Lifestock

Holsteins in the highlands, zebu crosses in the heat:

in Guatemala, altitude decides more about cattle than breed preference does. The cool western highlands around Quetzaltenango, San Marcos, Chimaltenango and Sacatepéquez are where the European dairy breeds, Holstein, Jersey and Brown Swiss, hold up. Lower down, in Petén, Izabal, the Verapaces and along the Pacific coastal plain, most herds are crosses with Brahman, Gyr or Nelore, which carry heat and ticks far better. A pure Holstein brought down from the highlands to the coast tends to eat less, milk less and lose condition. The Paisanita, a native landrace found on farms across the country, earns its place on poorer ground. Dairy and beef animals alike are listed under cows, while working farm horses and riding horses go under horses.

Goats, hair sheep and the backyard pig:

suit a smaller plot. Among goats, Saanen and Nubian types are kept for milk, Boer for meat. Sheep divide by climate too: the coarse-woolled native sheep of the highlands has supplied Guatemalan weavers for generations, while hair sheep such as the Pelibuey need no shearing and suit hot lowland farms. In pigs, a hardy native pig fattened on kitchen scraps and a Landrace or Duroc-cross gilt bred for a commercial unit need very different feeding. Hens are mostly commercial brown layers or hardy native backyard birds. Layers come into lay at around 18 to 20 weeks, so a pullet’s age in weeks tells you how soon she will earn her keep.

Grass for the dry months, before the animal:

the commonest mistake is taking on stock without the feed to carry it. Once the dry season sets in the pasture stops growing, and that is when many farms let animals go rather than buy feed for them. A lot offered at the height of the dry months may come from someone who simply ran out of grass and the animals may arrive thin. Count what you have: grazing, cut forage, water that will not dry up, and a pen with shade. Whatever you will have to bring in, from hay and concentrate to mineral salts, is under animal feed.

An udder, a mouth and a walk across level ground:

tell you more than a glossy coat does. Watch the animal walk on flat ground: a limp, a swollen joint or long, foul-smelling hooves are a cost you inherit. With a dairy cow, see her milked, strip a little from each quarter onto a dark surface and look for clots or watery milk, and ask how many calvings she has had and when she last calved. If she is said to be in calf, ask who confirmed it. Teeth give a rough age on cattle, goats and sheep. On pigs, look for a cough, scouring and a hernia at the navel; on goats and sheep, a pale inner eyelid often means worms. A hen in lay has a full red comb and clean nostrils, and no wheeze. Ask for the papers that go with the animal and its vaccination record.

Offering a heifer, a breeding sow or a lot of laying hens:

put in the listing what a farmer will ask before driving out to see them: species, breed or cross, sex, age and, for a female, whether she is open or in calf and how far along. For dairy stock give the daily milk in litres and the stage of lactation; for young stock, whether they are weaned; for hens, their age in weeks and how many are in the lot. A short video of the animal walking, or of the cow being milked, does more than any photo. Say which village and municipality the animals are in and whether you have a ramp to load from, because someone coming from Huehuetenango for two goats in the back of a pickup needs to know before setting out, or whether to bring one of the livestock trailers instead. Animals travel best early in the morning, watered before they leave and with room to stand on the way.