Can a buck cause milk to taste "goaty"

[Vicki]

I'm new to goats, have only had my alpines for a couple months...a friend informed me that keeping a buck in the same pasture with my doe would cause the milk to taste bad or "goaty" Is that true? I would like to have a completely closed herd to lessen chances of disease.... but I dont have anywhere to keep a buck seperate from the does....I suppose I could just A.I.

[goatkid]

I run a cleanup buck in with my does at the end of breeding season here to be sure all the does are bred. I've never noticed the milk tasting off. If you do get a buck, you'll need a seperate pen for him anyway. If you don't, he'll breed your doelings before they are large enough to kid safely, and your does may get bred before you want them to. I always keep at least two bucks, so I don't have a single lonely goat. Having a companion wether is also an option. My buck pen is smaller than my doe's pen and pasture and contains a small shed for shelter.

[Alice In TX/MO]

No, he won't cause the milk to taste goaty AS LONG AS YOU PRACTICE CLEAN MILKING TECHNIQUES.

It's an old wive's tale.

[Rechellef]

If you touch the buck during rut and get the oils on your hand, wash them before you milk - wha-la, no off tasting milk. The buck will not make the milk taste goaty by his mere presence.

[Vicki]

If a seperate area is necessary how far should it be from the does? would it be acceptable to put them side by side seperated by a fence or would one of them jump the fence to get to the other?

[julieq]

My bucks live in the barn with the does, sometimes in the same stall if we're breeding. No problem with the milk at all. Agree with the 'old wives tale' thing.

[CaliannG]

A buck running with does making the milk taste "goaty" is an old wive's tale. If your milk taste "goaty", the first thing you should do is test for mastitis.

If you do not want out-of-season breeding, magical flying sperm around your place, or "Wait, I didn't BREED her last fall, WHY is she kidding?!?" episodes, then the best thing to do is to double fence your buck paddock, however large or small it may be, with a 3' space in between the fences. Goats WILL breed through fences. Sometimes I am sure that goats will breed through wormholes, Oort clouds, and other phenomenon generally found in Quantum Physics.

Now, this is mainly only a problem with Nubians, Nigerians, Pygmies and crosses of those. MOST of the time (there are exceptions to everything!) with the Swiss breeds, you only need to separate them prior to breeding season so that you can monitor and control breeding, and then, the rest of the year, you can let the bucks run loose with the does. Goats with year-long breeding cycles, however, are far more at risk for being bred too early and having severe problems.

Hope this helps!

[mygoat]

Actually, mastitic milk would taste salty, not necessarily bucky. Bucky/goaty flavor with no signs of mastitis and I would not think mastitis at all.

GOATY flavored milk is often a cobalt (vitamin B12) deficiency. Get b12 losenges from your local wal-mart (I use the biggest doseage I can find) and pop them in the feed on a regular basis when you notice bucky flavor. Or, do B-complex losenges/injections.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Cobalt is a precursor of B Vitamins. I got a cobalt block that I put out every now and again to prevent deficiencies.

[mygoat]

I wish I could find a cobalt block. I haven't seen them yet. They're usually a blue/purple color, aren't they?

The losenges work well for me - as they are actually like a tablet that dissolves quickly in the mouth. They taste great and my dairy goats love them, so it works well for me.

[prairie song]

off tasting milk can also be caused by a lack of vitamins A D & E. i notice this most often, after several months of the goats lactation cycle, and in the fall months, a shot of A,D,& E , usually fixes it by the next milking.