# Will bucks taint the milk?



## freemotion (May 19, 2009)

I have always "known" that keeping a buck with your milking does will give the milk a "goaty" flavor.  Now I wonder if that is an old wives' tale.

Who has REAL LIFE experience with this?  Who keeps a buck with does that are lactating and has perfectly sweet milk, even when the buck is in season?

I also know that what the doe eats will flavor her milk.  Looking for buck cologne info here, please!

BTW, I don't have a serious dairy situation here, just a couple of does and I am considering getting my own buck so I can keep a closed herd.  But I live in suburbia.  How bad does it get?


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## Chirpy (May 19, 2009)

It was AWFUL!    I had to bring a buck here last December to breed one of my does who has silent heats.   I was milking her at the time - I ran him with her for a full month to catch her heat cycle.   We, literally, couldn't drink the milk because of the bucky/goaty taste.     Her milk actually continued to taste bad for a full day after he left... boy, did we miss that month of milk.    My dogs and chickens and cats, on the other hand - have asked to have the buck brought back so they can have all that milk again! 

Not to mention how badly my barn smelled while he was here.  Just walking into the door was enough to have us making faces.  I had already known that I didn't want a buck here permanently that just confirmed my personal thoughts.


When I took my other doe to a buck to be bred her milk was also off/goaty for almost two days after she came back here.

IF, I ever decided to have a buck here I would have a totally separate barn/shed for him that was a llllooooonnnnngggg way from my girls!


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## freemotion (May 19, 2009)

Whoa, I think that confirms it!!!!  Thanks!


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## miss_thenorth (May 19, 2009)

So, just to clarify on FM's post and add a question of my own--if the buck was penned up separate, but near the does, would that beclose enough to taint the milk, and only introduce the buck  for breeding?  How far away does the buck need to be??

Miss, gonna get goats soon, and also want a buck.


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## freemotion (May 19, 2009)

Yeah, that is what I was thinking, too.


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## Chirpy (May 19, 2009)

> So, just to clarify on FM's post and add a question of my own--if the buck was penned up separate, but near the does, would that beclose enough to taint the milk, and only introduce the buck  for breeding?  How far away does the buck need to be??


Good questions.  My personal experience was with having the does IN with the buck.  However, I have multiple breeder friends who all milk and they all keep their bucks either in separate buildings or one keeps her buck at the very furthest end of the same building (and that one is a large barn).

I also know that people don't generally milk their does anywhere near a buck because the milk can actually take on the bucky flavor from it just being in the air (just like milking near a stack of hay can change the flavor of milk).

So - I'd guess that you should have at least several pen widths between them if you are going to milk; and then, make sure your milk stand isn't in the same part of the barn or in the same barn.

Hopefully someone with personal experience with a buck and milk does will chime in here.


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## doo dah (May 19, 2009)

I hang out on a goat forum and some of the people there keep their bucks with the does (dairy) with success.  The trick is to milk the does away from the buck and any bad smells, once milk is out of the doe it picks up bad flavors easily from strong smells.  I myself asked about the milk being off-flavored by food, they said the only thing they've noticed making bad milk is wild garlic.


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## helmstead (May 19, 2009)

I have never had a problem - doing all of the above (from a doe in milk being in with the buck for breeding, to the fact that they all live in close proximity).  The milk is always sweet.

My bucks, though, aren't especially stinky.  Yeah...when they're in rut you can tell, but you can't tell from very far away.  You pretty much have to be right next to them.  Dunno if that makes a difference.


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## Chirpy (May 19, 2009)

helmstead said:  





> My bucks, though, aren't especially stinky.  Yeah...when they're in rut you can tell, but you can't tell from very far away


That could possibly make a difference.  The buck I had absolutely reeked... I could smell him really strongly just opening the barn door and he was 45 to 50 feet away AND around a corner!  He was an Alpine breed.


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## kstaven (May 21, 2009)

Our Toggenburg buck doesn't have a strong odor and runs with our does year round. We have never had an issue with off-taste or smell in the goat milk.

So I would have to say it is case dependent.


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## Rence (May 22, 2009)

If the buck is in rut and stinky and the doe can smell it, it will give a goatie taste to the milk. In my experience, it's not just when the milk comes out of the doe an in an environment with the goatie smell, although that will definitely make the taste off too. So you want your milking environment to be free of odd smells too. But it's if she can smell it too that also imparts that goatie flavor to the milk.

My bucks are at least 200 feet away from my milking does, it may not have to be that far, but that's just what I have set up. Actually, I have one new buck that's only about 100 feet or less in one pen, and he's not in rut, and the milk is fine.

She can't be able to rub up against him, or touch him or smell him in any way, or you'll get that goatie taste.

That doesn't apply to wethers, or goat kids. You may be able to get away with keeping them closer if the buck is not in rut, but I haven't tried that. I just keep them separate. It's also advantageous to keep them separate so that you have a due date when the doe is ready to kid. I'll never run my buck with my does again (unless I have to). It helps me a lot to have a reliable due date.


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