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Last year, after ten years of breeding Boer Goats, I decided to try some Kiko goats to find out if they are actually better suited to our climate. I have become increasingly concerned about the management required to keep fullblood Boers productive. Over the past year I have observed much better Famacha scores in my Kikos under the same management as my Boers. I have also spent significantly less effort on maintaining their feet.
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In 2010 my Kiko-Boer crosses have out-performed both breeds. At this point I am planning to work toward a herd that combines the positive characteristics of Boers and Kikos. Boers are really not adapted to wet climates and Kikos don’t carry enough muscle to appeal to ethnic buyers that have become accustomed to buying Boers. Careful selection of crossbred animals may produce the right genetics for the northeast climate.
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The fastest way to enhance the hardiness of traditional breeds of meat goats may be to incorporate feral genetics. We recently purchased an Arapawa buck (see picture on this page), a feral breed from an island off New Zealand that evolved from 150 years of natural selection. Boer-Arapawa cross does will be tested here next year.
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Breeding meat goats that are productive in the Catskill Mountains of New York State requires a different approach than breeding goats in the Southwestern USA. Our colder and wetter climate and rugged topography all combine to present a new set of challenges for the meat goat farmer.
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Our herd is now closed to new introductions. We have four distinct breeds of goats represented as we move into a rigorous crossbreeding and selection process. Our goal is to produce a herd of goats that can be productive with minimal purchased grain and medical intervention.
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We select our bucks for large frames, good muscling, rate of gain, and sound feet and legs. Tolerance to internal parasites has recently become a major selection criterion.
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Brood does are selected for maternal instinct, sound feet and legs, and goats that are productive without a huge amount of treatment.
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We limit our herd to 25 brood does. This allows us to select the best 20% of each year’s crop as future foundation does.
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We don’t sell culls as breeding stock. If we sell an animal to you for breeding, it’s because we are confident it is a sound animal.
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Good genetics is a key to raising healthy goats! Compensating for weaknesses by increasing management does not lead to profit.
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