# Kikos



## Dover Farms (Oct 16, 2007)

Kikos are a very hardy and parasite resistant breed. Developed in New Zealand. The person who bred the Kiko took the biggest New Zealand Feral does he could find and bred them to the larger dairy bucks like Alpines, Nubians, and Saanens. Then they were carefully selected for their hardiness and better milk production and bred to others alike. That's how Kikos originated in a nut shell. Kikos aren't quite as meaty as Boers and Myotonics, especially in the thighs. But there are some Kikos out there that are just as meaty. They have a higher meat to bone ration than Boers.


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## lacy_94 (Oct 7, 2007)

i think my boer cross ..has kiko in him cause he resembles one and is pretty good sized and has the same ears...

http://s167.photobucket.com/albums/u159 ... dNLLAM.jpg


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## getchagoat (Julie) (Oct 5, 2007)

The kikos have the higher ratio because they have smaller bones. The boers are very big boned. This spring we will have our first fullblood kiko kids. I'm very interested to see the weights.


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## Dover Farms (Oct 16, 2007)

lacy_94,

I really can't see him to well in that pic. Although, since his head is all white...maybe Saanen? Do you have a body shot of him? Does he have horns? Kikos usually have very distinct horns that spiral outward.

Julie,

I hope your Kikos perform very well for you!  You may have already read this on another post, but since we cannot afford buying new bucks of both Nubians and Kikos every few years, we are going to soley focus on our Nubians...


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## alyssa_romine (Oct 5, 2007)

I am adding a Kiko/Spanish doe to my herd tomorrow! I am very excited to see what she produces crossed to my myotonic buck.


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## getchagoat (Julie) (Oct 5, 2007)

congrats. Kiko/Spanish makes for good moms. Guy at Tennessee State University did a study between kiko, boer, and spanish moms. I'd love to have Spanish crossed with anything. We have one.


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## alyssa_romine (Oct 5, 2007)

I am so glad to hear that. I guess I made a good decision on that doe.


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## dvfreelancer (Aug 15, 2009)

One of my neighbors has a Kiko buck. Looks like he's got some size on him. 

Wicked set of horns on Kikos.


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## sealawyer (May 31, 2009)

Does Sydell make a goat flopper that is extra wide at the top so that the Kikos will fit? :ROFL: We cross our boer billies with a lot of cross-bred goats and they make the VERY BEST show wethers. Boer/Alpy and Boer/Nuby are the best with Boer/Kiko right behind them.


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## AlaskaBoers (May 7, 2008)

i had a kiko/boer once and she was great. good mom and never let her kids leave.


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## DPW (Mar 13, 2010)

Have been toying with the idea of adding some Kiko blood into our herd for some time now. The traits associated with Kiko's interested me very much. A friend of ours just happened to have a four month old buckling that was a 50-50 Boer/Kiko cross.
She was going to sell him for meat so when we expressed interest she practically gave him to us.
Mostly dirty white with some brown down his back and around his neck. Not a very "handsome" fellow coloration wise but at this young age has the potential to have it where it counts for a meat production buck.
We're pretty excited to see how he turns out. The buck we have now, fullblood Boer, grew into nothing like his sire. We were a bit dissapointed to say the least. We bought him at four months as well but paid a substantial more amount of money. 
As of now we have 4 Boer/Nubian cross does we need to cull for one reason or another so I am keeping my eye out for a nice Kiko doe or two to help fill the void. 
Here's one of many articles I have read about Kiko's that helped nudge me in that direction.

http://www.kikogoats.info/articles/My%2 ... ation.html


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## mrs. lam (Apr 20, 2010)

There is a kiko round up this weekend June 10-12 at the Georgia National Fairgrounds. Sell starts Sat. at 12:30. You can go to www.southeastkikoroundupsale.com for more info. They also have an online catalog listing the animals that will be for sale.

Gina


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## Lexibot (Jul 27, 2010)

I loooooove kikos  I got a 6month old that's possibly bred (the guy traded her to us, she's pretty good sized, I figure for having raised them for 11 years he knows what he's doing), so with luck, she'll give us a fullblooded off spring, if not, I got a kIko/boer male (Sunny), he's taken up a lot of the kiko trait, but you can tell he has boer in him. I'll breed them together if she doesn't show signs. She's lovely.. I'll look for pics  I have mountains of pictures of my farm.


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## myfainters (Oct 30, 2009)

*Re:*



alyssa_romine said:


> I am adding a Kiko/Spanish doe to my herd tomorrow! I am very excited to see what she produces crossed to my myotonic buck.


This is personally my favorite cross for meat production... don't know why more people don't breed the kiko/myo crosses.

Obviously this depends on the quality of your myo buck... but you have everything from this cross that you can possibly want... greater meat to bone ratio coming from both breeds, great mothers from both breeds, production of multiples that are dam raised from the myos, Ease of kidding from the myos and the color variety, possibility for blue eyes and polled from the myos.... the positives to this cross are endless.... the problem would only be making sure you have a quality myotonic buck to breed to kiko does... there is such a large variety of size in the myotonic breed that you really need a good solid buck preferably one whose lineage can be tracked (by photos would be best)so you know that you are getting a buck from heavy meat lines NOT from the mini pet lines.


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## Lexibot (Jul 27, 2010)

Is there any pics of the myo? I would like to see


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## jdgray716 (Aug 8, 2008)

*Re: Re:*



myfainters said:


> alyssa_romine said:
> 
> 
> > I am adding a Kiko/Spanish doe to my herd tomorrow! I am very excited to see what she produces crossed to my myotonic buck.
> ...


Personally, I loved the kids of this crossing as well. However, I was not to fond of the upkeep on the does after kidding. I do not like my does loosing any weight and if they do very little is allowed. My kiko does seemed to just look so dairy during and after kidding. Big bags that caused the sink in look. Also, the nice nice ones I did want want to go to meat. So you had to find a meat breeder wanting that cross. It became too much for me that is why I went to the TMG genetics this year when I got rid of my meat does. Just my feelings.


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

I have three boer/kiko cross doelings who just turned a year old. They are the most maintenance free babies we raised. The boers seemed to get the worms and come down with the occasional cold. The two does we lost were boers (both had severe worm infestation when we got them and the doctoring didn't work). I do love our boer/kiko girls. They are much lighter boned than the boer babies were but as yearlings they are starting to fill out and pack on some muscling (even while pregnant). We've had no worm issues with them at all and they've all been wormed twice...once when we got them and once in the middle of summer as precaution. Very healthy girls!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I have a kiko doe and her July 2010 boer doe - she looks just like mama other than color.
I don't know anything about kiko's.  What kind of build do they have compared to a boer or a dairy such as a nubian? I know boers are thick, and nubian's are much slender. But I am uncertain what a kiko should be like? My doe just seems...thin even though she has a good sized preggo belly and due any day. I just don't know what kind of build she should have. But then I was told she probably has some dairy in her too...


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

I'm no expert, but the kiko is supposed to be a pretty big meat goat...smaller than a boer in muscling but larger than a nubian for sure in muscling. The best touted features about them is that they are supposed to be very resistant to parasites, their kids are born with more vigor and grow at a more rapid rate than boers (though the boers are always bigger anyway), and do extremely well on browse only.
I imagine when they become more popular and modernized they will loose their "wild" vigor. I think the boer/kiko cross can be exceptional. My boki girls are smaller framed but extremely healthy. They "take a lickin and keep on tickin" :laugh: One is obviously more kiko and a smaller one at that. We plan to cull her once she has weaned off her baby. We are going to look at another boki doeling tomorrow. In the southeast parasites are tough to manage in boers especially, so a little kiko blood thrown in the mix can only help imo (if commercial and obviously not for registered stock and show).
I think my blk/wht paint buckling is part kiko. His horns (need to upload a frontal shot) look identical to the young kiko buck and he's got that same knot on his forehead, no roman nose.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Aimee! My doe isn't heavy or meaty, but she had twins in July, and then was rebred at the end of Sept so she really never had a chance to regain herself. I didn't want her bred but had no idea she was coming in heat and the buck got to her before I did. Out of all my girls she is the only one I didn't know was coming in heat and she was the one I didn't want bred. figures! So she's getting a break after this kidding.
Her July doe has never had any issues that I can think of, no hoof problems. She's on the small side- short but chunky. She still has a lot of growing to do. But her mama has grown a lot in the last several months as well. 
Now that I know they are meaty, but not as muscled as Boers, I can work on getting weight back on her. 

The sad thing about it is, her daughter is going to be registered as 50% whenever I send her paperwork in, but she doesn't look boer at all...nothing about her IMO looks boer.


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

I don't know, Summer looked pretty stout to me! I think she's a nice doe.
Here's a picture of some kiko does. Your Snow White does like like a purebred (or at least high percentage) Kiko to me. I don't care for the horns on the bucks personally, but the does are very nice. Here's a picture of some purebred does.
http://www.dividingridgefarm.com/KikoDoes.html

My boki girls have long ears but not quite as long as a full blood boer. They also stand out a bit to the side when they are listening to something. :laugh: The kiko ears are more out to the side.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Aimee! Yep those look just like her!









I am wondering if my other doe, Sweetheart, could possibly have some Kiko in her even if she looks mostly boer? They came from the same breeder, so I makes me wonder... Long story short, these girls were sent to an orchard for the fall festivities, and the breeder never came to get them! A boer breeder a mile away was called, and she got the girls and took care of them, and not too long later we bought them  So neither myself nor the woman I bought them from knew their origins as far as breeds go, just that they were owned by the same person.

Kiko's are popular in this area from what I hear. Kiko/boer and Boer/nubian.


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

The doe in the picture looks like she might have some kiko...is that sweet heart? I thought the white one was Snow White? I'm confused, even with my own.  The baby does have some kiko markings (with the black), but also boer markings.
To give you an idea of how hardy they are, I got my bokis from a woman who owned kiko does. Once a year she brought in a boer buck and left him there for three months, then took him out. She came back when the kids were about 2 1/2 months old to worm everybody and sale the kidcrop. No grain, no vaccinations, no elaborate housing or foot care, no nothing. She did roll round hay bales out for them in the winter. My girls were wild to say the least...now all lap goats.
Her herd was lean, but muscle lean and not too thin. She had a couple mules in the pasture with them for protection. I guess the ones who weren't fit just died?  The survivors were hardy, though. She bred strictly for meat and she said she had few losses.


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## jodief100 (Jan 15, 2011)

I have kikos. I bought some after reading some research out of University of Tennessee that shows that boer bucks bred to kiko does produce faster growing kids than pure boers and the kiko does have a higher weaning rate.

I have several non-registered pure kikos and a few high percentage registered. The kids are hitting the ground now and they have been getting up and nursing faster, been quicker to be active and growing faster than my boer kids do. The mom's have TONS of milk, enough for three or even four, I suspect. My kikos have not needed worming yet and their hooves have not needed as much trimming. They are not at meaty but I get more money from a small kid than a dead one.

The link above to Dividing Ridge farm, they are friends of mine and he has spent many years developing his herd. He loves the kikos.

They are not as friendly and a little more wild but I suspect that is because they do not get handled as much due to the heartier nature.


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

Your girls are very nice, Jodie. :thumb: I read that same study and it was impressive. And I agree, the boer/kiko cross can be the best of both worlds. Have you tried to milk one? With that high of milk production, I'm wondering if we couldn't get a kiko doe for dual purpose instead of going with a second nubian? :chin: 
A friend of mine just had his first kiko doe/boer buck crop hit the ground and he's very impressed with the results. He's so impressed I couldn't talk him out of any of the doelings!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Sorry to confuse you Aimee - the pic I posted is Snow White and her daughter Summer. I didn't post a pic of Sweetheart. We know that Sweetheart has boer, but aren't sure what she's mixed with. 

I agree Jodie your girls are nice  
My doe is on the thin side right now. Her eye lids are a little pale compared to Summer, so I wormed her, and hope it's a worm that Ivermectin will take care of. I'll have a fecal done as soon as she kids, and see if I need to use something else.
Otherwise she's been an easy keeper. Her twins took a lot out of her.
Summer is a very easy keeper, never had any issues with her at all. She is small though, and that has never really concerned me. I can still pick her up, and think she's only around 50lbs? She's a chunk, but she's not very tall, and is just now starting to get some length to her. Both her twins weighed 7lbs at birth.

I agree about the kids getting right up after birth. I always joke that Summer was born standing...LOL She came out, and within seconds she was trying to find her feet. Out of the kids we've had so far, she was the fastest on her feet. 

As for being wild, I can agree, but I think it depends on how they are raised. Snow White was wild when we got her, but she loved my 4yo automatically  She got to know us and now she is a big sweetie. She loves to rub on you and show you affection. And Summer is a complete attention hog....Lord forbid you show someone else love and not her...hehe...
I really like the Kiko's, and am hoping Snow White is hiding another doe in there. I am thinking twins for her? But we'll see. 
I think they are gorgeous goats, and I especially love those ears!


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## newmama30+ (Oct 4, 2010)

Here is my Angel she has kidded twice with me, she is 50/50 Lamancha Kiko, both of her kiddings were unattended and uneventful. Her first kidding here she Kidded her boys, cleaned them up, and nursed them with in 10min. This last time all I know is she had the kids pretty much cleaned up, and up and going when we walked into the barn to check on everyone, even stole a kid from one of my boers who kidded at the same time.










This was the beginning of Jan so about 3weeks or so before she kidded!


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

She's very nice, Bobbi Jo! She looks very thick and deep. I heard the kikos were really good mama's too.


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## jodief100 (Jan 15, 2011)

I haven't tried to milk them because they are WILD! I bought those girls from a herd that was very hands off. They are half sisters to a buck that was #1 in parasite resilience and #2 in parasite resistance at the MD buck test in 2009. I deliberately bought ones that were raised hands off because I am trying to develop parasite resistance goats. 

Three have kidded so far, 2 triplets and 1 twin. Plenty of milk for everyone and they all gave birth without assistance and were up and nursing without my help. One more is due in April and my two registered high percentages are at 60 and 70 lbs so I will be breeding them this summer. The two percentages are from Adams Kikos and Caprine Genetics so I expect good things from them.

I never thought about it but I suspect they would make a good dual purpose goat. Their udders are always at least half full even with babies on them.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I am very pleased with our kiko/boer kids from our herd queen. I was told she might have some dairy in her, but she looks kiko as I mentioned before.
Her twins were born on 2/24 - the youngest of 6 <2 other does kidded on 2/23>. 
These kids are the biggest, especially her buckling. IMO he is HUGE! I am estimating him to be no less than 33lbs. He's long bodied, and starting to get some loose skin around his neck. Hoping and praying he might make a nice commercial herdsire for someone, so hopefully he will continue to grow. Her twins last year weren't as big as these kids at this age. They take more after their sire than the twins last year did.

I'll get some pics hopefully tomorrow.


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## Perfect7 (Apr 19, 2010)

We lost one of our boer/kiko girls during kidding. She was bred to a high percentage boer buck and the baby (9 lbs) was too big for her.  Another kidded just fine, but her buckling was much smaller. I guess for my boer/kiko crosses who are built more kiko, I'd wait until they were at least 1 1/2 years old before breeding to a boer buck if I had it to do over again. The one we lost was the smallest of the three, and one left to go!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I'm so sorry Aimee, still heartbreaking that you lost her  I can't imagine losing one...I know the day will come eventually, and I dread it.

On Saturday I used 2 different measurements and they were very accurate. The buckling is 30lbs, and the doeling around 27lbs.

Mia - the doeling is the 2nd kid from the left, and her brother is the 3rd from left. You can see how much bigger they are than the others! And they are the youngest...love how her kids are growing compared to the kids last year. We'll see how they continue to grow.










We are selling them when they are weaned, but I'm having my doubts about selling Mia....totally in love with her!


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## kikocross (Apr 3, 2011)

ive got 6 nannys,and a kiko buck,all does are 3/4 kiko to pure bred.mixed with boar..just had yearling have her first set,she was bred to a 100% reg kiko and they are twins on her first time.i got mine from a guy whos been in the goat biz for 10 years and say kikos r almost self maintained.he says kiko/boar are fastest growing and the most low maint he found so far.as for as meaty goats my 3/4 kikos are heaver goats.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We weighed our 8 week old kids on a scale today....the kiko buckling is 45lbs!!! He's sooo BIG! His twin was 40lbs, most of the other kids were 35lbs. This guy is 5 lbs. lighter than our Jan 5th doe! Soooo happy with how our does kids turned out this year!


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## Steve (Mar 12, 2011)

Very nice,do you have any recent pics of him?


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks! I know I have pictures of him, but can't seem to find them! The only ones I could find were of them snoozing! I'll get a picture of him in a little while when I go outside.

This is his twin sister, Mia, we were going to sell her, but my son wants to show her in 4-H. This was her first time being worked with and she did great....don't mind the bad set up, we are learning, and the only video I could find on setting up a doe, this is how they had the doe set up LOL So this afternoon we plan to try again and get better pics 



















I did take this one yesterday <haha>... Mia is on the right, and the buckling second to the right by Mia <my niece named him Butterscotch>.









Here's his face...hehe...taken a month ago...sooo cute


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## Steve (Mar 12, 2011)

wow he is tall compared to the rest,his sister looks good too


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## jodief100 (Jan 15, 2011)

My first kiko-boer crosses were weighed at 90 days old last night. Twin does at 42.5 and 44.5 lbs. I do not creep feed and I put about 6-8 oz of grain per doe in the community feeder every night. I am happy with the results. Those little buggers grow like weeds!


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## Cornerstone Croft (Jan 11, 2011)

I'm glad to hear the Kikos are getting good reviews! We started with Kikos about 4 years ago and have had great results. We originally had Boers and then switched to the Kikos and love them. They really are parasite tolerant and we have never had to trim hooves,although we do check them, they don't need it! Our bucks are picked out of top genetics and mainly picked for parasite tolerance and "smaller" kids for kidding!


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

Cute kids!!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We're real happy with the way our kiko/boer twins are growing. The buckling was weighed a week ago at 50lbs, the doeling around 48 lbs. they will be 3 months old next week. They are being weaned, so they get their grain ration divided up into morning/evening feedings. 
Of course the only sad thing about weaning is the fact, we have to sell my big boy  We're keeping his twin for my son to use in 4-H and then we 'may' sell her. We have 5 doelings and can only keep 3


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## Jake Levi (Jun 9, 2011)

Hi

These are very impressive youngsters. 

Has anyone here crossed them with dairy strains? 

I like the hardiness and resistance of them, but have still to see my first ones.

What are the mature weights of the bucks and does? 

The pics of the does in milk are very impressive, at the breeders in KY. 

I'd love to see any update pics of any of these youngsters. 

Jake


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## Petersfamilyfarms (Jan 15, 2012)

Loved reading all of this! Do they get aggressive at all with their horns, generally speaking? There are a lot of Boer's in this area, maybe get a Kiko does and breed them with Boer's... :chin:

Any Oregon Kiko people out there?


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## kikocross (Apr 3, 2011)

I have 41 kiko does and a full blood reg kiko buck. Some pure breds,some kiko/spanish and some kiko/boar. ive had a little of everything and i know everybodys heard that adding kiko to your herd will help. like i said i have a little of everything and a kiko buck does help your heard. i spoke with a lady the other day that says she has some of the origanal kiko genetics in her herd and has several bucks that have tipped the scales at 285 pds.theres good and bad in every breed. i have free choice minerals all the time and mix apple cider vinager in ther water.my bucklings out of kiko/boar does are 50 pds at 90 days. i started out with 5 two years ago and cant stop buying..i think i need counceling. LOL


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## SDBoerGoats (Mar 14, 2012)

I love this thread! I am really impressed with crossing Kiko with the Boers. We have a Kiko/Boer doe that we bred to our fullblood Boer buck. She's not all that big. But she kidded with ease and her kids were strong and up on their feet nursing in no time. And her buckling is the single biggest buckling we have this year, big bone, good muscle and a fast grower. He is 2 months old and has to be 40 lbs. We just bought a Kiko/Boer doe who is bred for her first kids, due next month. I can't wait to see her kids!


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## SDBoerGoats (Mar 14, 2012)

I'm in Oregon, I have 2 Kiko/Boer cross does. I told my kids I want a purebred Kiko doe for my birthday but the ones I have found are very expensive. I saw Boer/Kiko does bred to a full blood Boer advertised, they were kind of spendy. Our newest one, Hannah, is pure white. I still haven't taken the time to figure out how to post a pic!


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## Itchysmom (Apr 3, 2010)

When you figure the picture thing out, I would love to see your does!


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

I have been told kiko/boer crosses are hardier than a fullblooded boer. They don't place as high in the show ring, but the cuts are better and meatier than boers.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Our kiko/boer doeling born March 1st weighed in at 80lbs. on Wed. We're really happy with how she's growing. I have pics of her in the 4-H section in my kids show post.


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## michael (Jul 23, 2012)

i thought about fainters but hard to find my way. i also thought about kikos. i ended up going with spanish i really like what i have read about them. i have a few does coming next month for my buck (boer)


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

all of you talk like there are a lot of Kikos and Spanish Boers around. I am not seeing very many of hese types out here in the West. I wouldnt mind having a bit of the Spanish Boer mixed in our herd but where do you find these?


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## AlecBGreen (Jul 7, 2009)

if you are looking for Kikos I think Craigslist is always a good place to start. We also have a local paper called the Valley Trader where people post things for sale, including animals. If you have something similar in your area, check it out. It will be in any convenience store where they sell newspapers.


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## AlecBGreen (Jul 7, 2009)

here is a pic of a Kiko buck (20 months) and some does & kids:










I have been nothing but pleased with my Kikos. Good growth on nothing but grass and tough TOUGH T O U G H. Good hybrid vigor when crossed with Boers.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Impressive pictures of such clean white healthy goats. Can they really survive well on just grass though? If so.. then.. wow.. I am impressed as most goats have to have forage of some sort or lots of minerals to supplement.


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## AlecBGreen (Jul 7, 2009)

packhillboers said:


> Impressive pictures of such clean white healthy goats. Can they really survive well on just grass though? If so.. then.. wow.. I am impressed as most goats have to have forage of some sort or lots of minerals to supplement.


I misspoke. When I said 100% grassfed I meant no grain, all free-range pasture. They have access to grasses, honeysuckle, blackberry, etc. I think they could live on a 100% fescue diet but it wouldnt be the most healthy thing for them.


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