I have 4 adult does. I share a buck with a neighbor who is also a cheesemaker. (We are the only two artisan cheesemakers in all of Costa Rica, as far as we know.)
When I have bucklings, the decision about what to do is easy--they get sold.
When there's a new doeling like this, it's hard. If you keep every new doeling you'll soon have a huge herd. And all I need is just a few good milkers. So I probably will be giving her to a friend who is bee keeper and who wants to barter honey for some goats.
My goal is to have no less than 2 girls milking at a time. That way I always have plenty of milk. When 2 are milking I average 2 gallons per day. (I get between 1.5-2.5 gallons per day, depending on where they are in the lactation cycle.) You can imagine what happens when 3 or 4 are milking! I only milk in the morning. I used to milk twice a day and got about 1 1/2 times as much milk, but it's harder on the girls and it ain't easy for me either. LOL
So between the milk we use for general cooking, for our amazing Costa Rican coffee, and for the artisan ice creams I also make, I usually make a 6 gallon cheese two or three times a week. That's plenty!
