Goat Milk Tasting

So. Been milking Flora and Bea Bea for a good while now. And their milk tastes very different. Flora has milk that is some of the best milk I have had. It's rich and creamy and dreamy just like raw Jersey cow milk but it doesn't separate and it's not yellowish, it's pure white. Bea Bea on the other hand has a much more minerally taste to her milk, which I don't mind but doesn't taste like cow's milk at all. I use her milk for kefir, yogurt and cooking. The kids love Flora's milk and drink it readily.

Here is the thing. Bea Bea is still nursing her doeling Lula whom we kept from the last breeding. When we had all the wethers here Lula never got a chance to nurse given her pushy brothers. I thought she was weaned and I think she was. But then they left and she started nursing again. I think the fact that she is nursing might have something to do with the difference in milk taste. Flora has no kids around. I have to separate Lula from Bea Bea at night otherwise I get no milk! Most people would separate the kids from the milking does permanently. But for us this is not an option for two reasons. One, we have no separate pen for kids. Two, if we did, then Lula would be alone since we have no other kids. So for now she will just keep stealing our milk. Or we will just keep stealing her milk. :)

I also purchased a Henry Milker. It's small, portable and does an ok job. When Bea Bea is very full in the morning it can get out half her milk. But since the unit does not pulse it only applies direct pressure, it doesn't massage enough to get it all out. Regular standard milkers are much more expensive and you have to bring a generator with you to power the things. This milker is vacuum powered with a hand pump. I still like it although I wish it emptied their udders. I do like how it's simple to clean, quiet and easy to set up. Recently we had to leave unexpectedly and had to rely on a friend who hadn't milked before to milk the goats. Turned our he was a natural (thank you Alfred!) but he used the milker as well.