The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: plumseverywhere on April 04, 2012, 08:20:10 am
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Savannah dried up last Autumn and we resorted to buying in some pasteurised goats milk (I froze loads but made lots of soap following the Escape to the country programme in order to keep up with demand!)
I have noticed that my 4 children started getting more colds (nothing major but normally they are so healthy) and some of these, yes I could put down to it being winter but also...India scratched more and had a few eczema outbreaks, Milli developed shortness of breath (mild) on exertion at swimming and hubbys' asthma was worse.
Now we have Puffin's milk again (unpasteurised) everyone has resorted back to great health again.
Another good reason to keep goats (or that's what I tell Tony anyway ;) )
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way back in the late 60's my parents started keeping goats after a dr told them it would help his severe astma his astma was so bad he would spend days in hospital, the goats milk sorted the trips to hospital and he has taken no meds for years. my son and daughter were put on goats milk for astma and eczema it help them no end. as for colds they get them the same as everyone else so no help there.
in some cases when first starting on goats milk it can make a existing case of eczema worse before it gets better.
sorry to say i still hate the stuff no one could persuade me to drink it not even in tea i can just about manage it in coffee.
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I'm the same as you chickenfeed! I sell goats milk soap and share with anyone who will listen how wonderful fresh goats milk is for various ailments but if I so much as sniff the stuff I heave. Probably just aswell as I could do without drinking full fat milk in my coffee, my hips would really suffer, I'm on skimmed red milk while the others all drink the goaty goodness.
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Google "raw milk" if you haven't already, lots of health claims, some I find plausible, some I find a bit "out there".... :)
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Children in a study at the University of London were given two glasses of raw milk a week. Their incidence of developing hay fever was cut by 10 per cent and eczema by 38 per cent.
Wow! quite like this article - I think its supporting raw milk which, when prepared (milked etc) properly must be less 'dangerous' than filling a child up with mcdonalds, processed food and sweets surely! http://www.naturalnews.com/024259.html (http://www.naturalnews.com/024259.html)
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I have read many articles about this and would say simply - animals produce good wholesome milk to feed their young, for donkeys years people have just milked cows,sheep and goats and drank it raw, only in latter years have we had problems with hayfever,rashes etc etc - Im sure milk is still good for you
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Another point/argument is that because raw milk cannot be "cleaned" of bugs etc, then hygiene in those dairies has to be top notch. It could be said that pasteurised milk potentially gets away with poorer conditions.
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I have serious auto-immune health problems and hesitated to tell my GP I planned to drink raw goat milk - when I did, he said it was a great idea and that his whole family only have raw milk! I also have a dog with an auto-immune condition which has for several years resulted in frequent bouts of bleeding enteritis to the point where she was close to death. She has not one episode since she has been getting her daily goat milk, warm straight from the goat for preference.
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Our elderly cat Tomsk was losing weight rapidly this time last year, his skin was quite dry and the vet really told us to keep him as comfortable as we could. At the point where his life appeared to have no quality for him any more I had decided to do the kindest thing for him. Anyway, this was just as Savannah started to produce milk without ever kidding. Tomsk followed me to the milking stand twice a day and had a small saucer of warm milk for his efforts. A year on, he has regained weight, his skin is perfect, his coat is shiny and he is in rude health!
My mum has Multiple Sclerosis and lives with us as she needs 75% of her care needs met by us. She now drinks raw goats milk and I can see a difference in her when we have a milking goat and when we don't. Prior to keeping goats, Mum relapsed every month and never quite made it back to the state of wellness she had been in prior to her 'attack'. Relapses are now probably every 3 to 4 months. Coincidence? who knows!
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sorry to say i still hate the stuff no one could persuade me to drink it not even in tea i can just about manage it in coffee.
I've found over the years some goats can have stronger tasting milk, one I once had I just couldn't drink the milk, the girls I have now, if I chill it quickly it tastes much the same as cows milk.
Last year when they kidded I couldn't wait to have goats milk again, so I had some (about a week or so after kidding), it was horrible, really strong, then I read somewhere it doesn't settle down from colstrum till about a fortnight after kidding, and I often wonder if people have tried it when the goats have been eating something strong, or not milk quite fresh, as it soon goes off, this could lead to the thought 'it's going to taste horrible' so it does. I thought OH would complain, but he says he didn't notice the difference.
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My parents will bring their own milk when they come here,
if they don't my dad will have a little goats milk, my mum refuses & drinks her coffee black.
Yet they'll eat anything, sauces, puddings, cheese, yogurt etc that I've made with our milk.
Its psychological!
I sometimes take it to work .. people will ask to "try it" and seem disappointed when they can't tell a difference!
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Nooooooo Little Blue, its not psychological honest!! If Tony makes coffee for us and I accidentally get his, I baulk at just one sip. I can really taste it and it stays in my taste buds for hours after ;D
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Pasteurisation came along to preserve the milk for longer & to destroy harmful bugs. BUT it also destroys all the good bugs.
So effectively p.milk is no use to anyone........ only clean rawmilk is good.
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I have to stress again that chilling it REALLY quickly is the answer. We used to drink raw cows milk when we were farming and that never tasted anything but lovely, however, when we first had goats I used to just put the milk in the fridge and it always tasted strong. Now I shove my milk in the freezer for a couple of hours and I can honestly say that it doesn't taste any different from raw cows milk. If I do a taste test on bought cows milk and our goat's milk, the cows milk always tastes sort of 'off'.
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Well I have not ever put our milk into the freezer first, it always just goes into fridge,which runs on ECO setting. Mostly in 2ltr jugs - no goaty taste (unless they did get their noses onto some cabbage...)
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OK Skirza - I will be really brave and try it.......
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I tried goats' milk to see if it would make a difference to my eczema - two weeks later the improvement was amazing. My brother and new sister-in-law came to visit soon after I got my first goat. We had a couple fo cups of tea each then my brother wanted to meet the goat. Went back indoors, chatted some more, drank more tea, then talk got roudn to gaots again.
"Goats'milk is all very well," says brother, "but I couldn't drink it in my tea."
Then he looked at my face and said, "I have been, haven't I?"
Most people can't tell, although I had one friend who always said, "Oh it's the horrible goat's milk. coffee's not the same." so one day I thought I'd catch her out. I had one of those little plastic pots of milk you get in cafes and put that in her coffee, thinking it would prove she couldn't tell the difference. She took one mouthful and said, "I must be getting used to the goat's milk. This tastes just like cow's milk." I had to admit it was.