Goat milk compared to cow milk?

One thing I didn't think earlier, when I have to haul a goat, they go in the back of my little Colorado pickup in a safe, secure camper shell. My pickup gets 27 miles per gallon. When I have to haul a cow, I use the 1/2 Chevy pickup and stock trailer, which gets about 18 miles per gallon when pulling the trailer. Just a thought if you are going to have to haul your cow or goat somewhere for breeding every year, to a vet, etc.

We're also considering whether to get a milk cow or goats. In addition to the taste and other considerations presented, I'd like to ask about products made from milk. We like cheese (a LOT!), butter, yogurt (some), and sour cream. I'd also like to learn to make soap with milk.

So, which would you recommend for cheese, butter, yogurt, sour cream, and soap? I figure a cow for butter and sour cream because the cream separates, but what about the other items?

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Our homestead-in-the-making: Palazzo Rospo
Eating the dream

Goat milk makes wonderful cheese, yogurt and soap. I know you can make butter and sour cream from it but it would be harder than with cows milk because goats is naturally homogenized.

And you can make all the above with cows milk too.

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

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

We drink goat milk and there is no turning back.

Hang out on the goat forum awhile, go read/join this forum www.dairygoatinfo.com and get a couple Nubians or LaManchas.

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Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA

http://www.meyenberg.com/?action=index

This company is carried by our local food store (Food City, maybe? )

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"Nothing else matters in the whole wide world, when you're in love with a Jersey Girl..." --Tom Waits, 'Jersey Girl'

Nice thought but unfortunately their milk tastes *terrible*. Like licking a buck. I milked commercially for Meyenberg for one year. I hated the fact that I sold them good milk and it ended up tasting like *that*. They only pick up milk from the producer once a week........so the milk they process isn't exactly fresh. I had a clean operation......but some I visited that milked for them.....well, lets just say their does weren't the healthiest or the cleanest. Its a really good thing they can't sell raw milk!
If you try their milk, you won't like goat milk.
We wouldn't get a contract with them because the stipulations were totally pro-buyer, not for the seller at all.

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

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

Ah another older thread. But I want to say something about goats milk. My goats milk NEVER tastes goaty - ever. When it sours, it taste sour, it doesn't taste like goat no matter how long it sits. My buck lives in the barn with the girls also, but nope, no off flavor.

However, goats milk does really taste different than store bought whole milk. It is creamier and sweeter. Recently my husband bought some cows milk from the store. The first thing I noticed is that it tasted really bland in comparison to my goats milk! It needs some cream added to it! LOL But other than those simple differences, goats milk tastes like cows milk.

Lack of minerals or an infection is usually the cause of off tasting milk...

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LinderCroft

We maKE goats milk butter. 3 week old milk the cream seperates and it can be scoup off. the cream does not have an off taste. we keeep the milk at 34. for the three weeks. and use the food processor. so all products we make with our goats milk.

Ok, here's what you need to know. All of this discussion about what tastes the best is wasted space. We all have different taste buds..yes? And what one person loves, another hates. So tasting the fresh and properly stored and properly fed goats milk is the way to go and you are going to do that.

However this is NOT all of the story!

(1)We all know and its undisputed that goats milk is far healthier than cows milk. What we haven't talked about is the amazing and delicious soft cheeses that can be made from fresh goats milk!
(2) What does it involve keeping a couple of nanny goats? Pro's and Con's?
(3) What about dealing with the kids as you cannot have milk goats without having baby goats.
(4) What about this Billy goat thing? Personally I love Nanny goats but despise the bucks and cannot stand them. Disgusting! Makes me want to throw up!

So, how does a person tell if this is what they really want to get into even after they find they love goats milk? Easy, You get a wonderful book about goats, breeding, milking, feeding, birth, death and and the amazing fun of having them around for companions and then the down sides too. You learn that you don't have to keep a billy goat to have milk. If you are smart you maybe can work out a deal with a good breeder and take your does to be bred. Two does will fit tidily into a station wagon or SUV and ride like champs.

So, a good book, and it just so happens that I can suggest the perfect one. GOAT SONG by Brad Kessler. This book pulls no punches and you REALLY know what you are in for. Both the joy and the heartbreak and everything in between including what to expect from an amorous and stinkin' billy goat. LOL

AND there is a fun Goat forum here. You will really enjoy it and learn a lot.

LQ

Good luck and have fun with this.

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" Live in the Sunshine,
Swim the Sea,
Drink the Wild Air"

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing." D. Duck

Thanks for all the info and book recommendation As these were questions I had ponderd many times.

never mind

nevermind

With goats milk, cleanliness is next to heaven... dirt/slovenliness is next to h...

We're milking twice a day. If you do your part... clean the udder and teats, keep everything clean, cool the milk down immediately, and avoid hair and other non milk 'stuff', you'll love it. Get a hair in it, a buck near it, or other unmilky things, and ughhh, it's dog or chicken food.

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

Seconding this. Also watch for subclinical mastitis, which can be nearly impossible to detect except for a very nasty flavor. We did notice a change with the seasons, but it wasn't terrible until the buck came for a visit. Now the chickies get lots of milk!

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Amy,
Manager of Ezekiel's Garden:
4 homeschooled boys (T, L, M, J), 1 high tech redneck dh, Alpine & Grade dairy goats, a chicken menagerie, and our garden.

I dunno know - I think you all are worrying too much. My milk is heaven and I do get some hair in the milk pail and I often strain it but forget to refrigerate it until later... the milk is ALWAYS good... your animal health is what makes the difference. If they are getting enough minerals and hay, you milk will be awesome no matter what - well maybe not no matter what, but I bet you get the idea. And the buck doesn't effect healthy does and milk... if so mine would have horrible tasting milk!

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LinderCroft

i aint crazy about the taste of goats milk, but its ok...now the calf thats getting all of the goats milk...is crazy about it...lol she prefers the fresh milk over milk replacer.
me,,,i like goats milk ice cream, and some kind of cheese that i ended up with..was kinda like like sour cream..and i use it to cook gravy with...but i dont really like drinking it unless it is freezing cold..i like cow milk..but wont get any of the fresh untill next winter.

samm

THink feeding is the key to taste.
We started with no buck and later added one that runs with the ladies full time. There was no difference in taste for us.
However different grain rations will cause the taste to waver. While we were searching for our "perfect" ration we did get some bad tasting milk.
We don't strain our milk anymore either and it doesn't affect the taste. Course we keep the does pretty clean and milk with a proper vacuum system rather than by hand which does reduce the amount of foreign matter in the milk.

Another note on taste, our second youngest refused to drink goat milk, he tried it but hated it. I bought a gallon of store milk which we used up and then started putting the goat milk in that. He drank a lot of it until he realized it was the same jug just being refilled........

Any fresh raw milk (goat or cow)will be quite different from store milk and will require some getting used to. Even the whole milk at the store is skimmed since the rules allow such a low fat % to be labelled whole.

At 3 gallons a week, I'd recommend a goat or 2 or else plan on feeding out some calves. Even 2 decent goats will provide enough to handle a calf easily after their own young are weaned and untill production drops later in the lactation. We have 2 Amish scrub goats late into their lactation that are providing a gallon a day.
Goat kids are the epitomy of cute. But the bucks are nearly useless unless you care to eat them as wethers. There is some market for nicely colored nubian bucks in our area and whole Nubians will bring a touch more than wethers. Keep the does around till bred then make any culling decisions. We sell ours at a couple of different sales barns. Maybe do a bit of local research and see what is going on near you.

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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.

Be aware that milk taste in goats is very a very individual thing. Always taste the milk of any goat you're looking to buy. People will say taste is totally about cleanliness or what they eat or worms or whatever, that's bull. Yes that stuff makes a difference, especially if the goat already has borderline tasting milk, but bottom line it's really all about breed and individual goat. And it's also about your taste buds - some people don't have as sensitive a sense of smell/taste so iffy goats milk is less distasteful to them.

Me, I have annoyingly sensitive senses of smell/taste. I can smell and taste things that other people have no clue are there. Really limits the goats milk that's acceptable to me to just a couple of the goats we have.

And does the milk from different breeds taste different? And from each individual goat?

My taste buds are fine, thank you! () Besides I had my "I hate milk" husband taste my goats milk. He said it tastes like cows milk except it was a bit creamier. Personally I think it is sweeter also...

And yes, there are some goats (but very few) that has bad tasting milk no matter what. But those really are few and far between. I feed my goats a grain mixture that I make up myself and I give them a homemade mineral mix (via pat Coleby). My milk is good! I make raw milk cheese which has to sit out for a couple of days, but it too taste good and never has that 'goat' taste. That is as it should be...

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LinderCroft