Goat milk compared to cow milk?

This is our experience as well. We now have a jersey cow and her milk is the best as far as I'm concerned. Lots of cream. Thick cream!!!!

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Only by His merciful grace,
Marci

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Emily - our feed has Se and Cu in it, and we use SweetLix Magnum Milk for goats as loose minerals, which has a good deal of copper, IIRC (tag is off bag, but we're about to need another one).

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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.

Well here`s my opinion, I milk jersey cows, have milked goats, and would rather chase down a wild cow to milk, and get kicked near to death, than rather drink store bought milk. Goats milk is easier to digest, (known fact), the old breed cows milk is much richer,cows produce more milk. Store bought milk has nothing left in it that is much good for you other that it is a fluid. And any one that milks cows or goats should always use the best sanitation practices that they can, the milk will thank you for it. Now personal preference has nothing to do with weather you like one or the other,(wink,wink) feed, sanitation,health can all play part in the flavor of milk, and some animals have great tasting milk and some don`t. Someone said they heard an organic farm was buying feed from china, well it would have had to been certified organic or they could not use it. The certifiers have to approve everything you use on your herd when you are certified organic. I call them the organic police, I have seen them reject a product for use on a herd becuse of one little item in the ingredents they found they did not like. But I can not say for sure what everyone doe`s. Best bet is if you want to try milk , is go to a farm and ask, I have had people do that several times. And never have lost a sale, from bad tasting or off flavor milk. So get your milk glass out and start tasting. Thanks Marc.

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My husband grew up on a dairy farm and drank raw cows milk all his life. Then for the last 29 years we have kept goats.

All the people who said the milk must be chilled quickly are right. Whether milking a cow or goat being clean is very important also. It is important to wash the animal's udder and your own hands before milking.

We milk in a stainless steel or glass container and the milk is taken immediately to the house and strained and put in the fridg. I have had good results without chilling it in an ice bath. I never store milk in plastic. It goes in glass milk bottles or any glass jar with a lid will do.

Milk will also pick up taste of things around it. That is why some milk smells barny or goaty. After milking our container has a lid on and goes right to the house not giving it time to acquire smells from the barn. We also have a milk stand in a separate part of the barn from where the goats have their bedding and feed.

Whether cow or goat what the animal is fed can affect the taste of the milk. Goats milk is naturally homogenized and cows milk separates easier for making butter.
Milk is milder in taste when animals are on hay, grain or summer grass. We found new grass in the spring gave the milk a stronger flavor for a month or so.

We find the goats milk creamier and I find it gets thicker towards the end of the goats lactation- meaning just before she dries up before having her next kids. We dry them off about two months prior to them giving birth again.

Both cows and goats milk we found will start to change flavor after the third day. But we always use it up before then whether for drinking or making yogurt or cheese.

Fresh cold goats milk I have served to company and they didn't know the difference from store bought cows milk. That is except for kids. They always notice a different taste.

We keep goats because they take up less space and give less milk. Two goats when they first have kids were giving us a gallon of milk a day plus nursing their kids. Even that was alot for the two of us. Keeping ten goats will cost as much in feed as keeping one cow. So I guess it is a matter of space and preference what one keeps for milking. Trying some goats milk before deciding to get one as someone suggested is a good idea too.