Taste of Nigerian Dwarf Milk?

[jhmoore]

My husband and I currently have 2 almost 2 year old pygmy wethers on our small farm, in addition to the other critters. I have wanted to get a dairy animal for a while now, but don't think the two of us alone require as much milk as a full size cow will produce. And, as much as I like them, the mini cows are WAY too expensive right now. So, I have moved my thoughts toward dairy goats. Why not- I love our goats, and we're already set up for it.

So, I began my search for which breed. I have tried three different brands of store bought goat's milk and hated all three- they tasted SO goaty! I cannot find anyone near me that milks their goats, so I haven't been able to try a "taste test" of fresh milk.

I have been told on numerous ocassions that nigerian dwarves have sweeter milk, and it does not taste goaty. What is the verdict? I would love to hear from people who have personal experience with them. If I liked their milk, it would be an easy choice- with pygmies, we already have nigi sized accomodations.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

 

[goatdude95]

ND milk is delicious it in fact does not have the "goaty" taste same with pygmy milk i think you should get nigerians but later on if you want some bigger goats alpine milk is also very yummy

 

[trestlecreek]

From what I understand, the milk will not taste 'goatie' if the milk is processed correctly and the goats are fed right.
I be the Nigerians would be perfect for you.
I milked my pygmies for years and my kids would steal my milk every chance they could get!!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

goat milk should not be goaty at all... it should taste fresh and clean. we have two different breeds of milkers and honestly cant really taste much diff in them. however, the richer/more milk fat breeds (nigis have high butterfat) yield better results for cheese and such

the biggest change that we found was that neither of us was used to drinking full fat milk! we were used to 2% or whatnot so that was our biggest adaption.

and i dont like goat milk in my coffee - but i say go for it.

one thing to keep in mind is that the mini breeds have really small teats which could make it difficult for you/your hubby to deal with. honestly i wouldnt want to milk one at all.. since you have to do it twice a day - you want it to be fun not a chore. i'm thinking about this right now b/c i helped a buddy milk his 10 dairy gals and wow what differences between all of them! one of his gals had extremely small teats and all i could think was - there is no way i could do this every day. that being said - folks like trestlecreek wouldnt hesitate.

i'd recommend la manchas - they are a smaller 'full sized' milker but big enough to handle easily. ours is very petite but has a great udder/teats and is a sinch to milk. and she is really thrifty and efficient with her feed so our feed costs are a bit lower than with our sanaan.

many breeders/sellers will let you milk BEFORE you buy - its not an unusual request. i'd give it a go before you buy - i've done it and its no big whoop.

good luck!

 

[Griffin's Ark]

We have been buying does in milk this past summer from a friend that raises meat goats, but is trying to develop a bigger meat goat by using Saanen and Kiko. It took several weeks for the goat milk to get palatable when they got to our farm. Not that the milk was goaty, but it had an off taste from the browse that the goats got on the other farm. Once we got them on a 16% sweet feed and good fescue their milk got to be much more palatable. The milk has a fresh clean taste that you can't get from the store bought milk... Goat or Cow! Anyway, we are using Saanen and Oberhasli mostly. We let our girls dry up this summer and my DW is not happy with that. The sweetest best tasting milk we had came from out spanish does (almost tasted like malted milk). Our Nigerian milkers are OK, but when I pull 2 Qts from a large breed doe in a quarter of the time it takes to get 16 oz from a Nigerian doe I just can't seem to get excited about milking the Nigerians. Also I don't like goat milk in my hot coffee, but when you make ice coffee with it, it makes anything that Starbucks has seem generic.

Chris

 

[onedozenphyllises]

I can't speak about ND's, so I don't know if this is helpful at all or not. We have Nubians, and the milk, when fresh, is very tasty and not the least bit goaty. I do notice that it develops a *faint* goaty flavor if it starts to get old (like if we don't drink it all within a few days), so maybe that's part of the problem with store goat milk? It's just...old? I don't know. Anyway, we love it, and we get just about enough milk from one Nubian to drink, cook with and make moderate amounts of cheese, yogurt, etc. (for two adults).

 

[jhmoore]

Thanks for all the great replies! I'm thinking store bought goat's milk must have the same issues any store bought products does- it's just not fresh like from home. I can't even dream of buying store bought eggs or chicken anymore- doesn't compare to our home grown! So, why would milk be any different?

Anyhow, I am so excited because I found a woman near me that breeds nigis on a small scale and said I can come visit and taste the milk. So, I'm going there tomorrow. I'll let everyone know what I think and decide.

Thanks again!

 

[cmjust0]

We made the mistake -- for whatever reason -- of trying to pasteurize clean, fresh, rich Nubian milk once and it got a tad bit goaty.. I think it was the heat, but I'm not sure.

When it's fresh, though...that's the only thing you notice -- that it's actually fresh. Well, and that it's rich...and sweet...and super tasty...and not at all like that translucent whitish water they call "Milk" at the grocery store.

Can you tell we don't have anyone in milk right now?

 

[onedozenphyllises]

cmjust0 - I think you're right about the heat. When I cook with mine, the goaty flavor does come through more (such as in a creamy soup or something). Sometimes that's desirable, sometimes not.

And we don't have anyone in milk right now either. I can't believe I'm buying store milk. Bleh!

 

[currycomb]

like what was said before, whatever the goat eats will come out in the milk,onions, garlic, other yucky tasting weeds. need to feed good clean hay and a non medicated feed.sweet alfalfa hay and sweet feed will do the trick, give it 2 weeks to change the flavor. and different goats may produce different flavors also.