Anybody got milk goats?

[renee819]

I got a notice from the people where I get raw milk from, that they are having financial problems and may have to quit selling milk. I love milk, don't want to do without it.

I have thought of getting a goat. I had a goat once for about a year. The milk was fine. I did find out that you have to chill it fast. But I don't like the smell of the milk or the aftertaste. Has anyone had experience with this.

I have tasted goats milk that tasted almost like cows milk, but it still had a little aftertaste. And I have read that the Sannan or Alpine had the best tasting milk.

anyone got any information on this?

[RandyWayne]

My opinions on milk is well known here (yuck!!!) -and like milk from other animals even less, but when talking about cheeses, I love cheese made from goats milk! I would get one for that one reason alone!

[MawMaw]

Titus2Woman can probably help you with this,
if she comes back sometime soon.

I'm like RW, I don't care for milk unless it's chocolate.

[Praxeas]

Originally Posted by renee819

I got a notice from the people where I get raw milk from, that they are having financial problems and may have to quit selling milk. I love milk, don't want to do without it.

I have thought of getting a goat. I had a goat once for about a year. The milk was fine. I did find out that you have to chill it fast. But I don't like the smell of the milk or the aftertaste. Has anyone had experience with this.

I have tasted goats milk that tasted almost like cows milk, but it still had a little aftertaste. And I have read that the Sannan or Alpine had the best tasting milk.

anyone got any information on this?

In sure someone near me has some goats to go along with their chickens

[KeptByTheWord]

I have a neighbor who has raised a lot of goats, and sold goat milk. She taught our kids 4H this year, and my kids learned a lot about milk goats. We hope one day to have one. If we do, it will most likely be a Saanen.

Apparently, one of the best milk goat to use are the Saanen goats. And you want to feed them alfalfa, as alfalfa feed is the best for milk production. However, all goat milk will have a strange taste if the goat gets into some bad weeds or grass. Try to keep them out of grass that has a lot of weeds in it. The Saanen goats produce more milk on average than other goats, and are a very calm, docile goat, which is also important!

And you are right, chilling the milk immediately after milking is the next best thing (besides being careful of what they eat) to have great tasting milk. After the milk has chilled, then you clean it.

This is information I just learned this summer after going through a 4H program with my kids

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by Lacey

Titus2Woman can probably help you with this,
if she comes back sometime soon.

I'm like RW, I don't care for milk unless it's chocolate.

I don't know if T2W has goats or not, but I'm sure she would be able to add some more helpful information! I do know she has cows.

[MawMaw]

Originally Posted by KeptByTheWord

I don't know if T2W has goats or not, but I'm sure she would be able to add some more helpful information! I do know she has cows.

Oh, okay, but I thought for sure I saw some little goats
in some of the pics she posted on her farm life!

[renee819]

M son, daughter in law,, an I share the same property, about 1 AC. their house is about 100 ft. from mine.

I have 10 chickens, and 2 rabbits. and a large chicken lot. One day my DIL called and said, :Mammaw, come go with me to buy 2 goat's," I looked at her, puzzled, and asked, "why in the world do we need 2 goats?"
The answer was, for the 2 grandchildren, ages 4 and 5.

But she wanted Nigerian Dwarfs. so I said, "Well if we're going to get goat's let's get milk goats." But she wanted the little ones. So we did. One of then can now be bred. And the lady that sold them to us, said that they have he best milk. I don't believe it, so I asked a man that had raised goats. He said "No, they do not."

I feel like I am feeding 2 goats for no good reason. The Grchildren doesn't pay any attention to them. She buys the feed and I do the feeding of all the animals. Which I love to do.

My question is, is there anyone on here that has tasted ND goat milk? Is it good?

[JRK]

You can milk ND goats...it's like milking a mouse, but it can be done. Their milk has the highest butterfat content of any breed though & it's really sweet. They don't give alot but what you get is great for cheese, ice cream, or creamer for coffee. They breed year round & even the bucks are sweet. OTOH, saanens are great @ giving alot of milk. My two favorite breeds are ND &Nubian or nubian crosses. I wll warn anyone interested in goats to have very good fences. Hope this helps.

[renee819]

Originally Posted by JRK

You can milk ND goats...it's like milking a mouse, but it can be done. Their milk has the highest butterfat content of any breed though & it's really sweet. They don't give alot but what you get is great for cheese, ice cream, or creamer for coffee. They breed year round & even the bucks are sweet. OTOH, saanens are great @ giving alot of milk. My two favorite breeds are ND &Nubian or nubian crosses. I wll warn anyone interested in goats to have very good fences. Hope this helps.

Thanks JRK, Does the milk have a goaty taste? Goat milk ice cream to my surprise was about the best I ever ate, and did not have that goaty taste.
Also I like to make hand soap with goats milk.

I think the ND goat that we have is mixed with some other breed. I thought Nigerian Dwarfs were a real small breed. I just now took a yard stick out to measure her height. She wouldn't stand still but the nearest guess is about 22 in. to the top of her back.

I didn't know that they could be bred, year round. She is one year old and I think she is in heat now, but was going to try to wait until Nov. so that the baby or babies would come the last of April or even May would be better.