How long to get rid of the taste.

[RangerBrad]

My Saannen has discovered that she likes the bark of cedar trees and it has effected the milk so badly the famliy won't drink it till it is back to normal( They say it tastes like drinking a cedar tree). I am in the process of removing the trees. I've also been told simply spraying the bark down with diesel will stop the goats from eating the cedars. Have yal ever heard of this and once she stops eating the cedar bark how long do you think till the taste turns back to normal? Thank's, Brad

[wintrrwolf]

hmmm mine nibbles on the tree in their enclosure doesnt do anything to the milk. So can't help ya, sorry.

[Alice In TX/MO]

I cut pine boughs for mine. Never tasted it in the milk.

Wish I could taste your goats' milk!

[Cheribelle]

Cedar is much more airomatic than regular pine, I am surprised that she even wants to chew it!
Sorry, no help on the flavor issues, but I guess if you know for sure that's the cause, you will have to remove it. I don't think it'd take very long for the milk to return to normal.

[Cheryl aka JM]

I have a girl that will occasionally eat something....we don't know what...that makes her milk taste kind of like soap. Only lasts a day or two when it happens so we've been under the impression that it only takes a day or two to work it's way through when she eats whatever her little yucky snack is.

[KSALguy]

Ceder is more of a seasonal forage, they LOVE it in the fall and winter as thats when something in the growth chainges i guess i cant remimber the scientific stuff i read on this, but it seems to be true, my goats left the wind break old growth ceders alone untill fall then they cleaned them all up as high as they could reach that winter, i wasnt milking any of them at the time so i have no idea how it affects milk tast.

[Scarlettt]

Mine eat cedar all day long, year round, and the milk tastes fine. Delicious.
All friends who have taste tested it for us say it's great - and these are "cow milk people" who never tried goat milk before. They were seriously on the lookout for some gross taste, but loved it.

[francismilker]

I'm still gonna throw in what an old lady told me to do. Put a couple of table spoons a week of baking soda on top of the feed and she'll eat what she needs of it. The chance of bloat and ketosis is reduced and the milk tastes great!

[saanengirl]

As long as the milk tastes like cedar you can try using it for cheese. Flavors that are objectionable in liquid milk can sometimes enhance cheese. In fact, some goats in Europe and other places are deliberately fed plants such as cedar in order to add flavor to the cheese made from their milk.