# Feeding whey to goats...?



## madness (Dec 6, 2006)

While reading a new book (Growing Good Things to Eat In Texas), I saw a picture of a nearby dairy with goats slurping down whey! The text didn't say anything about it, just a caption - something like "goats drinking whey outside the milking parlor". After seeing this, I thought I finally had an outlet for all the whey from cheese making (we use it in cooking and a lot goes to the chickens, but the rest winds up in the compost).

Well...turns out, my goats have zero interest in whey. I've tried giving it to them warm, cold, fresh, old, everything. So I guess I want to hear more about this. Is it beneficial to feed them whey? Is there a trick to getting them to drinking it?


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## luvzmybabz (Sep 8, 2008)

On some chilly mornings I make oatmeal with whey to give to the chickens however since my one doe that was in milk decided it was time to dry herself off, the poor chicks will have to suffer along with us humans, this winter and just have plain oatmeal. 

Do you feed beet pulp maybe you could soak it in warmed whey? I have tried soaking the beet pulp shreds I feed but my girls prefer it unsoaked.


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## madness (Dec 6, 2006)

We do feed beet pulp - it's just mixed in with their grain ration.

Nobody else feeds whey to their goats? I'm going to have to get that book back from the library to scan the photo and post it. I was shocked when I saw it!

Along the same lines, a friend down the road is feeding her doe's milk back to her. She has subclinical mastitis and this is one of the remedies she is trying. Apparently, the doe readily drinks it but her other does (no mastitis) won't drink their own milk. I wonder what that's about...


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## Qvrfullmidwife (Jan 10, 2004)

Not a goat but we have some neighbors whose pig died of 'whey bloat'. Because it can ferment it caused a gas buildup which killed it. I would definitely only feed it as a small portion of their diet, definitely making sure they had long stem fiber.

I'd call the farm profiled in the book and ask them!


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

I soak my milkstand grain in whey and feed it to my hens. I don't change my does diets very much at all because they simply don't do well with change. Maybe soak beet pulp in it and see if they will drink it?

Unless you pasteurise your milk before you make cheese, I don't, I would not want to be feeding whey from untested stock back to my milkers. 

How about making batches of Ricotta, either with whole milk added or not. It doesn't make much but it does use up all the rest of the product in the whey, I keep a tupperware container in my freezer that I just keep adding the ricotta to, when it's full I make stuffed manicotti or use it in lasagna. Other than just some vinegar it's pretty much free cheese. Vicki


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## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

I think I remember reading somewhere that feeding whey to goats can cause them to scour - I could be wrong! But you could try it, adding it slowly, and see how they react to it.

I had one doe that would dive into the milk pail, given half a chance.


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## madness (Dec 6, 2006)

Qvrfullmidwife said:


> I'd call the farm profiled in the book and ask them!


They are pretty hard to get a hold of - They don't list their number on the website and I've emailed a few times. BUT, I'm headed there next month for a cheese making class, so I will be sure to ask tons of pesky questions!

Vicki - I do usually make ricotta, unless the whey is from soft cheese and then the yield is so low and the cheese is...chewy? The texture just isn't right.

Well, since it doesn't sound like I'm missing some big dairy goat secret by NOT feeding them whey, I think I'll just wait until I get word from the dairy what their practice is.

Thanks everyone!


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## Qvrfullmidwife (Jan 10, 2004)

And I saw the author of the book today at one of our farmer markets and told her that her book was a topic on a goat forum--she really got a kick out of it!


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