New Dairy Goat-Am I Doing it Right?

[rodriguezpoultry]

I love raw milk and raw cheese so I think it would be ok. We have a local dairy that is licensed for raw milk sales so I'm not too concerned about the raw milk/ raw cheese food.

I will tell you, it took me a second and some "steeling" breaths to drink some of the milk. I knew I did everything right, but I'll be darned if I wasn't a little scared.

I also found out that the store bought milk tastes NOTHING like actual goat milk a few hours out of the goat. It's going to take me a bit longer to get used to the flavor again! LOL!

 

[Latestarter]

You'll also notice that the flavor might change a bit over time as she changes what she's browsing on. Some days my milk almost has a flower like scent, other days, no scent at all, and sometimes it's just a little "off". Not too bad to drink (if I had to), but those batches would be better for cheese making

 

[Southern by choice]

LS is right, browse will affect taste if she gets into onions etc. Most of the time an off flavor is due to cobalt deficiency.
Chilling the milk as fast as you can will preserve flavor.
If it is sporadic it can be browse or higher SCC.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Please forgive my ignorance, what is "SCC"?

 

[Southern by choice]

Somatic Cell Count- These articles explain best
https://www.uaex.edu/publications/PDF/FSA-4002.pdf
https://extension.psu.edu/somatic-cell-counts-how-low-is-too-low

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I think it's more of me getting used to the taste again. I used her milk for dunking some of my GF oreos and the milk tasted AMAZING. I'm just used to the Lactaid milk that has the Lactase in it. It makes the milk "sweeter" than normal dairy milk.

I just didn't realize how sweet it was until now.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

We use to use that but it ended up not being such a great mineral. There is a trace of cobalt that is why it is listed in the general ingredients but it has no value.

Not sure what region you are in but Southern States Wethershed Traditions 2:1 Beef mineral is good.
https://www.southernstates.com/cata...itions-weathershed-21-beef-mineral-50-lb.aspx

Southern, I just wanted to follow up on the minerals. I took your advice on it. Unfortunately, Southern States is not readily available where I am, but I was able to locate this item which was suggested on another forum.

Is this an OK mineral supplement for them?
https://bluebonnetfeeds.com/content/mineral/tech-master.pdf

 

[Southern by choice]

I would be careful with the calcium phosphorus ratio. You really want a 2:1 or greater... even 3:1
Probably ok if you are feeding an alfalfa diet.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Yes, she has access to alfalfa and browse as well.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

I've been trying to incorporate more alfalfa into her diet as she's looking a bit rough lately. She's giving me a steady half gallon or just over a half gallon on 1x per day milking.

She absolutely refuses to have anything to do with the pellets and is being picky about the hay I'm giving her. The rabbit pellets that I have are mostly alfalfa-based and she will scarf those down.

Could I give her the rabbit pellets with the rest of her special milking meal? (14% senior horse feed, rabbit pellets, rolled oats, beet pulp and BOSS)

She eats approx. 2 quarts a day of her milking meal...as long as I stand by her and pet her. Otherwise she's off after I'm done milking.