# Milk leaves gross after taste!



## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

Hello! I have dreamed of having Nigerians for milk for YEARS and this year we finally did it! I bought a doe and her 3 kids. Kids are just shy of 8 weeks so I have separated them at night for 3 nights now to try to milk, anxious for that first taste of fresh raw milk... well... first, milking is HARD! Second she freaks the minute her food is done and I’m scared to give her more (I give about 2 cups of a mix of dairy feed) and then third, the milk tastes sweet but then leaves this horrid carpet after taste at the back of my tongue. The kids hate it. So the tiny amount of milk I can get (maybe 1/4 cup if I’m being generous, tasted nasty. 

I feel like giving up! And we built all this fencing for her and the barn and invested in electric netting to move her on fresh greens all the time. 

she is out on fresh areas for about 8 hours. Always has access to hay water and baking soda. Minerals in the barn when she’s back. Currently the area she’s foraging in has grass, clovers and tons of weeds and small bushes. Quite a lot of ragweed (which I read can flavour milk). Should I keep her in the pen that has only grass and just let her eat mostly hay today to see if that changes it? Could her buck kid be the source? He’s not mounting her so I have him in there still but he occasionally smells Bucky. Blah. Sorry. Just feeling defeated. I was so excited.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Two cups of feed probably isn't enough. I fed at least 3 cups a milking and sometimes more if necessary. Definitely try keeping her away from any food that would flavor milk. The buck kid will not flavor the milk. Post a picture of her. She may be copper deficient. Also remove the baking soda. They make their own bicarbonate and it will deactivate immonium chloride that prevents UC.


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

ksalvagno said:


> Two cups of feed probably isn't enough. I fed at least 3 cups a milking and sometimes more if necessary. Definitely try keeping her away from any food that would flavor milk. The buck kid will not flavor the milk. Post a picture of her. She may be copper deficient. Also remove the baking soda. They make their own bicarbonate and it will deactivate immonium chloride that prevents UC.


Ok more then 3 cups?! She's really skinny! I bought her a week after she kidded. Second freshening. She's so thin. Vet came but didn't say anything. Tested her and never heard back so I emailed requesting results. 
Remove the baking soda eh?! I've read nothing but to have it! But your saying remove? Also I've never asked about copper bolus for her so how would I know if copper Deficiency? Her hair sheds ALOT is this normal?! Thanks!!!!

Oh also I was planning on handing the two boys at 9 weeks, is this ok? the runt is quite small. Also both boys still don't have their horns broken out yet... normal?


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

Mamatoes said:


> Ok more then 3 cups?! She's really skinny! I bought her a week after she kidded. Second freshening. She's so thin. Vet came but didn't say anything. Tested her and never heard back so I emailed requesting results.
> Remove the baking soda eh?! I've read nothing but to have it! But your saying remove? Also I've never asked about copper bolus for her so how would I know if copper Deficiency? Her hair sheds ALOT is this normal?! Thanks!!!!
> 
> Oh also I was planning on handing the two boys at 9 weeks, is this ok? the runt is quite small. Also both boys still don't have their horns broken out yet... normal?


I'll get a better photo after I feed the human kids. She's the second from the left


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Yep more feed. What specific feed are you feeding? She may not know what letting down for anything other than her kids is like. So at first it may be more work to get that to happen. It can sometimes help to put a kid on the stand for a few sucks then put the kid back until you are done. But you milk what you can first. Then massage that udder good... do not be afraid to use a lil muscle just not too hard. Watch how the kids bump her. 

Also this takes time and patience. Sometimes a lot of it! Sounds like she has never been milked. That is ok. Or if she has you and your routine are new. Goats hate change absolutely. Dont get discouraged so quickly!


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

Sfgwife said:


> Yep more feed. What specific feed are you feeding? She may not know what letting down for anything other than her kids is like. So at first it may be more work to get that to happen. It can sometimes help to put a kid on the stand for a few sucks then put the kid back until you are done. But you milk what you can first. Then massage that udder good... do not be afraid to use a lil muscle just not too hard. Watch how the kids bump her.
> 
> Also this takes time and patience. Sometimes a lot of it! Sounds like she has never been milked. That is ok. Or if she has you and your routine are new. Goats hate change absolutely. Dont get discouraged so quickly!


thank you! She's eating a dairy goat feed pellet, I can't remember what was in it exactly but I think it was 18 or 19 protein. Then I mixed that with a dairy goat mix of like corn and oats and molasses. Then I added some black sunflower seeds and every couple days I add a bit of kelp.

so should I be feeding 3 cups at night and 3 in morning?


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## Sfgwife (Feb 18, 2018)

Mamatoes said:


> thank you! She's eating a dairy goat feed pellet, I can't remember what was in it exactly but I think it was 18 or 19 protein. Then I mixed that with a dairy goat mix of like corn and oats and molasses. Then I added some black sunflower seeds and every couple days I add a bit of kelp.
> 
> so should I be feeding 3 cups at night and 3 in morning?


Just the goat grain should be fine. No need mix all that other in. Corn and molasses has no use for her. Put up good clear pics of her... front, over top and side. She is feeding triplets so she most likely needs more than three cups of feed.

Just as an example... i have a fb nubian heavy milker. She gifts me half a gallon once a day then feeds twins the rest of the day.... she eats about a full sized scoop of feed twice a day. And she is not fat at all... i can easily feel her ribs.

I did have a nigi. She got 3-4 cups on the milkstand twice a day and gifted me a qt of milk. A general "rule" of thumb is a pound of grain for a pound of milk. A cup of milk is roughly a pound. For my feed three cups is about a pound... weigh your feed to give you a rough idea. You will most likely be suprised at how much feed it takes to make a pound.


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## Jubillee (Dec 22, 2017)

I think 2 cup/1 pint is a pound. 4 cups/ 1 quart is 2 lbs. 8 cups/ half gallon 4lbs. Roughly. From my experience. 

We kind of do the same, pound for pound. But lately, I just put a full scoop...I think it's a 2 quart scoop or so, in there. Sometimes they need more and I add more. But we have full size and mini Nubians. 

Milk generally taste bad when they are deficient in a particular mineral. Copper, selenium, cobalt, usually the main ones. Worm loads can also cause milk to taste off. Bucks do not cause it. Mine have shared the fence line for years, even milked after having a doe in the pen with the buck to breed, never nasty taste. We also milk, sometimes finish chores, take it in and filter then straight in the fridge. I don't do all the extra cooling things. We've never had it taste off and have lots of people taste it saying it's great.


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## Calistar (Jan 16, 2017)

See if you can get a cobalt block. A couple of years ago my goat's milk had an odd aftertaste. Not terrible, but kind of that old flavor that milk gets if it sits out on the counter and gets lukewarm. At that time, I researched and found that cobalt deficiency could affect the milk flavor. I added a cobalt block (and became more diligent about making sure my goats never ran out of loose minerals) and have had no problems with the flavor since then.


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

Welcome to this forum!
I am happy your dream came true! 
Too bad your milk has that taste, but definitely don’t give up!
I have a Nigerian Dwarf in milk as well. Her milk is sweet and rich. I have her kid seperated at night as well, and she gives two cups in the morning. I could probably give her more grain as well, but my doe is the opposite of skinny.
I think your idea of keeping your doe away from the ragweed for a day or two is good, to see if that is it. Meanwhile get the cobalt block, like Calistar said.
Copper deficiency, from what I have learned from this forum, shows in “bleached” colour, e.g. black coat gets rusty red, tan goes white etc., curly hair, “fishtail” (tail tip balding), rough coat.
Selenium deficiency shows in crooked tail and low pasterns.
Good luck with figuring out the bad taste mystery! 
I am curious as to what causes it.


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

Thanks for all the reply’s! I kept her in the paddock that is only grass and hay and sure enough... great tasting milk! So all the greens she’s getting is affecting it! How long should I let her graze?

and thanks for the suggestion of the block! I’ll get one. 
I still need a photo of her!


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## MadHouse (Oct 3, 2019)

So glad to hear you are enjoying the milk!


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

Here she is. She’s got some patches of hair that are starting to look bald. I know they have lice. She just got ivermectin a couple weeks ago but she’s always rubbing up on stuff.


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## miller4528 (May 15, 2020)

Okay I have 3 nigerian dwarfs and i had this same everything lol. SO milking the tiny teats is hard i bought and made milkers that create a vacuum suction but others here told me and after some research decided to stop using them and i ordered a simply pulse milking system not cheap but until it gets here im hand milking. So the after taste I found it was only one of my goats that had the after taste she had lost her baby during birth so i was milking her right away and my other one was just as fresh but her milk was fine. I was lost i mix my own feed free choice minerals and was adding black oil sunflower seeds to the feed everything but her milk still had a bad after taste. So i was keeping it for soap so it wasnt wasted then just like that one i taste tested it one day an it was fine. Literally just 2 days after i posted here asking and everyone was telling me to look into the food the minerals could be just the goat herself it lost the after taste my guess would be that she was still producing something that was for the babies that i found distasteful. So if she is still nursing maybe that could be it i know my one that was nursing twins had a distaste as well at first but was fine when i weaned the babies. As far as the buck i would remove him from the pen either way to prevent him from breeding her since ND go into heat year round. I had my buck in an attached pen an i dont notice any goat taste to the milk honestly until i put him there he really didnt even stink now i notice since hes not with them he tends to show off more lol. The milking will get easier with time just do one teat at a time i find trying to do both becomes more of a pain i transfer the milk into a jar after each teat so they dont kick the pale over, and as my stand mangers i give them a scoop of alfalfa pellets (since i dont feed bales personal choice) and sprinkle some of the mixed grains and feed into the pellets one will eat it all the second will pick through and then wait for me to finish milking and the third will pick through and i have to give her a little bit at a time to keep her busy.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

Mamatoes said:


> Here she is. She's got some patches of hair that are starting to look bald. I know they have lice. She just got ivermectin a couple weeks ago but she's always rubbing up on stuff.


Needs copper and selenium.


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> Needs copper and selenium.


Like more then what's in the feee choice minerals?!

I've read a lot about copper bolus or something, is this what I need? Thanks! How can you tell? Her coat seems softer lately but she's losing a lot of hair as well. These goats are giving me serious anxiety!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

There is no mineral that has enough. You always have to supplement copper and selenium.


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

ksalvagno said:


> There is no mineral that has enough. You always have to supplement copper and selenium.


Thanks ya just doing some reading on this now. Wondering if I should learn how to test fecal sample too. She just had ivermectin but I just read that doesn't stop barber pole worm. I've never had that test done but she came back negative for CAE


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

1. Ivermectin can treat barberpole as long as there’s no resistance, fecal test to check if it worked, send to MeadowMist Lab for 5 dollars.

Next, yes, loose minerals don’t have enough - they are just your baseline.

A copper bolus, yes, get them, open up, and weigh out so it’s 1 gram per 22lb of her body weight.

Then start on Replamin plus gel as well.

Her tail is balding, it looks split, that’s called a fishtail. That means copper.

It also has a crook in it, notice how it goes out and then peaks, that’s selenium.

Losing hair is also a sign of both or either.


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## Mamatoes (Apr 29, 2020)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> 1. Ivermectin can treat barberpole as long as there's no resistance, fecal test to check if it worked, send to MeadowMist Lab for 5 dollars.
> 
> Next, yes, loose minerals don't have enough - they are just your baseline.
> 
> ...


Thank you! I've watched some YouTube on this now! Thanks so much though guys! 
What about kids?!


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