# Milk Taste problem??



## kimsminis (Apr 2, 2009)

I have been milking Purebred French Alpines since they had their kids in March. For the first 3-4 months the milk tasted great, whether I made cheese, put it in hot coffee or drank it straight. Now during the last two months it is tasting real "goaty". I have not changed anything at all. Now when I add the milk to anything hot like coffee or oatmeal, it immediately tastes like goat. And it seems that within 24 hours of the milking the milk is tasting real goaty. 

Any ideas? 
:whatgoat:


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## Realfoodmama (Apr 13, 2010)

Any chance they are in heat? I know that my girl's milk gets a bit stronger in flavor during her heat cycle.

Also, have there been any changes in her diet? Different hay, less pasture, etc?


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## Suellen (Mar 9, 2008)

I have alpines and obers. We make cheese. I have found that sometimes if the weather changes abruptly the taste and quantity of the milk changes. We went for about a week with cold and rain the milk quantity dropped now we have warm weather again and the quantity has increased.

Suellen


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Different food due to the seasons changing might cause that, but also there is a lactation cycle, and the milk changes as time goes by. My milk still tastes great, but I notice when I make chevre it makes a lot more than earlier in the season. They are making quite a bit less milk and it has a higher percent of solids in it. Since individual animals are different I am thinking it might be a characteristic of your goats, or one of them, and the lactation cycle. If you mix their milk it might just be one of them, you could try to see if it is all or one or some.

Jan


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I agree , it can be any number of things affecting the flavor, from the weather to the quality of browse.
Jan also made a good point, the longer a doe is in lactation and towards the end of "natural" lactation, the milk will change....and the beginning of the breeding season starts right around August which in some cases and in the wild it signals a doe to start weaning to prepare for the next kids. It may not even apply to domesticated goats because most will milk 10 months then be dried off to prepare for the next freshening. Is the milk from all does combined? Maybe try keeping it separate to pinpoint which doe is giving the stronger milk.


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## kimsminis (Apr 2, 2009)

So at 10 months of milking, should I stop milking? Do they freshen only in the spring and fall? We did not breed them this fall? They kidded this past March. Should I stop milking in January? give them a break, then breed them in March? 

onder:


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Since they're not bred you can continue to milk...the quantity and quality will change though.
I'm not so sure you can have them bred in March...I believe that Alpines, like most standard bred goats are seasonal breeders, they only come into heat from late August to January/February.


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

Some goats will milk through and some won't. But if you decide to breed them you need to do it soon. As Liz says, you won't be able to breed them in March most likely. I understand that sometimes the dairy bucks will be totally uninterested in a doe in season at the "wrong" time of year, they aren't always in rut either. 

Mine are Kinders, and I am not very many years into it, so I am working on figuring out which lines will milk through and which won't. I want to concentrate on the ones that will milk through. I care more about that than about milk volume. Last year I ended up with them all dried up and had no milk all winter, and that was horrible. But if the milk is bad I guess it doesn't matter. I really would check each goat's milk individually before deciding.

Jan


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

LOL... I have a pygmy/nigi doe that last freshened in February of 08...I decided to retire Bootsie at that time because she was 8 years old and my first goat, too close to my heart to have something go wrong if I bred her with advanced age. Anyhow, Bootsie went from giving me a quart a day for 5 months to a little more than a pint for the following 19 months...milk stayed sweet, just not much of it so I dried her off after a 2 year lactation. Now she's my #1 hayburner at 10 1/2 years old.


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