Still Bad milk!

[mygoat]

I don't know WHAT it is! I posted a little while back about one of my alpine does that developed strong milk, undrinkable. I figured it was because the barn needed cleaning. Well, cleaned the barn down to the dirt and put down some lime. Now, the other doe is starting to develop strong flavored milk! Now, I just have them bedded on lime covered dirt floor, should I add some bedding? Maybe start feeding them thier hay in thier stall so they get some new bedding? Both of these does had really nice tasting milk before. No changes in diet, no extra stress, tested for mastitis, udder cleaned and teats dipped every milking (2x a day, 12 hrs apart) One doe, the one developing the nasty taste, is from a clean herd, and the other is tested CL and CAE neg. (testing again soon, when I can afford to get them all done.) They're the only two dairy goats on the farm. I do have two bucks that share a fenceline, but they are NEVER in close proximity to the does... The bucks are usually out grazing, and they arent' too interested in the ladies this time of year, and vice versa.

One thing I've noticed on the doe currently developing the bad taste is little bumps on the teat of the udder. Not sore, not weeping, just looks like a spider bite or something on the teat. ONly one one teat, and about a cluster of five or so teeny bumps. The udder is otherwise fine, no chapping, no cracks, etc. They've been there a couple weeks, with no change or anything. The milk just started tasting off. The other doe, who'se milk has tasted bad for a while, is perfectly normal otherwise.

I also wanted to ask about feeding. What kind of grain are you all feeding? Right now I'm giving about 2 lbs of Kent goat ration (16%) on the stand. AFter milking I let them down and they get to eat as much alfalfa pellets as they want, wich is probably around a pound, while i milk the other doe. They don't eat a ton of the alfalfa pellets because they are prettyfull from the grain and hay, usually. I'd like to maybe start them on some sort of dairy grain, or mix, but of cource very few mills sell anything akin to what I'd need. Any suggestions?

[OldNavyGoat]

Lime is caustic. I think you need to add a layer of bedding.

[susanne]

donna they need bedding. best would be either kiln dried pine shavings or clean straw. i don't feed pre mixed pellets. ingredience are changing all the time without you noticing it.
my girls are getting oats, calf manna and BOSS. alfa pellets free choice and of course hay. thisa is the only way to have controll over what they eat.
can you describe the taste of the milk?

[mygoat]

The milk is bitter, and strong. Rather reminds me of bleach, almost. In one doe, it is VERY strong. It even smells kinda bad. Nothing else about it is off, though.

I'll start feeding them thier hay down in the stall, it'll put down a layer of wasted hay as bedding awful quick, hehe.

[suzyhomemaker09]

It depends on what kind of lime she put down as to whether it is caustic.....AG lime is not..just the hydrated stuff as I understand.

[myheaven]

On my Kent bag of goat pellets it says DO NOT FEED TO LACTAING GOATS!!! In big bold letters. this may be the problem. bbl

[myheaven]

Ok I'm back. Unless your goat pellets are of a difren kind. We only have one kind of kent goat pellet around me. I would see about switching to a pure grain mix. Oats cracked corn wheat. Ill have to find my lable. Around here most dairy goat people buy the calf starter feed. I sure hope you find out what is going on. That much milk wasted. Yikes

[susanne]

donna what do you use to clean the milk bucket?
please try to get a separate little cup at next milking time, strip a little bit in and taste to determine if the milk comes bad tasting off the teat or if it happens later.
if you have a lot of milk calcium build up in your bucket or storage jar the milk can get a bitter taste.
since you have the bad tasting milk in both does i suspect the reason it is something you do.
what kind of hay do you feed?could it be that there is some weed in that can taint the milk?

used hay is not very good for bedding as it does not absorb the moisture as well.
at least put shavings underneath.

[HomesteadBaker]

Originally Posted by myheaven

On my Kent bag of goat pellets it says DO NOT FEED TO LACTAING GOATS!!! In big bold letters. this may be the problem. bbl

A goat ration NOT meant for lactating goats????????? What in the world could be in it that lactating goats should not eat?

How odd.

Kitty

[moosemaniac]

Originally Posted by myheaven

Ok I'm back. Unless your goat pellets are of a difren kind. We only have one kind of kent goat pellet around me. I would see about switching to a pure grain mix. Oats cracked corn wheat. Ill have to find my lable. Around here most dairy goat people buy the calf starter feed. I sure hope you find out what is going on. That much milk wasted. Yikes

I like Blue Seal Caprine Challenger. It's 18% and the girls love it. I've never had off flavored milk. I add some alfalfa pellets to the milkers' feed as well.

Ruth

[stacygoats]

I buy Kent feed for my bucks, as it has Ammonum Chloride for prevention of urinary Calculi.
I'm not sure if that would throw the taste off or not.

[DocM]

Are they out browsing in the pasture? Occasionally my goats eat *something*, I am never sure what - and the milk goes nasty. Once they've either eaten it all, or whatever plant it is goes through some period of its lifecycle, no more nasty milk. Now personally, I don't like the way alfalfa makes milk taste, so my personal milker doesn't get any alfalfa pellets, just a livestock pasture blend that's milled for horses, no corn/molasses in it, grass hay, and lots of rich pasture. Once I was using purina goat minerals and my milk tasted really bad too. They're on sheep minerals and copper bolus now. I'm betting its something in their diet.

[susanne]

Originally Posted by DocM

Now personally, I don't like the way alfalfa makes milk taste, so my personal milker doesn't get any alfalfa pellets

could you please explain? i feed alfa pellets and i find the milk tasting sweet and very good. maybe my taste buds are not as sensitive so i'm really interested to learn about the taste through alfa pellets.

[mygoat]

Let me see... Where to begin? LOL I've let this thread go too long! hehe

Thier pasture is pretty much trees that they've stripped down and well eaten down grass, so there's not much out there to taint the milk... It woud've been all eaten down by now, with as many goats grazing out there as there is.

Thier hay is alfalfa/mix hay, great quality, fed nearly free choice. sometimes they run out while I'm at school. I suppose there could be something in there that they're eating, but all I've seen is hay and alfalfa so far.

I checked my kent bag all over and nowhere did it say not to feed it to dairy goats.

Calf starter feed... What brands would I look for? That sounds easy enough. And I believe my mill carries that.

They have Sweetlix meatmaker minerals free choice, and baking soda.

Just put down the old hay as bedding, we'll see if that works. The flooring is sand below, which usually soaks up the urine pretty well. It stays smelling good as long as I keep up with layers of bedding. I've tried the shavings and they're just hard to get up during cleaning time.

I clean the milkbuckets with dairy soap, which I spray on with a spraybottle and scrub. Then I rinse and put them all in the strainer. Before miling I spray with dairy sanitizer. Everything is stainless steel or glass that touches the milk, and clean, too. I also use acid wash once a week or every two weeks. It doesn't ever seem to have any effect, or maybe I just can't see the buildup? I'ts also sprayed on with a sprayer. For udder wash and teat dip, I use the fiasco farm recipe. I discard the first few streams of milk into a bowl for my cat. I never catch anything but a few pieces of hair in the milk.

[steff bugielski]

I would contact the local cornell extension. They will be able to give you the name and number of a lab to send a sample of milk. That milk could possibly be infected with something that can harm you. Many pathogens have nor taste or odor but it might be something . Better safe than sorry.

[DixyDoodle]

Originally Posted by steff bugielski

I would contact the local cornell extension. They will be able to give you the name and number of a lab to send a sample of milk. That milk could possibly be infected with something that can harm you. Many pathogens have nor taste or odor but it might be something . Better safe than sorry.

Maybe have the dirt tested too. Perhaps there is a lot of metal content in the dirt, and they are ingesting some of it when they clean up grain off the floor?

[mygoat]

just did a 'straight from the goat' milk taste. It seems the second' doe's milk is sweet again, and the other doe's is still gross. ARG!

[Paula]

How long have you had these does? Have you milked them through an entire lactation before, tasting the milk regularly?

[mygoat]

These are my first dairy does. They've both had very good tasting milk before, and I haven't changed anything since then, besides cleaning out a dirty barn... I've had one since last fall and the other since early december.

[mygoat]

Any other ideas? I'm at a loss right now!