Comparison of the milk quality of the South African Boer and Australian Rangeland goats

Abstract

Milk composition studies on goats are limited and have mainly concentrated on traditional dairy breeds. Since goats have the advantage of producing larger volumes over a longer lactation period, systematic studies to define the quality of goats milk is warranted. There is anecdotal evidence amongst goat breeders suggesting that some breeds of goat produce highly nutritious milk. In this study, the milk composition of the South African Boer and the Australian Rangeland goats were evaluated. Milk from the Boer goat contained significantly higher fat concentration compared to the Australian Rangeland goat (7.1 versus 3.3% at week 6). There were significant differences in the milk protein levels in the early stages of lactation between the Boer and Rangeland goats (5.1 versus 3.6% at week 4), however the levels were similar at week 6. In contrast, there was no significant difference in Somatic Cell Counts between the milk from the two breeds of goat. The milk lactose level of the Australian Rangeland goat was significantly higher than in the Boer goat (5.0 versus 5.3% at week 4, and 5.4 versus 5.6% at week 6).