Nigerian Dwarf Milk Drinkability... and maybe some other things.

[xa.logan]

This is something I posted on a thread a few days ago but its a bit of a different topic and that other thread could go on forever, so I've edited it and reposted with this topic line.

Alright,

I've been doing a bit more research on this topic and finally found out that ND's milk fat content can be up to 8-10% but averages around 6. The milk is supposedly DELICIOUS and I can imagine that to be true. But I was reading that some people have a bit of trouble drinking it daily (besides the obvious potential for weight gain) and using it for common milk purposes (cereal, for example). So that leads me to these questions:

1) Do any of you drink ND milk on a daily basis and use it commonplace? If so, have you tried methods to water it down at all?
2) I was reading into crosses, and I really like the idea of a mini-mancha, but I'm more-so curious if having two goats of different breeds will cause "goat tension".
3) I known that Nigerians are great because of their ability and desire to breed year-around. Do ND hybrids seem to have the same ability to breed year-round?

Thanks in advance for all your help! You guys are the best.

 

[OneFineAcre]

We have ND's and use the milk daily. We are not big milk drinkers, but use it in our cereal every day.

It tastes very good. The fat in goats milk is different than cows milk, so I dont' know if you have to worry about weight gain, but I have to admit, our daughter is very thin so we don't have to worry about that.

We can tell the difference in butter fat in different animals, we made some butter tonight because Taffy has a lot of fat and it seperates more.

 

[meme]

There is a whole lot of misinformation about fat out there. I would not worry a bit.

http://www.eatnakednow.com/eatnaked/2013/05/08/the-fat-question-why-fat-doesnt-make-you-fat/

 

[Tiss]

I have had ND milk and also have a mini-mancha. I would not worry about tension between breeds. The ND milk is delicious and great on cereal, so is the mini-mancha's. I wouldn't water it down- that's what my Alpine's milk is like and I don't like it as much.

My mini has a seasonal heat cycle like her full-blooded sisters.

I'm glad someone posted about fat (the right kinds of fat) not making you fat. I read a study that skim milk is more likely to make you fat than whole milk so drink away!

This is not the article I was looking for, but it captures the gist of it.

http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/cholesterol/is-skim-milk-making-you-fat-1?GT1=31007

 

[xa.logan]

Welp.. You've done it, OFA. I'm sold on ND's.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

We have 2 ND does and use the milk for everything. Drinking, cereal, cooking (made biscuits and gravy just the other day with it), making cheese and yogurt... The only thing I don't do is mix it with hot coffee. Don't know why, but that seems to give it a "goaty" flavor. It does fine in iced coffee and in hot cocoa, just not in hot coffee. ??

My kids love to drink the milk and had no problem switching over. I have a super strong sense of taste and can sometimes rarely tell it's goat milk (it has to have been sitting and also shaken quite a bit), but most of the time I can't. We actually have a hard time getting that flavor into the chevre cheese when we make it. lol.

We also drink it raw. I don't know if the flavor and/or fat content changes if you pasteurize it. We drink it for the health benefits, so raw works for us.
-K

 

[started*with*chickens]

Suburban Farmer-What do you feed your goats? I'm sure taste can vary from goat to goat but I also wonder if what you feed them helps with a 'milder' flavor? We aren't milking yet but right now we feed sweet feed, a little cracked corn and alfalfa pellets (we mix it up and feed it to the mini-heifers too) and a few cattle cubes but I don't think the goats eat many of the cubes. Then they have hay (a good quality) available all of the time.