Goats

Alpine crosses, native goats and the does of the milk round:

few goats in Guatemala are pure anything. The native goat of the villages is small, hardy and gives little milk. Across the western highlands, community projects have spent years crossing her with Alpine and Saanen bucks, and the doe that comes out of that is the dairy goat smallholders are most often offered. Pure Alpines and long-eared Nubians come from specialist breeders, and meat goats are mostly Boer crosses, deeper through the shoulder and quiet to handle. The does that work the milk round in Antigua are a type of their own: used to people, traffic and being milked standing in the street, they make easy first goats. Woolled and hair sheep sit next door and often share the same yard.

A raised shed, a goat-proof fence and a second goat:

need to be in place before the first one arrives. Goats hate standing in the wet, and a shelter with a slatted floor raised off the ground keeps hooves dry and droppings clear of the bedding. A fence that holds a cow will not hold a goat: they climb, squeeze through gaps and would rather strip shrubs than graze, so plan on tight, tall mesh. A goat on its own calls all day and tests every corner of that fence, so take two, or give a doe a castrated male for company. A dairy doe has to be milked every day for months after she kids; if nobody is home at milking time, a pair of wethers or a meat goat suits better. Concentrate and mineral salts for a doe in milk are under animal feed.

Lumps under the jaw, thick knees and an uneven udder:

are the three things to look for before taking a goat home. A firm lump below the ear, along the jaw or in front of the shoulder can be caseous lymphadenitis, an abscess that bursts and spreads through a herd; pass on a goat that has one, or a fresh scar where one was opened. Swollen knees on a thin adult point to caprine arthritis-encephalitis, which does not clear up. On a dairy doe, feel both halves of the udder: after milking they should be soft, even and free of hard spots, with two clean teats and no extras. Lift a foot. Long, curled hooves can be trimmed; a foul smell between the claws is foot rot. A buck should have two firm testicles of equal size. Ask whether the herd has had either problem, and for the paperwork that goes with the animal.

Photos of the udder, the hooves and the buck:

tell a goat keeper more than a portrait of the face. For a doe, show the udder from behind and from the side, and give her age, number of kiddings, when she last kidded, roughly what she gives at each milking and whether she is used to a milking stand. If she is in kid, name the buck or his breed. For kids, say whether they were raised on the mother or on the bottle, and whether they eat forage yet. Mention horns or disbudding, since horned and hornless goats do not always share a pen peacefully. When the goat leaves, send a few days of the feed she knows and tell the new keeper her milking time: a doe moved mid-lactation drops milk for a few days, and keeping her routine brings it back sooner.

FAQ:

• How long does a dairy goat keep giving milk?

  Around nine to ten months after kidding. Yield peaks a month or so in and then tapers, so a doe offered late in her lactation gives well under her best figure; ask when she kidded.

• Why does some goat milk taste strong?

  Usually because of the buck. In rut he carries a heavy smell that gets into the milk if he lives with the does, and milk left warm after milking picks up flavour fast. Keep him in his own pen and cool the milk straight away.