cow milk verses goat milk

[birdnutz]

Ok I know lot of people talk about milking a goat. I can't get past the smell. I got to talking to someone about breeding mini milk cows. Well I'm years behind/ I think this is the way I'll go.
http://www.miniaturejerseyassociation.com/HomesteadCows.htm

 

[ibpboo]

I agree with you on the smell. Haven't read the article yet, but that sounds like a plan!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

If you can afford to buy a cow and a bull, it would be a great plan. If you cant keep both, the odds of finding another mini Jersey bull to breed her to would probably be slim.
Dexter cattle are another small breed you night consider, and are much more common, so should be cheaper.

 

[nightshade]

Well first off if it smells then some one is doing something wrong. It should not smell goatie if it is taken care of and the milking done in a clean enviroment. If it does either the milk is not being strained, kept cold, chilled fast enough after milking, the milking is done in a dirty place or possibly there is a male goat in with the milking females. Personally I prefer raw goat milk over the store boughten cows milk I was raised on.

I had thought about getting a mini cow before we got our goats but the cost chased me away. I could not see where spending that much on one heifer then having to pay to have it bred was a feazible (spelling?) for our family. It was a more for the cheese, ice cream and hubby and son to drink then me. I don't like plain milk, and I have never drank a lot of milk.

Then we got our dairy goats and truthfully I drink more raw goat milk then I have ever drank regular milk in my life. I love it and it makes the best darn hot coco ever.

 

[Dawn419]

Thanks for posting that link!

Skip and I have been talking about doing a few mini's whenever we move out to AR and I didn't realize Jersey's were included. I grew up around them (full-sized) on my Uncle's dairy farm and have always loved that breed because of their sweet, gentle temperment!

I've never had goat's milk but we love raw cow milk and are able to occassionaly trade a neighbor a dozen or two of our eggs for fresh milk.


Dawn

 

[Chef]

I actually just tried goats milk for the first time recently. I like cows milk, but the thought of goats milk kinda grossed me out. Don't know why

Well like I said I tried it and it was FREEKIN AWESOME

It was better than cow's milk. Very good. If you havn't had it and get the chance TRY it you'll be pleasantlly surprised.

Cheers!
Chef

 

[birdnutz]

I agree on the cost difference. I was raised on raw milk as a child and love it. I even bought goats milk and could smell the difference. I was using it to hand feed baby racoons. Maybe it was all in my mind,but I could smell the difference.
I came across alot of breeders willing to sell semen to AI. So you could get your own bull in short order.
My toughts were if you had my luck: you could take the most sought after animal in the world. Buy them and not be able to sell anything. So< I figure I couldn't be the only one with this kind of luck. So I found this link.
https://www.domesticsale.com/Classifieds/205035.html

 

[VettekLisa]

We have a small farm near us that we buy raw goat's milk from, and
a farm about 2 hours away that we get raw cow's milk from.
There is almost no difference in taste between goat's milk and
raw cow's milk that I can tell, other than the cow's milk tastes
slightly sweeter.
I have never noticed an odor to any of the milk that we buy.

 

[kstaven]

We milk both cows and goats here and I would honestly say if there is a distinct odor or taste there is something wrong. With goats it could also be as simple as what they are eating.

 

[luvmygirlsinAK]

I am sooo glad to hear all the good reports about goat's milk. Everytime I have tried goat's milk, I hated it. I really didn't even care for raw cow's milk, until we finally found someone who has absolutely wonderful cow's milk. I mean it is incredibly good! We started out with someone who's cow had just come fresh, and it was wonderful, and then soon it started tasting bad sooner and sooner, until finally I couldn't even drink it after it was 2 days old. It was awful. There was obviously something wrong.
Then we tried a new place and it stays fresh for over a week, and like I said, is very good.

It is so costly, however, that we were searching for a way to get the costs down, and because we only have an acre, we started looking at the mini cows, but the cost to ship them up here was so much that we scratched that idea right away. Then my son started reading up about goats. He said that when things are done correctly, that the milk should taste just as good as cow's milk.

After reading these testimonials, it makes me think that it must be true. We now have 3 goats and are looking for a male to breed them, or to purchase one-I can't wait now.

One of the things that my son read about was to use a double pail system with a layer of ice in the bigger pail so that it is cooled down right away as it is being milked.

So glad this topic was brought up!! Thanks!