"Why is there a goat taste in the milk, cheeses and will your goat soap smell like goat?" This is one of the most common question asked by people that talk with me about goat milk or my soaps. Knowing from my childhood I can relate to this, growing up with goats and many different farm animals, its easy for me to understand these concerns-- The worst memory about goats milk is from when I was five years old. Growing up with our own goats milk, tasting the stinky bill or buck in my Cheerios was about the worse experience I can remember with goats milk. Even looking back, this stands alone as a very vivid memory.

See now, growing up on our farm is at the top of my list as one of the happiest times of my life-- feeling free, and living life; making friends with all the animals. But, letting our goats free range eating everything in sight had created many problems.

The most common problem with our goats was when friends would stop by to visit. Five minutes later you would see goats break-dancing on their car or the billy chasing them, as they went screaming across the yard.  This always was followed by us setting ourselves up for bait to rescue our friends by distracting the billy to chase us instead, which the billy was always happy to oblige in doing so. Some thought they were safe staying in the car, only to find the billy-goat butting their door, causing them to yell," Oh my god, please stop!". I always wondered why mom's friends never visited more often.

So goats have made a name for themselves as being, stinky, mean, and scary.

Goats become their environment, adapting to their surroundings.  I've found from the above, feeding and friendship with your goats really makes a tamer animal and is very important in a small farm.  Raising our goats from baby's with bottle feeding, they in return love us and always look forward to our visits every day. This has changed the way I  see goats.  Our goats are never teased and enjoy their freedom in their own space. Keeping us and them separate has really helped on the stress for all on building the love for our goats.

See, what I've found different about goats milk from my past to present, is the way we handled the milk then.  First thing was--open palls, with ever so often a goat hoof stepping in(I don't even what to know what was on it) making the milk bad, but yet still drinkable(so they said).

Setting up my small farm, there is no more milking in a pail where all the barn dust, goat hair or hoofs can come in contact with the milk. This set the ground work for me building my own system to contain my milk  and keeping all barn elements out, leaving a fresh and clean taste .  Wow what a change, now my goats milk taste great in my cheerios with all the rich creamy taste of whole milk, with out the flavor of billy.

Billy separation is a must to keep the milk free of billy goat taste. I find this beneficial in maintaining a happier heard with great results. Our milk now is so sweet and better then any milk I've ever tasted, and makes a lush bar of soap that smells great!
The products I make from our goats milk are supreme, creating the best experience.   Please stop by and see my goat soaps www.soapboxkitchen.com or goatsoapkitchen.com.

Thanks for reading
written by: Mike Fraley
Soap Box Kitchen