, so go for a high-butterfat breed if you can.

Kathleen

I had never tasted goat milk until last year. The cow's milk I was familiar with since we dairy farmed for several years and used our own milk from that.
I can honestly say I couldn't tell a difference when I drank my first goat milk from the cow's milk that we had on the farm. I was at a friend's in Tn. and she had goats that she milked. Good stuff. I drank a lot while I was there visiting.
Of course, she was very careful while milking and chilled instantly. Maybe someone who wasn't as careful might not have as good milk but then that wouldn't be the poor goat's fault.

i haven't had goat's milk since i was a child, but it had a large impact on my life at the time. around my first birthday, i suffered from an undiagnosed digestive problem that resulted in my body rejecting any form of food, liquid or solid. i couldn't keep down breastmilk, cow's milk, baby food, etc. i was literally wasting away in the hospital when my grandfather suggested goat's milk. for some reason, i could digest it, and literally lived off of it for months until i was able to handle other foods.

as far as taste, i couldn't tell you. i don't remember it at all. i just wanted to second rose's comment that it is easier to digest than cow's milk.

I can definitely taste the difference between goat's milk and cow's milk. Some people say there is no difference... but then again, some people say they can taste no difference between chocolate cake made with vegetable oil, and chocolate cake made with applesauce... BLECH on the latter!

Maybe some people's taste buds are more sensitive than others, I don't know. I prefer cow's milk over goat's milk, but I'll take either.

I like goats milk better

I love my Jersey milk. I've tried goat milk several times, said to be properly handled and chilled. I could always tell a huge difference. The last time it tasted like a billy in rut smells...urgggh.

I'm not saying the GM you tried wasn't nasty, but most if not all of the folks I know, that milk goats, if there is one thing its not is nasty. They take pride in their goats and the milk, keeping both as clean as possible. Every now and then wild onions or bitter weed will be tasted in the milk, and the owners try to keep that from happening also. My FIL raised and milked goats all his life and for the last 20 years I knew him, I never had one glass that tasted any other way , but GOOOOOD. Eddie

Having grown up on goat milk that was NASTY, it took some convincing to get me to give it another try as an adult. Being sensitive to cow dairy, I tried goat milk from the fresh dairy case at the store. It wasn't nasty like I remembered it. I could still taste a tiny bit of "goat", but then they must have changed handling practices or something, because the milk started getting to where I couldn't taste the goat, except for occasionally. Even my oldest said the flavor was better.

Then we started getting raw from a family with great milk handling practices and such. MOST of the time the milk tasted awsome, occasionally I could taste the goat (but the younger two didn't seemed bothered by it). Come to find out, those couple of times they tasted off, was when the milk wasn't cooled down as fast as the other times.

I've had gm last in my frige for over a week w/o turning "goaty", who knows.

If given the choice, I'd say goat...or possibly sheep (to toss another kink in the decision making), for the ease of digestion. If you don't have digestion issues, then it'll be a matter of taste and I would suggest making a trip to someone that has goats/cows/sheep that you would consider buying and taste the milk.

As someone pointed out, sometimes it's an individual goat that just produces off flavored milk. I also think the handling practices are very important. I find that those that use bleach to sterilize need to be more diligent about rinsing, since I've had from those that use bleach and those that use vinegar or peroxide, the ones from the latter I've not had any off flavoring, rather the ones that use bleach seemed to have more off flavoring issues.

Reese

Just let me know when. We are milking four Nubians now....Lamanchas start in February.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence

How many goats will it take to produce 3 gallons of milk a day?? They may eat less individually, but multiply the feed cost by the number of goats you will need. Add on to that the multiple wormers, et al for the number of goats.

We have a Jersey. She provides our family with milk, butter and cheese (I also make my milk soaps using the creamy milk!) and enough left over to sell or for the pigs & chickens.

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My original post stated 3 gallons a week.

I am not sure if this is compared to a Jersy cow, but I was told that 5 or 6 goats equal to 1 cow in feed and other costs. I don't know if this is true or not. Depending on breed and history of the goat, 2 goats could be producing at least 3 to 4 gallons of milks a day. Carolyn

I love "Properly" milked and chilled.... goat milk...... BUT

SHEEP milk?!???! in my opinion... SALTY!

Kaza

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For three gallons of milk a day you would need 1-3 goats depending on their production and where they are in their lactation. 3 goats still eat way less than one cow(we have Jerseys and goats). Less feed, less hay and they eat brush rather than mostly graze. I feed the same minerals to the cows as to the goats, so no special mineral costs. Wormer used is Cydectin Cattle Pour-On. The goats use the cattle dose(only its given orally to goats), so 1 cc per 25 lbs. 3 average milking does will weigh a combined weight of no more than 650 lbs, usually more like 500 lbs. One cow weighs in at at least 750-1000 lbs depending on the cow. So the cow takes more wormer at a time. Depending on your management, you *may* need to worm your goats more often though.
Your biggest expense difference is going to be in the quality of hay you can feed and your fencing.
If your accustomed to buying quality hay for your milking cow, the difference in hay isn't a problem. Goats cannot have mold.
Fencing the way most people do it is cattle panels or woven wire for goats. I use hot wire for most of mine, so the expense is about the same for cows and goats.
For someone who is pasture and space challenged, goats make more sense. If those things aren't a problem, just go with whichever you like the best.

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Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence