Goats for Milk, Cheese & Meat

[MoonShadows]

For any of you who raise goats for milk, cheese and meat, how did you get started? What's a good resource to start learning about raising goats for these purposes?

OOPS! Just realized after I posted this, that I should have posted it in "Other Pets and Livestock."

 

[farmchick897]

I just started with dairy goats this year. Went with a Saanen, 2 Lamancha's and a Saanen/Lamancha cross. They were all young so had to wait to bred them, all had kids the last couple months. They are all fed same thing, milked the same, milk is filtered and cooled as quickly as possible. The results are... We like the Saanen (taste most like cows milk), the rest all taste goaty. Can't bring ourselves to like it despite making cheese, ice cream with it. You can still taste the goaty flavor. I'm not about to give up. Experimenting with type of grain, added alfalfa into diet although they have plenty of pasture. I have read that goat genetics can make the goat milk taste bad. I have also tested for all diseases.. Johne's, Brucellosis, CAE and CL. So can't be that.. My bucks are a Lamancha and a Nubian so I plan to keep both female kids and see how their milk taste. Couldn't find a Saanen buck. All my goats are sweet as can be and I really like them, i really hope I can change the taste on the 3, rather than get rid of them. My Jersey cow is due in Sept so we will see if we like her milk.

 

[MoonShadows]

You may be on the right path with the alfalfa. I was just reading an article today called "Milk, Cheese and More" in Grit Magazine (July/August edition), and the author was saying:

Quote:
We also just received in the mail yesterday from Amazon, Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats. Since we just started with chickens this year, we want to go through 4 seasons with them before we move on goats. This will also give us time to read, study and plan. We did the same thing before we got chickens and it was worth it. They have been a very pleasant, fun and enjoyable experience. We feel we avoided a lot of mistakes this way and were "ready" for them. We want to feel the same way before we get the goats.

 

[farmchick897]

Last year I leased a dairy goat, a Saanen, to make sure we could handle the full time milking and liked the milk. We loved it. The one pure Saanen I have now was from that same farm. Why would her milk taste so good on the same feed if it has to do with that? The other 3 came from the another farm, and all taste goaty. I was considering dry lotting the 3 and feeding only hay/alfalfa and grain to see if that changes flavor but I may wait until kids are weaned and we are into fall. Perhaps the goaty flavor is just what the Lamancha breed taste like? Also, my bucks are in separate field, the milking does with their kids have a whole pasture to themselves.

 

[MoonShadows]

You are right, it doesn't make sense about the Saanen under those circumstances unless it is something you are unaware of.. I was reading in The Goat Spot (http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/) that LaMancha's "normally produce a sweet good tasting milk". All this is so new to me, I couldn't even venture my own guess. Are you a member of a goat forum? That goatspot forum looks good, over 11,000 members and almost 50,000 threads. Maybe someone there might have some answers for you.

 

[farmchick897]

Thanks for the link! I will check it out!

 

[MoonShadows]

My pleasure! Let me know how you make out.

Here are a few more goat forums, although not as big as The Goat Spot.

Dairy Goat Info Forum - http://www.dairygoatinfo.com/
The Pack Goat Forum - http://www.packgoatforum.com/
Goat Talk Forum - http://www.goattalk.com/forum/index.php
Dairy Goat Forum - http://www.dairygoatforum.com/

 

[farmchick897]

So many possibilities... I'm going to try dosing them with B-12 and giving copper bolus today and see if any difference.

 

[MoonShadows]

Let me know how you (they) progress.

 

[farmchick897]

I usually milk my Saanen and put her milk in a jar and then machine milk the other 3 into same container. This morning I did each goat separate so I can start taste testing. My Saanen, Gracie, gobbled down grain with B-12 vit and Copper bolus in it as did my 1/2 Saanen (BoBo) but the Lamancha's left the bolus so they got it shoved down the throat. :/
I also changed grain mix somewhat.