I've just added a buck to the goat pen to freshen my does. He's a healthy little guy :-), and quite smelly. I understand that the smell can taint the milk of my does, but I need to understand if this is a year round problem, and how bad this problem can be? I've noticed on most farms in this area that the bucks are seperated from the does by no more than a range wire fence, so is the odor transfered by touch? What is the process that actually taints the milk?

Thanks for any info...

Kevin

-- Kevin Reffitt (kreffitt@dark-star.com), September 22, 2001

Answers

Don't the guys just smell so lovely this time of yr? Mine still think they are babies and can get their hugs and kisses.... eeewwweee. We seperate the bucks from the does and keep them seperated all yr. and not just by a fence, they are several yardsa apart, like the other end of the farm. When the stinky season arrives we also bathe the doe well before bringing her back from the Romance barn because the smell will get into the milk. I remember many yrs ago I didn't know about this stuff. We had an abundance of eggs so i made Quiche. Then as the quiche was cooking in the oven i detected a faint odor. Oh noooo.... yep, that quiche smelled just like a buck. It wa so bad the dog didn't even eat it! LOL:):)

But the smell can be transmitted from touching the buck and then handling the doe if you don't wash your hands. A good way to ge the smell off is either crest toothpaste or homemade goat milk soap, coffee scented. i have afriend who swears by the coffee.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), September 22, 2001.

Kevin I also pen breed. The bucks once moved in with the does, stop smelling quite so badly, and once the girls are bred, they are bathed. Living with the girls, course mine are hand reared, disbudded angels :) they are fine, all kidding aside, my older Nubian does are much more trouble than the bucks! I keep the bellies and udders of my does trimmed, and yes I could easily wear a mask, the girls smell pretty horrid during breeding month, but afterwards it is tolerable, even for this asthmatic. Udders and hands are washed with vinegar, before milking, with a regular post dip/spray of chlorox and water. I also use the half moon on the top of the milk pail. We are the ones tainting the milk, with our hands, with letting hair get into the milk pail, or by not cleaning teats, udders and bellies. The buck smell is bad but it can not go into the udder and taint the milk. Course run the milk into the house, don't let it sit out in the hot barn, with a stinky buck a wall away!! My boys will be coming home from outside lease this next weekend. One will move into one part of the barn, seperated by the hay barn, the other lives with another group of does, 7 other does are in another state visiting :) another beau. We will continue with this arrangement until day 100 of pregnancy, in which we move the boys back to the buck barn, the girls are upped in protein on their grain, something the boys don't need, and the girls are all put back into their normal pens. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 22, 2001.