SHEEP 



629 



a peculiar value in that they can be 

 easily transported on the cars and can 

 be taken from place to place at a small 

 cost. It is well known that the milk of 

 cows varies greatly in composition, and 

 while that of one animal may agree with 

 an invalid, the milk supplied by another 

 animal would disagree, this of course 

 would be overcome if the invalid should 

 take his milk animal along with him. 



Goat milk has a distinct flavor and 

 character of its own. The fat globules 

 are exceedingly small, rising to the sur- 

 face very slowly. The color of the milk 

 is nearly always pure white. It contains 

 on the average about 85.6 per cent water, 



Fig. 396— TOGGENBURG MILCH GOAT 



4.6 fat, 4.3 sugar, 1.3 albumen, 3.5 

 casein. The flavor of the milk is affected 

 by the character of the feed and the 

 surroundings. The goat is a scavenger, 

 and if allowed to eat all that it can pick 

 up on the street and in the garbage pail, 

 the milk is liable to have a decided 

 flavor. In addition, the milch goat has a 

 peculiar odor and requires unusual care 

 to keep it clean. 



The chief factor influencing the flavor 

 of the milk is the dirt which falls from 

 the body of the animal into the milk 

 at milking time. The buck has an espe- 

 cially strong odor and if the doe is 

 milked near the buck this odor is ab- 

 sorbed by the milk. The goats should 

 never be milked in the stable, but out- 

 side in the open air. 



Does in full flow of milk should be 

 milked three times a day, later, twice a 

 day will be sufficient. Goats' milk is 

 extensively used in the preparation of 

 various cheeses, particularly Roquefort, 



Ricotto, Schweitzer and various other 

 cheeses. 



One of the special features claimed 

 for goats is that they are immune to 

 tuberculosis. Careful investigations 

 have shown that where goats are allowed 

 to roam at will out of doors, less than 

 1 per cent have tuberculosis. When 

 kept in stables, however, under the same 

 conditions as dairy cows, they develop 

 tuberculosis to an equal extent. The 

 claim, therefore, that they are less tuber- 

 culous than dairy cattle depends entire- 

 ly upon the conditions under which they 

 are kept. Ordinarily they are allowed 

 more freedom than dairy cattle and 

 there is much less likelihood of produc- 

 ing tuberculous milk. 



Breeding milch goats_The milch 

 breeds should be bred twice a year, since 

 their period of lactation is only from 

 six to seven months. In order to have 

 a continuous supply of milk a flock of 

 two or three goats will be necessary. 

 The bucks should never be allowed to 

 run with the does except at breeding 

 time. 



Teed for milch goats should be the 

 same as that for dairy cattle. Goats 

 relish grains, oats, dry fodders and roots. 



Where it is desired to raise the kids 

 and at the same time use the goat's 

 milk for family purposes, the kid may 

 be brought up on a bottle with cow's 

 milk, in the same manner as lambs. 



As with Angoras, the average life of 

 the milch goat is about 12 years, and 

 they are at their best from five to seven 

 years old. They may be used as brush 

 wood destroyers, like Angoras, and are 

 equally valuable. The number of breeds 

 of milch goats is quite large. Thompson 

 in The Milch Goat, describes over 30. 



Toggenburg breed— Probably the most 

 valued European breed is the Toggen- 

 burg, from Switzerland. It is a brown 

 colored animal with a white bar down 

 each side of the face. There are both 

 long haired and short haired strains. 

 They are lanky and lean in appearance 

 and comparatively free from odor. The 

 teats are usually very large and long. 

 The breed is generally hornless. These 

 goats give from 4 to 5 quarts of milk a 

 day, while the best does yield from 4 to 

 6 quarts. 



The Saanen goat i s another valued 

 Swiss breed. This is one of the largest 

 milch breeds of goats produced in Swit- 

 zerland. Its color is pure white, the hair 



