KIKOS DESERVE SERIOUS LOOK

 By Terry Hankins
Reprinted from Goat Rancher, May 2008


The beautiful Boer goat is the dominant meat goat breed in America today and probably always will be. I have Boer goats in my herd and I have many friends in the industry who raise Boer goats. Not surprisingly, 95 percent of them tune me out — or worse, laugh — when I start talking about my Kiko goats.

There is a mindset among most Boer producers that Kikos are skinny, grow slow and don’t have any meat. I’ll admit there are some sorry Kikos out there, but there are a lot of good ones, too.

The quality has improved tremendously over the last five years as more serious breeders have joined the Kiko industry. These producers come to the table with an understanding of livestock production and know a good goat from a bad goat.

Yes, we still have our share of hobbyists and speculators dabbling in the Kikos, but every breed has that. The key is having enough producers to move beyond that realm and produce animals that retain all the traits that make Kikos special.

You’ve heard all the claims before: parasite resistance, milk production, good motherability, less hoof trimming, fertility and — yes — fast growth and meat production. Many of us producers even have statistics to back up our claims, such as performance records, carcass data, feed and forage test results. And last but not least, producer testimonials.

I have had literally dozens of goat producers tell me that the introduction of Kikos into their herd is what kept them in the business. Producers that want to run an extensive meat goat operation in the Midwest, East Coast or Southeast need a goat that is parasite resistant. Otherwise, the deworming costs, labor input and death losses can be daunting.

This ain’t like West Texas or South Africa. In a typical year I get 49 inches of rain on my northwest Mississippi farm. San Angelo, Texas, gets 18. There is a difference is our climates across the U.S. — and there is a difference in goats.

The Kiko was developed in New Zealand, which has a temperate climate more in tune with the Eastern half of the United States. It’s just reasonable to expect that these goats would do better in a climate similar to their land of origin — just as the Boer goat from arid South Africa thrives better in the dry Western U.S. It’s not rocket science — it’s genetics and adaptation. Running hundreds of Boer goats in West Texas or Oklahoma is relatively simple. The forage is nutrient-rich and the stomach worms are few and far between. Just turn the bucks and does loose and they will thrive.

If you try that in Louisiana or South Carolina, you may end up with dead goats. That’s not the goat’s fault. It’s ours for dropping an innocent Boer goat with little genetic parasite tolerance into a humid, worm-infested pasture with grass a foot deep that contains 10 percent nutrients and 90 percent water.

I say all of this to encourage producers who are tittering on the brink of quitting and selling out to at least look at your other options. Is it possible that adding a Kiko buck or a few Kiko percentage does would make that much difference? If you love raising goats and want to keep doing it, at least do a little research.

I know the goat business is tough; we’ve all been through that big, tall learning curve. Many goat operations don’t survive — Goat Rancher loses more than 100 subscribers every month, mostly people who have sold out and quit the business. Fortunately, another 100 or more enter the business each month, and each month I wonder how many of them will survive those rough first two years?

For those who prevail, raising meat goats is a rewarding industry. It’s the fastest growing livestock sector in the United States. Demand out-paces supply many times over. It doesn’t take a lot of acreage, and you can raise everything from 4-H wethers in your back yard to show animals to slaughter goats for ethnic buyers. Boer goats work in many of these scenarios. Kikos and Myotonics are options. And in many cases, crossbreeding programs involving all of the above can be successful.

Eleven months out of the year, Goat Rancher focuses mainly on Boer goat production. But each May we feature a special Kiko Section that highlights this breed. This year our coverage begins on Page 15; there’s a special Kiko Cud-Zoo on Page 54.

For those wanting more information on Kiko goats, helpful websites are www.kikogoats.com, www.theikga.org, www.kikogoats.info and www.thecrawfordfarm.com. I promise nobody will laugh at you just for looking.