Yesterday Dane, Shawn, and I went into Inquilpata to the market to look for goats. It has been raining heavily this week, so I should have worn boots, but both Dane and I had on crocs.
Shawn happily marched through puddles in his boots, while Dane and I tried in vain to keep our socks dry. The market was a muddy mess. There was no avoiding getting mud into my crocs.
Despite the mud, there were loads of people out. The small animal section was packed out so that we could not walk without people shoving us. We made our way over to the sheep section and found a surprising number of goats of various ages, which was an answer to prayer.
Not many people keep goats locally, so some weeks there aren’t any goats for sale. This week there were over a dozen. The highest price quoted to me was S/550 ($165) for a doeling. I ended up buying a doeling for S/100 ($30) and a milking doe for S/150 ($45).
I named the doe Agnes. She’s supposedly bred, and the seller said she gives a tremendous amount of milk. I could tell by checking her that she had worms and wasn’t giving much, but I do think she’s carrying kids.
Dane and Shawn led Gertrude home, while I led Agnes. Once at home I discovered that Agnes had no clue what alfalfa pellets were, and she acted as if no one had ever been near her udder before. There will be plenty of training to do.
I got one-half cup of milk from her. I do not consider that a tremendous amount. She ate clover like she was starved. Counting her ribs, I’d say she probably felt like it.
I measured them, weigh-taped them, and dewormed them. They both ate a little bit of pellets, but mostly they kept their heads down in the grass for the day.
I milked Agnes again this morning with Anne, Abbey, and Dane assisting. She gave a full cup this time. She seemed slightly more interested in the pellets. Back out on grass, she’s been busy filling herself up. I’m looking forward to seeing how she fleshes out in the next month.
Today I was in town and found some minerals I can give the goats. I’m hoping that helps get them all on track. Mildred is over her initial illness, but she’s been off the last two days with a fever. She was even skinnier than Agnes when I got her.
I did some number-crunching today for the hoot of it. If I have 33% doelings, figure 10% loss, and retain all my doelings, by January 2025 I would have over 1,000 does.
That’s not my plan.
Juan David 