Raw Milk - Goat vs. Cow

I have used raw milk for about three years now... and as a kid, till about age 13, milked the "family" cow and sat the milk right on the table, still warm, to use at breakfast on an uncle's dairy farm in the summers... mom grew up on raw milk... never "boiled" it that I can remember.

I have been using raw goat milk for over a year... at first, it came from purebred Nubians. What I am getting now is from a Nubian\Toggenburg cross.

Nubians give richer milk, Toggenburg's give more. If you want butterfat content to make butter and cheese, go with the purebred Nubian.

Before that, I was drinking raw cow from Holsteins. I much prefer the richer raw goat milk hands down for taste and health.

Which brings me to your comment on goat vs. cow milk.

While I agree that goat milk is generally better than cow for most people, different breeds will give a different quality of milk, both in butterfat content and nutrition and thus the ability to assimilate that nutrition.

Like the Toggenburg goat, the Holstein is a producer and butterfat content is MUCH lower than say a Jersey. Jersey's are what the Amish prefer I believe... and for good reason.

As far as cows go, if you want to make butter and cheese, you most likely will want a Jersey cow... Nubian goats are my first choice...

My family have actively been looking and discussing having our own as three of our families are drinking the milk. A Nubian may give a gallon a day or so... which would be plenty. However they are herd animals and you generally want to have more than one... perhaps we will have to sell what we cannot use if this comes to fruition.

The point of this ramble is that in general terms, I agree with your goat over cow choice, however the decision can come down to availability, climate (will affect your breed choice) and production needs for survival.

Note: in a survival situation, I would want the higher butterfat.

Dr Mary Enig and Sally Fallon have written that a unique six-carbon capric acid (a short-chain fatty acid) is primarily found in goat milk butterfat. Enig and Fallon write: "These fatty acids have antimicrobial properties that is, they protect us from viruses, yeasts and pathogenic bacteria in the gut. They do not need to be acted on by the bile salts but are directly absorbed for quick energy."

grz-

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