# Comparison of Sheep Milk vs Goat Milk



## FarmGuru (Sep 23, 2011)

Hi All
What are differences in goat and sheep milk ? 
What products can be made better from sheep milk thn goat milk and vice versa


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## elevan (Sep 23, 2011)

My understanding is that one big difference is volume....you get a lot more milk from a goat compared to a sheep.

As to butterfat content - I'll leave that to someone experienced in both to answer.

Certain cheeses are specifically made from sheep's milk (as others are made from goat's milk).  I love cheese and imo while you can make the same type of cheese using different milks  - the end flavor will be different and not always in a good way.


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## freemotion (Sep 23, 2011)

Sheep's milk has more solids and thus there is a higher yield in cheese making.  They generally give less milk and have a shorter lactation, and if you want to milk them you really should consider a dairy sheep breed, and not just any old sheep.

Many fancy imported cheeses use a mixture of cow, goat, and sheep milk in the same cheese.


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## kstaven (Sep 23, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> My understanding is that one big difference is volume....you get a lot more milk from a goat compared to a sheep.
> 
> As to butterfat content - I'll leave that to someone experienced in both to answer.
> 
> Certain cheeses are specifically made from sheep's milk (as others are made from goat's milk).  I love cheese and imo while you can make the same type of cheese using different milks  - the end flavor will be different and not always in a good way.


End flavor of goat cheese and that really goaty taste is usually a function of old milk, not clean enough, or using lipase or to much rennet in the cheese. Lipase is totally unnecessary in things like goat Feta and gives the cheese a vile taste as it ages. If using a cow based recipe the rennet needs to be highly reduced. These are the two most common mistakes people make.


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## FarmGuru (Sep 24, 2011)

Is there different of taste even both are fed same feed ? I heard that goat milk has goaty flavor because of goat's weed eating interests


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## kstaven (Sep 24, 2011)

Diet can effect the taste. Typically goat milk is not as sweet as cows milk, given both are on a good diet and the milking parlor and handling is up to good standard.

But a distinct strong goaty flavor tells you there is something besides diet at play.


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## elevan (Sep 24, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

> elevan said:
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I'm not talking about goaty tasting cheese.

IMO (let's use Feta as an example) making that same cheese with cow's milk or goat's milk, the end result is slightly different in flavor.  (I've never had a pure sheep's milk Feta so won't compare it).  I don't like the cow's milk variety.  The taste is not the same.


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## kstaven (Sep 24, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> kstaven said:
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True. There is a flavor difference and a texture difference.


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## wannacow (Sep 29, 2011)

FarmGuru said:
			
		

> Is there different of taste even both are fed same feed ? I heard that goat milk has goaty flavor because of goat's weed eating interests


I'm new to goats, but have been milking a nubian since March.  Her milk is wonderful.  She is still giving enough for our family to use and I can make yogurt every 2 weeks.  I also have saanens, but have never tasted saanen milk.  They are both doelings.  The goats eat all sorts of leaves.  They ate itch weed, walnut leaves and honeysuckle.  (I'd read honeysucke makes the milk tast bad.)  We noticed no difference or bad taste with all the different leaves and weeds.  My husband and I thought there would be a big difference in the flavor of goat vs cow milk.  We had already been drinking raw cow milk for about a year, so there was no trouble switching over to goat.  DH prefers it.  We could probably tell the difference if we did a side by side comparison, but to go to the fridge and pour a glass of cold milk, I don't think anyone would know the difference.  (comparing raw of course.)  There's a BIG difference from store bought.  I really LOVE goat milk in my coffee.


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## zzGypsy (Oct 12, 2011)

I have and milk both sheep and goats...

we have LaManchas and a Kinder in the dairy goat herd (dairy breeds).
we have Lacouna/East Fresian (dairy breed) ewes and mixed sheep (some with the Lacouna/East Fresion lineage, some not) in the dairy sheep flock.  a few of our non-dairy ewes produce on a par with the dairy ewes, but most don't.

here's what I note as differences...
goats are MUCH easier to milk.  their teats are on the bottom of the udder and even those with small, non-ideal teats for hand milking can be milked until empty.
sheep have MUCH smaller teats in general, and they're half way up the udder, making it much harder to get a full milk-out.

this matters because it can be difficult to get a dairy goat to go OUT of milk.  sheep on the other hand, shut down production very quickly if not milked out fully every day.

I've had dairy goats stay in production for 18 months or until we force them to dry off.  sheep shut off production at 6 months lactation or after 3 days of incomplete milkdown.  

goats can produce much larger quantities.  our best milker is 2+ gallons a day on once-a-day milkings.  our best sheep milker is maybe 3/4 gallon on once a day milkings.  but that's better than our 1/2 gallon a day kinder goat.  on average, I think the goats outproduce the sheep 3-1.

our goat milk is NON goaty when fresh, in fact it's only goaty smelling the day before it turns.  the cheese we produce is not very goaty, chevre is milder than what you get in the store.  yogurt is more sour / lemony than store bought, but not goaty.  the dublin cheddar we made last year was not significantly different in flavor than what we've purchased (it's usually cow's milk) and definitely NOT goaty.  we over-age the goat feta to get a stronger flavor.

the sheep milk is richer, thicker, MUCH sweeter than either the goat or cow's milk... almost the consistency of eggnog. it's like sweetened, butter-colored half and half. it IS the thing that should go in your morning coffee or on your cereal.  which is why we've never made sheep cheese... it's what gets drunk first so there's not been enough left for much else.

we've made goat butter, it tastes like fresh butter.  we've made sheep butter - it's spectacular!  can't say exactly WHY it tastes better, but it definitely does.

goat milk is high in butter fat early in lactation but that drops off as lactation goes on (maybe 2.5 or 3 months we see a shift).  sheep milk stays higher in butterfat for the entire lactation.  it reduces over the lactation time also, but not as much, and it's richer to start with.  one way we estimate this is the filtering time... we pour the milk through the filter and if it's high butterfat the filter will clog up more quickly.  goat milk clogs the filter at about 1/2 gallon in the first 3-4 weeks of lactation.  sheep milk will clock the filter at 1/2 gallon for almost the entire lactation.

we've made goat mozerella and it tastes exactly like mozerella.

the dairy goat kids, if you're using them for meat, are not as fast growing as lambs, nor do they produce as nice or heavily muscled carcass.  and I like the taste of lamb better than goat.  I get twins and triplets from both my goats and sheep, so head count increase is about the same.

dollar for dollar, the goats eat less and make more milk.  but the sheep milk is spectacular.

I bought a milking machine this year so I can machine milk the sheep.  I'm hoping it will do a better job of getting the sheep milked down every day and keep them in lactation longer than I can do with hand milking.

did I leave anything out...?


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## SheepGirl (Oct 12, 2011)

According to my Sheep Production Handbook (page 104):

*Dry Matter*
Sheep: 17.4-18.9%
Goats: 11.9-14.0%

*Fat*
Sheep: 5.5-7.5%
Goats: 4.1-4.5%

*Alb. Glob.*
Sheep: 0.9-1.1%
Goats: 0.4-1.0%

*Casein*
Sheep: 4.3-4.6%
Goats: 2.5-3.3%

*Lactose*
Sheep: 4.3-4.8%
Goats: 4.1-4.4%

*Kcal/100g*
Sheep: 113
Goats: 77


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## wannacow (Oct 12, 2011)

That was very interesting.  Thanks for the info.  Now, I NEED to taste sheep milk.    My goat is leaving on Monday to get bred.  No more goat milk for 6 months...    At least we have raw cow's milk.


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## zzGypsy (Oct 12, 2011)

SheepGirl said:
			
		

> According to my Sheep Production Handbook (page 104):
> 
> *Dry Matter*
> Sheep: 17.4-18.9%
> ...


Ha! yeah, I left that part out...
but only because my books are still packed from moving....
handy reference, thanks!


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## kstaven (Oct 13, 2011)

> goats can produce much larger quantities.  our best milker is 2+ gallons a day on once-a-day milkings.


Better get this one on test because on a twice a day milking you would shatter every record for production there is.


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## zzGypsy (Oct 14, 2011)

kstaven said:
			
		

> > goats can produce much larger quantities.  our best milker is 2+ gallons a day on once-a-day milkings.
> 
> 
> *Better get this one on test *because on a twice a day milking you would shatter every record for production there is.


not sure what "on test" is... I'm just a home dairy person with pretty good goats.

Branbles is out of championship milk lines, her grandmother Creamy was a 3 gallon a day milker (on 2-a-day milkings).  she had an udder that quite litterally was to her ankles.... teats just barely off the ground.  looked like a cow udder in size.  I saw her right after her last kidding about 2 years before she died.
the gal who owned her, and bred my excellent dairy goat, did the show circuit with the grandma goat for quite a while - retired her with permanent champion status (? not sure I've got the terms right as I don't show.)  said she won every class she entered, probably on udder capacity.

ETA: on Brambles first freshening we milked her for 18months... at 18 months out she was still producing between 1 and 1.25 gallons a day on one-a-day milkings.  she was *tough* to dry off.  

one down side to this goat, she's produced singles twice now, (got two others that produce trips and one that produces twins).  but I've got two of her daughters, we'll see how they do production wise, the older of the two will be a first freshener this spring.


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## Godiva (Nov 28, 2011)

What an informative thread! I must say that I love sheep's milk cheeses, and yoghurt! But I would love to try it fresh!!!  I can't wait until we have our own land again and we can get some dairy animals going!!!!


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## Steve Quintavalli (Jun 12, 2018)

Wow, great stuff!  I have done a lot of internet research on goats and sheep but one thing I haven't been able to figure out is which breed of sheep has the best milk.  I understand the milking breeds but which ones are sweeter, creamier?  In goats, I have read that Nigerian dwarf goats produce really creamy milk, the best of all diary goats.  I also read that some goats produce more tart, if that is the correct description, milk like Nubians and toggenburgs...is sheep milk all the same tasting, regardless of breed or are there differences like goats?

My interest is in gelato and ice cream, my favorite aspect of diary....not a cheese fan unless it is a cheese burger or pizza....although my wife likes all those crazy cheeses (I just see it as a missed opportunity for more ice cream and gelato
: (


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## Donna R. Raybon (Jun 12, 2018)

FarmGuru said:


> Is there different of taste even both are fed same feed ? I heard that goat milk has goaty flavor because of goat's weed eating interests


No, nay, never, if all healthy and clean milking/prompt effective chilling to 33° 40°F.  Goat milk should taste like the BEST milk you ever wrapped your lips around.

Sheep have short teats and can be a pain to hand milk.  Fresian are now available in USA.  Having to shear twice a year is a royal pain.  Find some one doing what you want to do and visit.


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