Raising Goats Naturally

Sometimes raising livestock means you dive in headfirst and encounter a steep learning curve. Lots of mistakes usually occur as well, unfortunately. But it seems that is just a fact of life. There are some pursuits that are more likely to have well-researched information and those that don't,  so it's nice to see someone publish a resource on raising goats that is based on natural practices and direct experience. Raising Goats Naturally, the Complete Guide to Milk, Meat, and More by Deborah Niemann seems to fit the bill and would be an ideal book for someone just getting started with goat ownership. I have to totally support her statement, "Even if we owned goats for a hundred years, we would still be learning."  So true but so hard to grasp when you just want to know how to do something right! Even when we help out with other farm's barn chores from the same 4H club, there are so many different ways to achieve the same outcomes depending on your space, available feed, and mix of animals in your herd. Regardless, Deborah's chapter "Day-to-Day Life With Goats" would be an awesome read for anyone wondering if new goat ownership is right for them. For myself, I particularly enjoyed her chapter on feeding. She made several points that I plan on considering with our own herd, namely feeding alfalfa pellets for more economical usage of alfalfa...our girls waste so much of their alfalfa...and sourcing a concentrate with higher amounts of copper. Good food for thought for sure. Since the majority of our goat herd has Nigerian Dwarf influence, I also enjoy her anecdotal stories from her own Nigerian Dwarf herd as many resources do not take this breed into account. Overall, I would definitely consider this book as a permanent part of our household library. Read and enjoy!

Goat's Milk Ricotta Cheese at Home

Do you ever wonder what can be done with goat's milk other than drinking it? Well baking and cheese making ranking pretty high around here as well. The simplest cheese on the face of the planet to make has to be ricotta. In fact I had no idea that I could have been making my own ricotta even from grocery store milk all along. It was one of those revelation moments such as I had when I started preparing my own buttermilk.

Here's how I go about making our own fresh, creamy ricotta cheese. Heat two quarts goat's milk to 180 degrees on the stove top stirring frequently but gently to distribute the heat. As it nears the 180 degree mark, stir in two tablespoons of either apple cider or white vinegar. As you continue to heat the milk, you will notice that the acid in the vinegar will begin to coagulate the milk and the yellowish whey will begin to separate. You may have to raise the temperature up to 200 degrees to achieve separate of curds and whey but do not let it go any further than that. If you have reached 195 degrees and there is no separation, add an additional tablespoon of vinegar and that should do the trick as it continues to climb to the 200 degree mark. Once you see the curds really begin to form, remove from the heat and allow to cool. The curds should float on the whey and form a semi-solid mass. For the creamiest ricotta, allow to cool undisturbed for a half of an hour. You can then gently lift the curds off of the whey with a slotted spoon and place them into a container. You may occasionally need to drain extra whey from your container as you fill it with the warm curds. Refrigerate and use within the week.



That's all there is to it. Once you're comfortable with making your own ricotta, next thing you know you'll be hankering for some semi-soft cheese as well. It's easier than you think and more rewarding as well. Enjoy!

Off Flavor Goat's Milk Solved

Do you remember my post from last week? The one about the nasty goat's milk we'd been getting from our normally fantastically fresh and sweet milk producer? Well I proceeded to play scientist and start to go through my list of potential taste offenders. Here they were:

1. Checking milk taste now that stainless pails have been sanitized with acid detergent. Also tasting the milk immediately after milking will determine if milking containers, our cooling process, storage jars, or shelf life are affecting the taste.

2. Comparing taste of milking doe's milk to that of other does still with kids to see if the unpleasant taste is there as well indicating that it could be their intake of the different hay. I will also compare the milk taken before feeding in the a.m. to that taken in the p.m. after feeding.

3. Purchasing B vitamins in injectible form to combat any potential deficiency, and reviewing mineral content of their supplement.

4. And lastly, if the taste suddenly dissipates regardless of the above, perhaps residual from the wormer was the cause.

I started at the top of my list and immediately found out that the taste of the milk directly after milking was delicious, just like it always had been. I again milked before feeding and even several hours afterwards. Guess what? The off taste couldn't have anything to do with the hay.

I grabbed some milk from another doe. Her milk was fabulous too. Definitely not the hay.

I went back on-line and checked around for some specific descriptions of the taste I had been experiencing after the milk had been processed and refrigerated for several days. I stumbled across several sites which went way in-depth as to the different off-tastes that milk can take on. This is almost a full-time profession for some it would seem. The best way I could relate the taste of the milk was the equivalent of tasting the smell of tallow. I learned that oxidation of the milk can be a common cause for this taste. I also noticed a small comment. Milk that has been warmed above the temperature of 50 degrees and then recooled can dramatically alter the taste.

Light-bulb moment. I had gotten lazy and had been pouring fresh strained milk into some half-full akreadt cooled quart jars. Guess what I had been doing? Raising the temperature of the milk by pouring in warm milk. Bingo.

Let's face it. Sometimes we get sloppy when we feel it doesn't matter or affect anyone else. If the milk were intended for someone else, I would've never dreamed of treating it so. Why is it that we allow ourselves to take shortcuts when we're well aware of the risks or problematic outcome? Not to get too philosophical here, but it made me do some thinking. Perhaps this experience...that nasty taste will not be soon forgotten...will stick with me long enough to remind me to take care in all areas of my life - family, friends, faith. No more thinking it won't matter or taking the easy way out.

Off-Flavor Goat's Milk

I'm on a mission. A fairly important one too. We've recently experienced an off-flavor developing in the milk of our dairy goat doe. If this milk were to be my first impression of goat's milk, I too would be one of the many that balk at drinking goat's milk due to an unusual taste. It is even obvious when combined with espresso in my morning mocha. We are currently only milking one doe, an Oberhasli, who started off our milking season with her characteristically wonderful, sweet milk. But over the course of the last week, the flavor has changed. Now to figure out why.

A little research indicates a few basic reasons as to why this could be. It is interesting to note that an article in the Tri-County Goat Newsletter published by the University of California Cooperative Extension, Tulare County ranks possible flavor offenders as 80% feed related, 5% due to oxidation, 5% rancidity, 3% from chemical residues, 3% related to hygiene, and 4% from other causes. Here is the list I formulated to research the possible cause in our case:

1. Keeping a buck on the premises - No buck here, so ruled that out.

2. Bacteria laden milk - Performed California Mastitis Test, and all clear.

3. Unsanitary milking conditions - I personally perform the milking and know that the udder is being cleaned, the milking is done into a sanitized pail, and promptly cooled in a glass container.

4. Foodstuff that is imparting a distinctive flavor - Several weeks ago we did purchase some local hay to supplement on normal Eastern Oregon orchard hay which was of a lesser quality than the does are normally accustomed to. Suspect #1



5. Possible vitamin B-12 cobalt deficiency - Possibility although we do provide goat-specific free choice minerals. Suspect #2

6. Administration of routine vaccinations or antibiotics - Nothing here

7. Too early in lactation cycle and milk includes colostrum - This would be the doe's fourth month of lactation.

8. Chemical residual - We did recently worm her with Eprinex which does have a zero day milk withdrawal, but perhaps there is a possibility there. The timing did coincide somewhat with the off taste. Suspect #3

9. Residual tastes in milking/storage containers - Due to research I came across today, I just started using a dairy quality acid detergent to remove any possibility of off flavor associated with milkstone in our stainless milking pails. Suspect #4

10. Toggenburg breeds known for stronger tasting milk - This is an Oberhasli doe and her milk has always been acceptable in the past.

11. Unpleasant ambient odors can impart off flavor within 15 minutes of milking just by being inhaled by the doe - Not in conjunction with the off taste but because of pen switching, I have started to milk this doe on an outside stanchion as opposed to in the barn but the taste was present before and after this move.



Another interesting bit of information from the Tri-County Goat Newsletter was defining the unpleasant taste of the milk - rancid, bitter, strong, minty. This I am finding hard to categorize in our case. The closest descriptive term might be rancid, I believe, which is said to resemble a bitter, soapy taste. Perhaps not using an acid detergent did leave behind residue that has been affecting the milk as a cause for rapid deterioration of the milk.

In other words, I have four different suspects as outlined above. Being a scientific minded person, I plan on:

1. Checking milk taste now that stainless pails have been sanitized with acid detergent. Also tasting the milk immediately after milking will determine if milking containers, our cooling process, storage jars, or shelf life are affecting the taste.

2. Comparing taste of milking doe's milk to that of other does still with kids to see if the unpleasant taste is there as well indicating that it could be their intake of the different hay. I will also compare the milk taken before feeding in the a.m. to that taken in the p.m. after feeding.

3. Purchasing B vitamins in injectible form to combat any potential deficiency, and reviewing mineral content of their supplement.

4. And lastly, if the taste suddenly dissipates regardless of the above, perhaps residual from the wormer was the cause.

Stay tuned...and wish me luck. I miss my morning goat milk latte!

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