Comparison of Sheep Milk vs Goat Milk

[FarmGuru]

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

 

[elevan]

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.

 

[freemotion]

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.

 

[kstaven]

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.

 

[FarmGuru]

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

 

[kstaven]

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.

 

[elevan]

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.

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.

 

[kstaven]

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.

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.

True. There is a flavor difference and a texture difference.

 

[wannacow]

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.

 

[zzGypsy]

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...?