Milk smells bad and taste bad

[squirrelgirl]

I have been milking our goat since Feb 5th without any problems, but with Thursday's (3-31) milk I noticed a bad odor and the milk didn't taste right. I checked some other quarts and they were fine. The odor is there as soon as you take off the lid. Out of about 8 quarts 3 were affected. This a.m.'s milk was fine. Milked her this p.m. and I could smell it as I milked her out. The milk and the goat smelled the same. She doesn't smell like that all the time. My hands and my clothes on the milking side smell like it too. There are no wild onions where she is at but there is very little honey suckle and rose bushes. Mostly she has clover and grass. I keep her shaved and I clean her teats with diluted iodine wash. She has loose minerals available at all times and I wormed her on Feb 5th with Cydectin. Last week I got goat feed from my feed store that was lighter in color and dustier, I asked them today about it and was told the company that makes it had used citrus pulp in it (they had had other complaints). Could that cause problems? Something else that I am missing? Is the milk alright to drink? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[HazyDay]

Sounds like she is just smelly! Try cleaning her barn. Could it be her hay? grain sure could have done it!

[billygoatridge]

Is your goat out on pasture? My goats milk was tasting great from January thru the 1st couple weeks of March. When the grass started greening up and they started grazing more on the pasture the milk started smelling and tasting strong. If I lock her up at night and milk in the morning the milk tastes much better.

[Jillis]

You can get the test strips to test for mastitis. There could be a low-level infection brewing. Although if your grain just changed, I would take her off of that and see if it makes a difference.

[Sher]

Gee, if they just started putting a different ingredient in your feed..and then the milk started being off..that would be where I would start.

Think I would go get her a bit of feed NOT made by that company. If you have her on it four days and the problem passes..citrus pulp or peel might well have been the culprit.

Good luck to ya!

[Laura Workman]

I'd bet it's something she's eating. As billygoatridge suggested, try confining her at night and milking in the morning. That way you'll know if it's something in your pasture.

[jerzeygurl]

our cow's milk smells different when the grass comes on, but i havent noticed a change in taste.

The smell is noticeable while milking even. Green grass is higher in carotene and other minerals. The milk even gets a darker yellow( i know wont happen with goats) indicating the higher carotene levels.

[mary,tx]

Another thought would be to look closely at your pasture for ragweed. I finally figured out last year that was what makes my goats' milk taste bitter. I'm dreading it because it is coming back in again.
mary

[Sweet Goats]

Originally Posted by mary,tx

Another thought would be to look closely at your pasture for ragweed. I finally figured out last year that was what makes my goats' milk taste bitter. I'm dreading it because it is coming back in again.
mary

Mary, did you know that ragweed was poisnes to goats? I just like 5 minutes ago read it in my book. I had no idea. It says
"the damage is gradual and irreversible, so there is not treatment for affected animals. The symptoms reflect the damnage to the liver abd include loss of condition, poor appetite and anaemia. In very severe cases the eyes and mouth become yellow due to the development of jaundice. Hay containing dried ragwort is still dangerous to animals".
I thought you might like to know that. I was shocked. I had no idea at all.

[Jillis]

Mary, although ragwort, or tansy ragwort is sometimes called ragweed, it isn't the same as what most of us call ragweed.

Here's a quote from a website on gardening.

Originally Posted by http://www.dgsgardening.btinternet.co.uk/ragwort.htm

In North America the Annual Ragweed, Ambrosia artimisiifolia, is a completely different plant, and the pollen it produces is a major cause of hayfever. The foliage is fern-like and the flowers are borne on spikes. (also known as common ragweed, low ragweed, ragweed, Roman wormwood, short ragweed, small ragweed).
Giant Ragweed, Ambrosia trifida is a perennial with palmate leaves bearing three to five deeply cut lobes. (also known as blood ragweed, great ragweed, horseweed, perennial ragweed (great), tall ragweed)