Dairy Sheep and Goats

Question 1

Dairy Sheep and Goats

Answer 1

• similar production cycles to dairy cattle
• ruminants
• 2 teats – udder halves (unlike udder quarters of cattle)
• milk yield per lactation is noticeably less than cattle

Question 2

Goats

Answer 2

• 1000 kg of milk/300 d lactation
• goat milk tends to be more digestible for humans bcs it has softer milk fat
• fat droplets in goat milk (which make up cream) behave differently, especially while making cheese
• typically more intensified confinement systems, esp in CA
• goat milk really popular as infant formula supplementation

Question 3

Sheep

Answer 3

• 500 kg of milk/180-200 d lactation
• milk fat of 7% (lower fat milk compared to cow milk)
• a lot of dairy sheep are pasture-raised

Question 4

Sheep and Goats

Answer 4

• traditionally used for cottage industry dairy production
• more of their milk becomes other dairy products than fluid milk
• a lot of emerging markets for goat and sheep dairy products