Dairy Goats: July 2007 Archives

The Scent of a Goat There is a scent associated with the goats. It is a goaty smell but not a stinky smell. Goats are not dirty stinky animals. They are clean and fussy but do have a scent. Each time I go out to milk the does I bring with me in my pink bucket of supplies a warm soapy cloth and a bottle of warm water. (I cannot use the hose and wet them with cold water. That is just so not fair!) I wash and rinse their udders and dry them well. This ritual insures that my milk will be clean and the goats won't get any udder problems. The washing and drying also helps to stimulate the udders so that the ladies will let down their milk for me. Afterwards they are moisturized and sprayed with an antibacterial spray for dairy animals to help prevent mastitis and whatnot. As I sit on the milking stool next to the milking stand the does will lean into my shoulder, rub against my arms and so I am left smelling not only of goats but of sweat from the hot humid days of summer. I kid you not, milking those does always leaves me dripping in sweat. So I stink. After milking, cleaning up, bringing in the milk and properly handling it for cooling and storing in the refrigerator I take a shower. In the afternoon I put back on the goat milking clothes and when finished I hit the shower and the clothes go into the washer. The goats arrived Thursday afternoon. So each and every morning and each and every afternoon I have followed the exact same routine. The girls have learned quickly and it is also their routine. Monday morning I am standing at the sink washing up dishes when I smell something that immediately registers in my mind as the scent of goat. I kept sniffing and asking myself WTF?!? is that goat smell. I have bathed, there is nothing that should smell. The bucket is clean, the milk doesn't smell, my clothes, the wash cloths and towels are in the washer. Yet, for over thirty minutes I am smelling goat. And then I realize I am NOT actually smelling my goats. (I should hang my head in shame but will let you laugh at me!) My animal antibacterial wash for their udders is being delivered tomorrow. So in the mean time I have been using the only soap I have available to wash the girls udders with. This is what my mind immediately associates as the smell of goat. Go ahead and laugh.