# Another question about milk not setting up...



## AB2Goats (Apr 11, 2012)

We brought another load to have people try to make cheese.. They said again it wasn't setting up right so we have been trying to think of anything possible that would cause this. A month a go we ran out of our usual grain and had to feed Purina's Noble Goat Grower 16 which was medicated (we did NOT know this until after). My questions are 1) would decoquinate (what it's medicated with) affect making cheese? And 2) would it still even be in there systems a month later???


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

My vet had told me that using Deccox" Decoquinate" as a prevention in my own does would result in a 6 week max withdrawal time in the milk./ I chose not to use it.
The only thing I can think of with having milk set properly after renneting is that the temperature isn't high enough before renneting....IDK?


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## AB2Goats (Apr 11, 2012)

Thanks for replying... I wish we could figure this out it's driving us CRAZY!! I guess that could be what the problem is. I'm not sure if your familiar with the "snap test" for dairy cows, but we tried this with the goat milk and was coming back as "traces" of medication in the milk.. We know we haven't treated anything so we have to contribute it to something they've been fed? 

So tonight we tried a "simple cheese" recipe that was given to us.. Heat the milk, add vinegar and let it curd. We took a gallon out of our bulk tank (the milk is from last night & this morning) and it really didn't curd that good, the curds were soupy and just really tiny.. So we tried a gallon of fresh milk from tonight and that was even worse?? All of this is almost making me want to rip my hair out because we can't figure out what the problem could be?? Feeding the noble goat I guess could be it but I think we fed it between 4-6 weeks ago... we don't know what else to do or try???


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## potentialfarm (Apr 11, 2011)

I'm not an expert cheese-maker (by a long shot), but the only time I've had an issue with the milk not setting up properly was due to my rennet not being fresh enough ~ I didn't realize what a short life-span it had (even though refrigerated). That was a terrible frustration & after ruining so many gallons of milk... :hair: 
Not sure what type of cheese you were making w/the fresh milk & vinegar, but I've made ricotta this way, and the temp of the milk is really important with it coming out right... I'm really curious to know what's going on w/your situation, as it is still all a learning experience for me also.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

When making a simple cheese using vinegar to curdle the milk... after heating the milk then adding the vinegar...the curds are really small, like ricotta, I've made this cheese and have used a pillow case to drain it, cheese is great as a spread but it is supposed to have a tiny curd when using vinegar.


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## HorsehairBraider (Mar 23, 2011)

I have no idea if this is your cause, but... last year I was milking a neighbor's Alpine for them for a while, and tried to make cheese from her milk and it would not set up at all. Well, it was because she had a very mild form of mastitis. I treated her with antibiotics, waited the withdrawal time, and tried again. It formed a beautiful curd and was just lovely.

So you might want to consider that. I've got things I can test for mastitis with, and then I used "Today" to infuse the udder for the proper amount of time according to directions.

Good luck in getting the problem sorted.


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## AB2Goats (Apr 11, 2012)

We have thought of mastitis but none of our goats have it.. We also checked the somatic cell count and that was < 550,000... we talked to a man in our area who makes cheese for a living and he seems to think it's whatever medicine is showing up... Which would solve all our problems if we could figure out what's causing it!


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## jcopelin (Apr 17, 2012)

Depending on what stage of lactation your goats are in it can cause that to happen .


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## AB2Goats (Apr 11, 2012)

*Smells "yeasty..." Another question about milk not setting u*

We talked to the peole trying to use our milk today and they say the milk smells "yeasty" nim assuming they mean after they have tried to make the cheese because the milk itself does not smell??? What the heck could this be???? The milk tastes fine to drink??


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## AB2Goats (Apr 11, 2012)

I have been looking things up on the Internet and I'm just trying to think of all things possible... Could acidosis affect the milk and the way it would set up for cheese?? Would it give the milk a yeasty smell? We don't have any goats acting sick but I've read a few articles that say with mild cases it's hard to tell??


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## lissablack (Nov 30, 2009)

If these people are selling cheese it could ruin their business to be using milk that is not supposed to be used for human consumption - i e that medicated feed is a really bad idea, you shouldn't even be drinking the milk. I wouldn't think that would be what is making the milk odd, though.

I googled somatic cell count, and normal is under 200,000. Over 300,000 seems to indicate some likelihood of mastitis. This was the easiest link to look at http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/404/404-228/404-228.html. I know it's about cows, but I would expect it to be the same in terms of milk quality.

Some goats just have funny tasting milk.

I've never had rennet quit working, mine has always kept a long time, like two years.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

I'm referencing my cheesemaking book by Ricki Carroll.... in the troubleshooting section... excessive acidity will cause curd to not form correctly as well as give it an odd odor.... Rennet is another factor, if it was incorrectly mixed or of poor quality.

The acidity of the milk when the rennet is added is because of the culture that is used to ripen the milk...the "starter" could be the culprit and either too much is being used or the milk is ripening too long before renneting.


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## AB2Goats (Apr 11, 2012)

Just so were all on the same page, we are NOT feeding medicated feed, we have in the past and I was wondering if that could be a factor now. Our goats get 16% dairy pellets and whole corn... Also, everything I have read/been told (by our state inspector) is that a goat somatic cell count will be a good amount higher than a cow naturally, we were told 500,000 was no reason to be alarmed.

Liz, thanks for your help.. We aren't thinking we are feeding too much grain, which I guess is the main cause of mild acidosis, but were just knocking our heads against the walls trying to figure this out.. Another person whO makes cheese said maybe we are cooling our milk to quickly and not allowing good bacteria to form? This didn't make sense to me (but I'm not a cheese maker) and state law is milk has to be cooled to under 42 degrees within 2 hours of milking... Were going tO bring this guy a some milk Sunday or Monday to see what he can do.


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