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.

Miniature Dairy Goat Kids for Sale

That time of the year has come around fast...weaning and sale time for the kids born at Abernethy Creek Farm. Of the seven mini kids born here this year, we still have three available for sale. We will also have for sale one of breeding stock does, Maddie, who will still be in milk from her first freshening this year.

Here are details and photos:



Maddie - Miniature Toggenburg Dairy Doe - $175

Maddie is a two-year old miniature dairy goat. She was bred last year and freshening with twins this past April Fool's Day. She is the perfect size for someone looking for a small dairy goat for home milking. As miniatures are a cross-bred dairy goat including the Nigerian Dwarf breed, she would also make an excellent pet or companion animal as the Nigerian dwarf breed is very personable in nature.



Edward - Miniature Toggenburg Dairy Wether - $75

Edward is a wether out of our miniature Toggenburg doe, Kari. He is the largest of our miniature kids born this year and has great coloring. Edward would make a great pet or companion animal.



Alice - Miniature Toggenburg Dairy Doe Kid - $150

Alice is one the triplet kids - sister to Edward above - born this year to our 4H champion miniature Toggenburg dairy doe, Kari. As all of Kari's kids tend to be, she is friendly as they are handled daily by our children. With her dam's great udder in her breeding, she would make an ideal doe for someone looking for a dairy doe for home milking.



Bella - Miniature Nubian Dairy Doe Kid - $150

Bella is miniature Nubian dairy doe born this year to our miniature Nubian doe, Wroxy. Wroxy's kids tend to be the quietest of the bunch and very laid-back in personality. Wroxy too has a great udder so Bella should make an equally good dairy doe for the home milker as well as companion or pet animals.

We are also liquidating some of our percentage and Boer goats as well. Please contact us by email (click on PROFILE link under blog header) for additional information.

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!

Click here for the rest of the story.

Transplants Have Hit the Garden

The end of May is my target date for getting my warm weather vegetable starts out into the garden. The weather has been warm enough to raise the soil temperature and the nights will hopefully stay above 45 degrees.



I now have a total of eight 4' x 4' raised box gardens this year for direct seeding and transplants raised indoors. All but two are now filled. I love the way some box gardens have permanent square foot dividers. Until I figure out exactly how I want to do that in my beds, I've been using bamboo garden stakes and move them to the next box as needed. Once the plants are large enough to claim their 1' x 1' space, it's usually not too hard to work around.



My vertical crops such as string beans and cucumbers are planted around a heavy pole inserted into the ground. I have an eye hook at the top of the pole and run string through that hole down to wooden stakes pounded into the ground at the edges of my plants. This provided vertical space for these vining crops to climb. The photos only show the stakes at this point.



Being that the garden is completely different this year, I decided to try something different as well for my tomatoes. Between the poles I've planted a single tomato and then spaced the remaining tomatoes out along a line at the edge of the garden where they will have more than enough space. I've been known to cram them into too small a space where the vines become a tangled mess and it becomes very hard to harvest their fruit.



There have been two harvests of mesclun, and I'm amazed at how much can actually be produced from one 1' x 1' square. It seems to rebound and take off growing again within the next day or two...think how fast grass can grow I guess. Planting a few squares of micro greens such as this ensures some early greens before actually heads of lettuce can develop.



Garden tasks ahead of me now include planting the pole beans, continuing to direct seeds root crops and greens in the remaining raised beds to be sure we have a continual harvest. We've got a space semi-ready for the pumpkins and winter squash, and they will be set out soon. Guess that means no trips to the pumpkin patch for us this year. We'll have to start having people over here instead!