# Kiko vs Spanish



## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

What's the difference? It all looks like meat to me!:hubbahubba:


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

Duchesse said:


> What's the difference? It all looks like meat to me!:hubbahubba:


And now someone just received two beautiful kinder goats!(headsmash)

My goats are for pets and meat. I'm still trying to figure out which would be best for me.

Boer, Spanish, kiko, fainters, kinders and pygmy goats are all considered meat goat. Nubians are dual purpose. I am not sure I need something as big as the boer but, the pygmy is too small.

Any suggestions for a two person family looking for a little meat for our freezer and a pet who won't get so big I can't handle them. Especially the bucks.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Any are fine. But if you want pets, be sure they are friendly. The Kinders and Fainters are good since you think Pygmy will be too small.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Yes, I was going to suggest myotonics, if you have the ability to prevent thoughtless people from startling them on purpose merely for entertainment purposes. Laying there helpless is stressful to them, and contributes to parasite and disease issues from immune suppression.

Since the harm does not show up immediately, owners don't realize they are costing themselves time and money fixing damage from what they are allowing.

But there is a lot of meat on a myotonic!

But all goats are edible, and there are always more wethers than needed for herd management purposes. Some wethers just do not have a good pet personality, and they can go for meat... So choose a breed that you personally like being around.

San Clementes are on the small side of the standards, and are on the endangered list.

Making more (thereby helping to save the breed) and eating the subquality males might be an interesting path for you. @catharina has them and loves the personality, I love what they look like, so looks and personality can only help in the pet market department.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Here's an image showing adult goats with a human young'un for showing size. Not the best but what I could find quickly.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You also need to think about if horns on the goats are ok or not. Either way is fine. It is about what works for you.


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

I've never heard of San Clemente goats. I have to do some research.:7up: If those pics are an indication they are beautiful and that's a meaty buck!:hubbahubba:


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Keeping landrace breeds and types alive is a bit of an interest for me, so I admit to a bias there.


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

I did a little research on the San Clemente goat.:reading: It seems it's closest relative is the Spanish goat and they're dual purpose. They have a SCI association which has a listing of breeders. There's even one in NC.(dance) I'm sure they are pricey since they are endangered but they might be worth my time.:nod: Thanks for the info.:great: The more I learn the better I can choose.:coolmoves:


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Well, as I said, I have a bias toward saving our genetic diversity. But if something else suits your purposes better, then I'm completely behind that. You must be happy with YOUR goats, or what's the point of it all?


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Duchesse said:


> I did a little research on the San Clemente goat.:reading: It seems it's closest relative is the Spanish goat and they're dual purpose. They have a SCI association which has a listing of breeders. There's even one in NC.(dance) I'm sure they are pricey since they are endangered but they might be worth my time.:nod: Thanks for the info.:great: The more I learn the better I can choose.:coolmoves:


Cool that you are interested!! They actually aren't pricey, especially the bucks, ($300 or less) & though the breed is critically endangered there are still excess males, some of whom are being eaten. The meat is said to be sweet & mild as the bucks of the breed are genetically deficient in scent glands. On the minus side, they are not fast growing goats. Some breeders are focusing on larger meaty body types while others are trying to develop them as dairy goats due to the incredibly high fat content of their milk. We have a Facebook page, San Clemente Island Goat Breeder's page, where you could join & talk to people.

You have to work a little harder to make pets out of them due to the many generations of feral living & evading trophy hunters, but it can certainly be done, especially with bottle feeding. They are very smart & it's interesting to observe their behaviors.

Some people are just buying bucks to add hardiness or other qualities to their herds too. San Clemente kids are pretty tiny--3 to 5 pounds--I don't know how that would work with pygmy does. One huge plus for this breed is that the does kid so easily. I rarely even catch them in the act!


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Sorry about all those extra pictures! I tried to delete the duplicate & it just made more!


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

catharina said:


> I tried to delete the duplicate & it just made more!


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## Sophie123 (Feb 18, 2019)

We have mostly Kikos , some Boer and Spanish mixes, and 2 milk goats. We have around 50 total. In our experience, the Kiko/Spanish mixes, and the Kikos are much healthier than the rest. The 2 milk goats are the worst. Especially when it comes to worms. The Boers are not that great either. But the Boers have the most meat, the milk goats the most milk , obviously. If you are not trying to make money, I would get Kikos or Spanish or a mix of the 2. They are friendly, healthy, not picky eaters and great mothers. All of ours get mostly 3 kids and feed them all. 

The photo is of the Spanish/Kiko mix ( 4 kids, feeds them all, they are now 2 months)


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

https://www.ketv.com/amp/article/26...-at-gretna-farm-after-march-flooding/27534658


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Those San Clementes are awesome


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

MadCatX said:


> Those San Clementes are awesome


One place has one third of the population. Unbelievable!


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## MadCatX (Jan 16, 2018)

Yeah as much as I want a Pygmy Boer..I may need to check these guys out.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Look into each breed before you choose. Although yes all are meat goats they all have a few things that are different about them. I honestly do not know much about Spanish goats, kikos are known to be hardy, they are the type of goats that most people get when they want ones to just turn out and let them do their thing. They have smaller bones which means they actually yield more meat per pound. Myotonics (fainting goats) not all faint. They take longer to grow, their ADG (average daily gain) is very low, but as you have probably seen in pictures are massive when they mature. Boers are more known for the high ADG but unlike the kikos their bones are usually larger. 
Look at your area and what sells if that is what you are also wanting to do. Your going to have girls and you probably won’t be able to keep all of them and when sold you want a goat that you can sell for breeding.
Also no matter what breed you go for, buy from breeders that have as close to your management as you can find. If you want goats to brows, don’t buy from someone who only dry lots their goats. It doesn’t seem like this would be a factor and you would think that goats would be smart enough no matter where they came from to realize hey I need to go find my food, but that is honestly not the case. And this was the most frustrating thing for me when I first started in goats.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

@Jessica84 is really wise.


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

Sophie123 said:


> We have mostly Kikos , some Boer and Spanish mixes, and 2 milk goats. We have around 50 total. In our experience, the Kiko/Spanish mixes, and the Kikos are much healthier than the rest. The 2 milk goats are the worst. Especially when it comes to worms. The Boers are not that great either. But the Boers have the most meat, the milk goats the most milk , obviously. If you are not trying to make money, I would get Kikos or Spanish or a mix of the 2. They are friendly, healthy, not picky eaters and great mothers. All of ours get mostly 3 kids and feed them all.
> The photo is of the Spanish/Kiko mix ( 4 kids, feeds them all, they are now 2 months)


Thanks everyone this is good advice. I'm leaning toward the kiko and the kiko/Spanish cross because of the hardiness and the meat. I haven't ruled out the San Clemente Island goat or the myotonic.:nod: Right now because of space and because I'm in town I'll be sticking with dwarfs while I continue :reading:.

By the way I know this is out of left field but, can you keep two bucks together?
I'm looking at two Nigerian dwarfs. One is a fancy coated male that I was going to wether but maybe not. Your honest opinion?


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

When my herd was larger, I had a doe herd and a buck herd. It was no problem keeping 2 or more bucks together.

I'm still rooting for the San Clementes!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Don't keep intact just for coloring. Make sure he is an all around improvement for the breed.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Yes, that is very wise. Always keep the best quality, not the prettiest.


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## jodane (Apr 18, 2017)

We have Spanish goats, (I've attached pics of a full grown buck and 2 adult does) which look similar to the San Clemente. They are a very slow growing goat. When full grown the males will easily be 150 ish pounds or more, but it takes them almost 3 years to get there. right now my 1.5 yo's are around 60 pounds, the 2 + YO's are about 100 pounds and still growing. The pic in my profile is a buckling about 6 mos old.

Yes they get the large horns, but honestly, they're great to help handle them. And those bucks know exactly where those big horns are. If they hit you with them... they meant to do it.

Personality...Great, calm and overall hearty and healthy. Known for their good mothering instincts, and we rarely have to intervene with births and bottle raising them. Milk..if you want goat milk the Spanish are not going to do it for you. They have small teats and udders and it's difficult getting much milk out of them.

If you're really interested in buying a Spanish mix, I have a doe that's about 4 years old that failed the DNA testing for registration, She looks Spanish but we believe she might have Nubian in her. End of June /early July we'll be putting her up for sale as well as her doeling and buckling. If you're interested let me know. NC is not far from us (we're in N Atlanta Suburbs).


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

ksalvagno said:


> Don't keep intact just for coloring. Make sure he is an all around improvement for the breed.


He's an 8 week old buckling from the same sire as the doeling. That makes them half brother/sister.

I bought them from an unregistered herd.
The owner seems very knowledgable. His other sibling has to be surgically castrated because one of his testes didn't descend into the scrotum. Is this condition hereditary? I wouldn't want his brother to start breeding this trait into my herd.

I was going to wether him to keep Clyde company. If he's intact, He will mate with his sister. Wouldn't the bucks fight a lot?


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

Don't mate him with his sister.
Bucks fight less than does do, but they fight a lot during rut.


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## Duchesse (Oct 31, 2007)

Since breeding (brother to sister) is always a chance if they are together, I think I'll band him. Then all four can live together. 

At a later date I can get an intact Nigerian dwarf buck with moonspots.:inlove::dreams:


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