still struggling with milk taste

[Suburbanfarmer]

Ok, so nothing is helping.

Here is our newest idea: I went to the feed store today and the lady there has had goats so we got talking. She thinks it's the Alfalfa (I'm feeding pellets). I did a little looking around and found this on another forum:

One of my goats will have milk that tastes wonderful initially, but after a day or two in the fridge it will taste goaty. It is not a temperature thing at all, other goats milk is staying sweet and wonderful for a least a week. I read that this is because that goat has more lipase (an enzyme that breaks down fat) in her milk and this happens even with refridgeration. In fact you can add lipase to cheese recipes for strong flavored cheese. However, the book (Goat Medicine) says that the lipase can be increased with some types of food such as legumes, clover, alfalfa. I think in this doe's case, she is really sensitive to alfalfa pellets. When I increase the alfalfa pellets, we get the short life span milk. The last few days, I have not given her the pellets and only give the alfalfa in haybale form. So far so good.

Any thoughts? I'm going to pull my doe off of the alfalfa and see what happens.

-K

 

[ksalvagno]

Sounds like taking away the pellets is a good start.

 

[Catahoula]

Very interesting. Please keep us posted.

 

[Harbisgirl]

Very interesting. Please keep us posted.

X2

 

[autumnprairie]

Very interesting. Please keep us posted.

X2

X3

 

[sunny]

Milk that won't keep is also how you tell that your goat has sub-clinical staff. You can send a milk sample to LSU for testing.

 

[imtc]

Taste can depend a lot on diet. Are yours grazing at all? What kind of feed do you use? (mixed grains, straight goat pellet). Other than chilling it immediately you could add a little wheat germ oil to her feed (should remove any off flavor in milk and will also make her coat shine). It comes in gallon size at the feed store. Another thing might be to add molasses to her feed (either fresh you pour in the grain or feed that already has it on it like a sweet horse feed).
My goats don't have much grazing available so I pretty much control their entire diet. I mix my own grains and also feed alfalfa and their milk is wonderful even after a week or so. My mix is (a multi-species grain, alfalfa pellets and sunflower seeds). Sometimes I change it up a bit with adding sweet horse feed or steamed rolled oats.

 

[mama24]

Interesting. If, in fact, this is caused by lipase, I doubt there is much you can do other than get rid of that goat and get a new milker or start pasteurizinf her milk. I personally have had lots of experience with lipase issues, but in my own milk. I could not pump and freeze like most mothers easily do b/c freezing doesn't stop the lipase from working. My milk smelled and tasted soapy after a few days of being in the fridge or freezer unless I pasteurized it first. Pasteurization kills most of the beneficial enzymes and good bacteria. I hated doing it.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Yes, please send a sample off to be tested for mastitis. It's cheap, easy, and is likely to be the culprit.

 

[Suburbanfarmer]

Yes! I just tasted the milk that is almost 48hrs old and it is still good!! Whoo Hoo! This is the longest we have been able to keep milk.

I took our doe off of alfalfa about 4 days ago, so the milk that I just tasted was from 2 days after the last alfalfa. What a difference!

Yeah!

I'm guessing that the longer she is off alfalfa the longer her milk will keep. It's just such a relief to finally find the culprit.

-K