Why goat milk sometimes tastes bitter and how to solve the problem, prevention
Goat's milk is ahead of cow's milk in many respects: it is fatter, easier to digest, practically non-allergenic. At the same time, goat breeders encounter bitterness in it much more often than cow owners. There are several reasons why goat milk tastes bitter. In most cases, they can be solved, but sometimes, for example, when it comes to the age of the animal, it is difficult to cope with the problem.
Causes of bitter taste
If any deviations appear in the taste of milk, all the more unpleasant, you should first of all look for the reason in the diet and health of the goat. Plants that negatively affect the taste and smell of goat milk:
- wormwood, quinoa, horsetail, celandine, tansy, green rape (with a small amount of wormwood and tansy needed as antihelminthic folk remedies);
- onions, garlic and wild garlic, beet tops;
- foliage of trees, coniferous branches;
- raw potatoes and their peeling;
- pulp, any rotting feed.
Musty water can also give milk an unpleasant taste.
Other painful conditions of the animal that provoke the bitterness of milk:
- vitamin A deficiency in the winter months;
- infestation with parasites - in goats, most often with cestodes, nematodes and trematodes;
- before the birth of the kids and within two to three weeks after lambing (in the first-flowing goats - a little longer);
- hormonal disruption - can occur after lambing or with improper feeding (in particular, wheat);
- liver failure, gallbladder problems.
In older goats, milk tastes bitter more often. Improper milking and storage technology can spoil the taste of milk. So, the tissues of the udder of a goat contain an increased amount of the reductase enzyme. Interacting with milk fats, it causes bitterness, so the first portions of milk are milked separately, without mixing with its total volume. In addition, a bitter taste can appear:
- when storing milk in the light or in a copper container (this contributes to the decomposition of fat in it);
- with vigorous stirring and enrichment of the product with air;
- when mixing milk yields obtained at different times.
With prolonged storage without heat treatment (more than two days), a rancid taste appears from an increase in the volume of soluble casein in milk. This also impairs its ability to coagulate into a clot.
How to solve problems with bitter milk
The first step is to check the animal's diet, exclude feed that can cause bitterness from it, change the pasture if necessary, checking in advance that there are no "forbidden" plants within the reach of the goats.
To exclude helminthic invasion, animals can be proglistogized independently, and all livestock, with the kids at the same time. Starting from the age of three months, goats should receive drugs for parasites twice a year, lambing goats - a month after birth, and again - two weeks later. In winter, animals are given special preparations that compensate for the deficiency of vitamins A, D, E, which affect the taste of milk.
For its storage, glass or at least plastic containers are used; during transportation, the containers are filled completely, reducing the likelihood of shaking, and processed (fermented, boiled, pasteurized) - as soon as possible after milking.
If these factors are excluded, you should contact your veterinarian to examine the animal. In particular, mastitis in the initial stages is manifested only by the bitterness of milk (external signs become visible later). It is not recommended to make a diagnosis on your own, especially to treat an animal: treatment is carried out with an antibiotic sensitive to a specific type of microbes sown in the analysis. Symptoms of various diseases of internal organs or infectious diseases may also not be visible to the owners of the goat.
Preventive actions
Experienced goat breeders, if there are areas for grazing, sow them in autumn with clover and other herbs useful as forage. If this is not possible, before taking the animals to a certain pasture, they examine it and mark areas with plants harmful to goats, keep the goats on a leash away from them.
The main prevention of mastitis is compliance with the sanitary rules for keeping animals, hygienic and technical rules for milking (washing hands, using clean towels, washing the udder, milking without damaging the mammary glands of the goat).
Prevention of worm infestations - timely feeding of goats with special preparations (such as "Panakur", "Manizen") with preliminary treatment for fleas, since some species of these insects are carriers of worms.
Please note: even with regular anthelmintic procedures, it is impossible to protect animals from parasites, since pasture and water from puddles after rain, and not always properly stored feed, and other animals are sources of infection.
Is it possible to use such a product
It is advisable not to use bitter milk in any form and not to process it into fermented milk products (however, it does not ferment well, the consistency of cottage cheese or cheese turns out to be unsatisfactory, and the bitterness in them is even stronger). The point is not only that the taste of the product in which such milk is used will be spoiled. Harmful microorganisms that give it bitterness can harm human health.
