The twins are just over two weeks old. I held them off of Ginger overnight last night, and milked her this morning. The milk tastes "off" to me. Not goaty, but tangier than it did when I bought her in milk. Do you think this might be partly to do with the timing? Will waiting to drink the milk help? Or should I be trouble shooting for other factors? I washed her udder, chilled the milk quickly, strained it... all that. It's definitely not quite as tasty as it was when I bought her.
UPDATE 6/12/12:
I milked again today, stripped 10 squirts off of each side, and STILL have a tang in the milk. It's def. not seeming as creamy as it was last time she was in milk.
I have changed her diet some since the last time she was in milk. Changed grains... I switched to Purina Goat Chow... and the amounts of alfalfa are lower... should I increase her alfalfa? I've been using the stanchion to grain her... I might be able to get some alfalfa pellets into her there.
Her udder seems fine to me... No hardness in the udder or signs of mastitis in the milk. I did get less than last time, but I wasn't trying to milk her out, because her babies go after her as soon as they are re united.
Also: When she kidded, she had damage to her nerves in her back end. She can walk better, but she's still more stiff than she was pre kidding. I have to lift her onto the stanchion to milk, or she can't get up on it. She was perfectly able when she was in milk last time.
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Thank you, Glenna! A massage might feel good, but I don't think it's going to make much of an improvement on her legs. The damage is because of the size of the first kid, and the second kid being breech. There was damage to the nerves in her back end (assuming that she is like other cases seen in sheep with large babies) I'm pretty sure the damage will heal itself to some extent, because it already has a little bit. It seems to me that the issue is deeper than muscle, and more in the joints. Can't hurt to massage her though. She'd HATE the chopping thingy.
I went looking for videos/directions on how to give a goat a massage as that might help her. There are lots of videos about goats giving massages (one video has been posted beaucoup times!) but this is all I could find about them getting one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8isghOk9Ok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7YljIhYrTc&feature=player_embed...!
One is patting and the other is rubbing - you might try a bit of each to see if she enjoys either and it helps her feel better.
Well, I think the "tang" is just me tasting that it's not very creamy. I was hoping it would get more creamy if I waited, and it sounds like it will. I may just milk her, (to get the practice and keep up her supply) and give the milk to the puppy. :) Until it gets more creamy. It's def. NOT goaty. It's just different, and not as sweet... tangy is the only descriptor I could think of that matches.
I'm not even sure where to begin LOOKING for something like an animal chiro... lol She's def. stiff though. WAY better than she was immediately after kidding... but not nearly as agile. lol
Milk not as creamy is simply stage of lactation. Butterfat goes up towards the end of lactation and is the lowest around 6 weeks when production is highest. Not sure about the tang though. :(
Hopefully her back will improve. That's a bummer. Maybe she needs a goaty chiropractor?
UPDATE: I milked again today, stripped 10 squirts off of each side, and STILL have a tang in the milk. It's def. not seeming as creamy as it was last time she was in milk.
I have changed her diet some since the last time she was in milk. Changed grains... I switched to Purina Goat Chow... and the amounts of alfalfa are lower... should I increase her alfalfa? I've been using the stanchion to grain her... I might be able to get some alfalfa pellets into her there.
Her udder seems fine to me... No hardness in the udder or signs of mastitis in the milk. I did get less than last time, but I wasn't trying to milk her out, because her babies go after her as soon as they are re united.
Also: When she kidded, she had damage to her nerves in her back end. She can walk better, but she's still more stiff than she was pre kidding. I have to lift her onto the stanchion to milk, or she can't get up on it. She was perfectly able when she was in milk last time.
Yes, not doing first squirts can sometimes make milk taste goaty. Used to drive me crazy the first few years because sometimes the milk was great and sometimes it was terrible, and I had no idea why! I had never heard you were supposed to do a couple squirts in another container initially. Now, about the only time we have goaty milk is if my daughter didn't do first squirts.
On a bright note, I didn't completely milk her out (because the girls were there to finish for me, and were hungry) and I still got nearly two cups, which means she's most likely giving 1 quart a day!
You know... now that I think about it... I forgot the strip cup. Would that do it? I sure hope so!! :)
And you did first squirts into a different container? Nothing else is jumping out at me, especially since you were milking her before.