362 SHEEP FARMING IN AMERICA 



extraordinary. From three to five quarts a day 

 are not uncommon in Europe and the period of lac- 

 tation is long. Some German authorities assert that 

 the goat often yields ten times the weight of its body 

 annually, and that exceptional animals yield in milk 

 as much as eighteen times their weight. 



It is a good goat of any breed that' will yield two 

 quarts per day for seven or eight months in the 

 year. 



The flavor of goats' milk is good, if the goats 

 have good food. If they must subsist upon bitter 

 and aromatic brush, or upon onions and refuse from 

 the garden, there is danger of the flavors reacting 

 on the milk. Milch goats when in use should be as 

 carefully fed as dairy cows, given good wholesome 

 sweet hay or clovers, alfalfa, or dried lawn clip- 

 pings. They should have their ration of bran and 

 oats, with a trifle of oilmeal if the best is sought. 

 At times when they are not in milk they may be 

 permitted to feast upon all sorts of brush and weeds 

 that taste more palatable to them than to us. 



As to the amount of feed required it is said that 

 eight goats require about the same amount of food 

 as one cow. 



Milch goats need a comfortable, clean, dry house, 

 well ventilated, for their winter's home. They need 

 a good fence since they will climb and creep out 

 whenever they have opportunity. They are quite 

 often tied in stalls as cows are tied, though it would 

 seem better to give them clean, roomy pens. They 

 should be milked regularly three times a day by 



