# tangy milk



## vegaburm (Jun 10, 2011)

So I keep tasting my doe's milk each day. Babies are now 2 1/2 weeks old. Could I still have lingering colostrum? About a week ago the tangy flavor seemed stronger than it is now, but it is still quite noticable. My kids are noticing it, even when I am sneaky and they don't see that I put it in. Then they won't drink it. It's not terrible. I will drink it, but it is not what I was hoping for either. I would like it to simply be colostrum still as that will eventually go away! To describe the flavor, it is not an aftertaste, it is more on the front end, like you taste it as soon as the milk hits your tongue. Then the second and third taste it is less and less noticable. It is tangy, not as sweet as what I tasted before at the breeders house, and might have a slightly hay-like flavor. The doe is a ND. 

My doe does not have access to any weeds really that would flavor the milk. She gets her grain each day that is a mix of Bartlett pelletts, oats, Sunflower seeds, and wheat. She gets some alfalfa pellets and a tsp of Red raspberry leaves, tsp comfrey, 1/8 tsp vit c, a carrot, and every few days a tsp of the hoeggers herbal tonic. Also gets Molly's Herbal Wormer once a week. 

There are no bucks anywhere around to add their flavor. We don't own one at all. 

I sanitize al my milking equipment right before milking and have that milk strained and chilling within 5 minutes or so. 

I do milk in the goat shed, in a separate stall that I use for milking and food storage. There is a hay bale or two in there. Could just milking in the shed cause an off flavor? maybe I will try milking her outside tomorrow just for a test, but I really don't want to haul the milk stand in and out of the barn every day. I don't have a good covered area to keep it outside all the time. Or anything like a garage or carport where I could take her to milk. 

Anything I haven't already thought of???? This is my first experience so I admit to being new to this!+


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## goodhors (Jun 10, 2011)

I guess I would back off with the additives, try "restarting her" with plain hay for a couple days, see what I have for flavor in the milk.  I have had several flavors of goat milk, and some was just awful.  None of these goats were fed alike, different farms.  I saw why a lot of folks don't like goat milk!  I am not a big fan, but figured I should give it a try.  Millions of folks survive on goat milk, can't be all bad!

The milk I like best was from a goat fed like a cow.  She got excellent alfalfa hay, grazing, and some plain grain with goat minerals.  At the time, this was how good milk goats were kept.  Old farmer lady had always kept her goats cared for this way.  Don't know the goat breed or cross, just a goat to me!

Other goats I knew were fed scraps from the house, fruit peels, vegtable stuff.  Not garbage, but trimmings from garden produce.  Have to say the milk was variable, depending on what they stuff were fed.  They had a nice pasture for grass, nice hay of various types, depending on what owner purchased.  Not quite as good to my taste, but certainly clean and healthy milk.  Again, no special breeds, just goats kept for the children who were allergic to cow milk.

Both places had very good milk handling methods, all clean containers, parlor and stalls.

With everything you have named as feed, perhaps a combination of things is happening.  Will take removal from her food to make you able to decide what is flavoring it.  

With goat on just hay, you can work thru your list, add one thing for a couple days, see if flavor comes back.  If not, then make a choice and have one item be a permanent addition to feed.  Then work in the varioius other items again over time, one at a time, giving a couple days for the new additive to work thru the goat, see if change has an effect.  I would certainly log my efforts, if you want to make the milk more palatable for others.

Kind of drawn out, but really the only way to tell what is causing the issue.  Do you have good well water?  Around here there are often traces of sulpher, while other locations have other chemiclals in their wells.  That could be an issue in combination with certain feeds or additives for the goat.

Good luck with your detective work.  Sometimes just getting back down to quality basics like very good hay, then experimenting with the extras, will help solve a problem.


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## vegaburm (Jun 10, 2011)

I don't think I can have her on just hay. She IS feeding triplets. lol. I haven't been milking her a lot, just about 1/2 cup a day to check the taste. I also am pretty sure I can't milk her if she doesn't have her grain while I am milking. She gets pretty kicky. 

I didn't mention that she gets alfalfa hay each morning, and then when they finish off their alfalfa they get bermuda hay for the rest of the day.  I just can't afford to feed only alfalfa at 12 dollars a bale. 

I could feed just the grain mixture with the oats and wheat and such that is all mixed up and not add her herbs for a few days....but I will be really surprised if that tsp or so of stuff is the culprit. I think I will also try milking outdoors tomorrow just to see if it could be barn odors sinking in. 

BUT, since it has gotten less over the last week my biggest question is colostrum. Does anyone see it linger past 2 weeks post partum? Can that be different with different breeds? As I said she is a Nigerian.....


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 10, 2011)

I know with pygmies & Nigerians you can give them free choice alfalfa hay & 1 cup of BOSS per day and their milk will be sweeter & richer in butterfat content. The raspberry leaves & comfry might be what is giving that tanginess... you can also give her an apple a day. I would get her down to just the alfalfa(hay, pellets, or molasses misted shred), BOSS, and maybe carrot & apple. See if this changes her milk back to sweet.


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## AlaskanShepherdess (Jun 10, 2011)

I'm so glad to read this post, I've been dealing with carrot tasting milk (no carrots in diet) and a strong goaty flavor, when I'm doing things exactly the same as before, but as I read through this thread I realized there is one thing different. We have very hard water, and out water softener stopped working a couple months ago!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jun 11, 2011)

I'm having the same issue now. The same thing happened last year with my doe. She freshens with wonderful creamy mild tasting milk, and now it's tangy.  I've thought it could be a few things...she is now grazing and browsing more, it's hot so maybe she's not drinking enough water (their water trough sometimes gets warm), or maybe it's subclinical mastitis.  I've heard from others that sometimes staph can cause off tasting milk.   I've started feeding a little more hay, I've added water buckets to a spot in their pasture that is always shady, and I'll be sending in a milk sample to be tested.  

I really hope I figure out what the issue is, because it's pointless to milk a goat if you can't drink the milk!  :/


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## goodhors (Jun 11, 2011)

I did just read a suggestion for horse water in heat.  Studies show horses prefer cooler water in summer, but can be hard with tanks getting lots of sunshine.

Suggestion was to freeze water in bottles and add the frozen bottles to the tank when horses were outside to drink from the tank.  Seems to take the bottles a while to melt, so it will cool the tanks if they are not huge.  Then they refroze the bottles for the next use.

People adding the frozen bottles "said" their horses drank better with cooled water in the tanks.  Not exactly scientific, but tanks needed refilling more often.  One person saved water in not dumping the whole tank and refilling with well water daily (her horses were not drinking warm tank water at all).

Maybe alge would not grow as quick in cooler water tanks.


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## vegaburm (Jun 14, 2011)

An update....
So< i've given her only her grain and hay for 3 days now. I used to put a little bit of Apple cidar vinegar in her water, haven't done that. Today I milked outside the barn and carefully had the milk covered except while I was actually milking. It was only a half cup, so it was chilled very quickly. It STILL has that initial tang to it. AHHHHH! All this looking forward to being able to milk her and now I have milk that tastes weird. I am not a happy camper.


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## Our7Wonders (Jun 14, 2011)

Have you tasted any of her milk before this kidding?  I have read that some goats just produce an off tasting milk.  It may just be her.  Some breeds tend to have a stronger, goatier flavor but NDs usually are pretty high in butterfat and tend to be creamier and sweeter.  

If it's not feed related it could very well be her and there may not be much you can do about it.


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## Livinwright Farm (Jun 14, 2011)

Try just good quality alfalfa hay & 1 cup BOSS per day with nothing else. If this doesn't work to sweeten her milk up, then Our7wonders is probably correct about it being the doe. :/


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## AlaskanShepherdess (Jun 18, 2011)

Well I figured out how to get mine tasting better! I gave her Mother's Milk Tea to increase the amount of milk, so far no increase, but the taste is good now!


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## Our7Wonders (Jun 19, 2011)

CrownofThornsNDGoats said:
			
		

> Well I figured out how to get mine tasting better! I gave her Mother's Milk Tea to increase the amount of milk, so far no increase, but the taste is good now!


That's my favorite tea to drink when I'm nusring - I don't even care if it helps my milk supply - it tastes good!  I haven't given my goats the tea, but I give them a little fenugreek in with their grain at each feeding - it's one of the main ingredients in most nursing teas.


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## vegaburm (Jun 20, 2011)

Another update.....yesterday the milk tasted normal! Today too! Don't know why. I changed her food to a sweet feed, but that was like 4-5 days ago. She still gets other stuff, oats, alfalfa pellets, wheat bran, a carrot, all that was the same, but nothing changed that day before the milk was normal. who knows. Now I just need to get my hands stronger so I can milk faster. I am getting a little more than a cup and not nearly milking her dry. She gets so dancy though after a bit that I can't continue. But if I could milk faster it would be great! Thankfully her kids will empty her out for me now, so I have a month or so to build up my hand strength to speed up!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 6, 2011)

I had issues with tangy milk and someone on another forum mentioned it could be due to subclinical mastitis, namely staph.  I sent a milk sample and one half was clean but the other half came up positive for staph, but the amount said "scant".  I spoke with my vet and he sold me some Spectramast (teat infusion) and I treated her for 5 days.  The withdrawal period will be over on Saturday (5 days of treatment + 6 days of w/d= too long w/o milk!) and I am excited to see how it tastes.  I'm going to send another sample in on Monday just to make sure it's clean. 

So, keep in mind if for some reason your milk tastes off it could be something more than diet alone.


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## vegaburm (Jul 6, 2011)

Yes, I was worried about sub-clinical mastitis, but the taste cleared up before I even got the goat tests in the mail. I haven't bothered to test now that things are tasting fine....but I have it handy when I need it again!


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## Goatmasta (Jul 6, 2011)

My Dad milked cows many moons ago, and several years ago I had the same issue with the "tangy" milk.  He said that if you want good tasting milk that you bring the doe in and feed her a good hay about 30 mins before you milk.  That a animal that grazes will have tainted milk more times than not.  He also said that if you smell the goats (or cows) breath and it smells horrid, the milk will taste the same.  So you want to sweeten the breath, and in turn sweeten the milk.  It has always worked for us.


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## vegaburm (Aug 8, 2011)

Another update.....

So I've continued to have a bit of a green, haylike taste to doe #1's milk. It is not undrinkable like it was at first, but noticable. I'm adjusting to it, but it isn't my children's favorite. Doe #2 kidded about 2 1/2 weeks ago, so I just started milking her for real a few days ago. Her milk tastes noticeably different. No green taste, sweeter and very close to cow's milk, at least to me. Both are eating exactly the same diet. Milk handling is essentially the same. I milk the green tasting milk second so that it sits less time in hope that would help. still green. not in color, lol, just taste. This morning I did mastitis tests on them both, just to cover my bases. They are both clear. Doe #1's test may have had a tinge of color on it, but not even enough to register on the scale. I was using the tests made specifically for goats that Hoegger's sells. So, I think it is just this doe. I don't have any other explanation. I was very interested to see what would happen with #2 because if it was the same I would figure something in the food or handling was wrong, but with it being different I have to think it is just this doe. Any opinions?


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## kstaven (Aug 10, 2011)

Personally, I would still bet on a low grade infection.


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## Goatmasta (Aug 10, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

> Personally, I would still bet on a low grade infection.


Good chance.


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## vegaburm (Aug 12, 2011)

Even when using the SCC (somatic cell count) test and getting results way under 500,000?  < or + 500,000 is the lowest on the scale, and the faint tinge of color on the card wasn't even close to that. From my understanding it isn't even considered subclinical until reaching the next level up, the 1,000,000 mark. Not to be stubbborn about it. I am now giving her extra Vit C and immune booster, and using peppermint oil on the udder. Hoping that IF it was subclinical it will clear up on it's own with that care. I really don't want to do a teat infusion. this girl can be a beast just to milk, I can't imagine what she would be like doing that! Beside the fact that I hate to medicate unless I know I need to. Sure would like that flavor to go away though. Anybody have experience with non-chemical aids to this? Like the Vit C and dolomite?


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