So it tastes weird. and it could be that i am just not accustomed to goat milk. i recall that when i first had free range farm eggs i couldn't eat those straight, so i would mix them with store eggs til i got used to the flavor. this is also from the doe that lost premature kids about 10 days early.
here is the routine
i milk into glass jars, clean them in the dishwasher or hot soapy water in the sink. it takes me 10 minutes from goat to fridge.
6 days fresh, both sides taste the same. i feed a meat goat developer as that is all that is available in goat feed without being medicated, boss, alfalfa pellets, and hay. at each milking she gets 9 oz goat feed, 1/4 boss, big handful alfalfa pellets, free choice hay and minerals and fresh warm water after each milking.
i wash the udder with warm soapy water, dry and milk. i strip out the first 4 or five squirts into strip cup. at 5 days fresh 18.8 oz.
milking right side is fine, when i milk the left side, the side i sit on, she raises her leg, doesn't kick or anything, just raises it most of the time, not all the time. she doesn't act like it hurts, doesn't seem to complain. now this is a first for me so i am not sure how things should be. her udder when full is warm to touch, but doesn't feel screaming hot or hard. now when milked out, there is tissue in both sides about the size of a chicken egg, but i believe it is normal as it is the same on both sides. she is in a seperate pen near the buck but they do not share a fence so i don't it's the buck.
i started out not using a teat dip, then sprayed on iodine, but i can't tell a difference either way. i put down new straw every other day and fluff it on the day that i don't put it down. i have a shelf that is off the ground that she uses also.
I never found the placenta, so i can only assume that she cleaned it up. i know it is normal, but she is passing a brownish mucus but it doesn't smell bad. she also had cdt a month before kidding.
i guess what i am wandering about is could it be sub clinical mastitis, and what i should do for it. i spent last night reading the archives, and i think maybe the peppermint, eucalyptis, tea trea oil balms.
any suggestions appreciated. thanks james
here is udder at this mornings milking. i got 11 ounces.
Replies
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I figured it must be a financial reason. Just one of the many reasons I'm firmly in favor of dam-raised kids.
The truth? Because they won't give up the money from that milk. By the time it is added to the other hundreds of gallons of milk and all they do to it, no one is going to be able to taste the "off" taste.
Better is the question is why are they allowed to put milk back "on line" until a certain number of days have passed.
Julieanne Cook said:
Well now I'm wondering why dairies put does in the milk parlor so soon after freshening.
yes it is beginning to taste better, made some cheese and it was pretty good.
the buck pen is about 30-40 foot away.
however there is some improvement. now i don't know if it is actually improvement or i am getting use to the taste, but it is tasting better. so i believe that as the days go and she gets further into the lactation it will improve.
is there a buck near when you milk ?
An udder infection would be mastitis, which makes the milk salty, plus the udder would be hot and lumpy, and you'd probably see strings or chunks in the milk.
I doubt the feed will make a difference. I've never heard anyone say that a certain type of goat feed or hay caused their milk to taste bad. When I've heard about feed and off-tasting milk, it usually involves a wild plant or something that the goat got into once, so the owner saw an obvious and sudden change.
I really haven't consumed milk from our goats very early in lactation, so I am still hoping the taste improves for you soon!
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