# question from new guy be gentle please lol



## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Doing a ton of research. Am thinking of having two diff types of meat goats and breed accordingly. What are the advantages of kiko boer crosses? Other than big meat goats what,would advantage be? 

Im gonna have boer full bloods ( hopefully ) and crossing kiko boers.

Anyone in missouri please chime in but im just trying to find reassurance on crossing them.


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## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

I didn't like my kiko boer crosses. They didn't grow as well as just boers or even the nubian/ boer crosses. They just tended to look thinner and at the sale barn I didn't get as good prices as the other crosses. Is there a reason why you are wanting to cross boer with kiko?


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Other than a hearty meat goat and cheaper than boers thats the reason why.... Is there a better breed to cross with? ( in your opinion lol )


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

From what I understand the Kiko is hardy, but slower crowing than Boers.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Whats the perfect or most desirable cross w a boer?


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Kiko are naturally smaller. Personally. I think just about anything crossed with a Lamancha is the way to go. I have seen some awesome lamancha boer cross kids. Plus if you raise some cross females, you get a lot of extra milk for the babies.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Arent lemanchas dairy goats? I am a disabled veteran and do not think I am physically up.to milking every day lol.... Vut would love to hear peoples choices.... But I will research every cross possibilities and ty all for the your choices


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## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

I have to agree that I like the dairy cross. I don't use lamanchas though because people around here don't like the missing ears. But it seems like all that extra milk helps the kids grow better. My nubian/boer babies were usually bigger than my boers but that isn't always the case. Nubians come in lots of colors too which is a plus when selling, people love the different colors. After 6 plus years of raising goats and lots of culling I'm just down to my Boers and they are just as hardy as the crosses now. For me it's all about selective breeding and weeding out the bad genetics. No matter what cross you go with you've got to be selective with the animals you keep to breed. Decide what qualities you want and don't want and stick to it.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Thank.you.for that perspective chelsea I am.89% set in strictly boers but am.open for crosses to maximize my chances


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## chelsboers (Mar 25, 2010)

walleye said:


> Arent lemanchas dairy goats? I am a disabled veteran and do not think I am physically up.to milking every day lol.... Vut would love to hear peoples choices.... But I will research every cross possibilities and ty all for the your choices


You don't have to milk all dairy does, just leave the kids on them and they'll do the work.


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## Riverside Fainters (Feb 6, 2013)

You always could do myotonic boer crosses. Not sure how well they grow, but have heard they have good meat.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Riverside Fainters said:


> You always could do myotonic boer crosses. Not sure how well they grow, but have heard they have good meat.


I have heard the meat to.bone ratio is better w that cross. I just haven't seen that cross in.person yet.


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

There are people on this forum who do cross Boers with Kikos and are happy with those results. I recall reading a similar thread on this issue a few years back. If you want a good quick growth rate in your meat kids, a pinch of Nubian is suppose to be good. It has worked out good results here for us in the past with breeding 88% boer to a FB boer buck. The result 92% kids grew faster than the Full blood kids. I think people like the Kiko as they are supposedly more resistant to parasites. I am not sure that has been proven to be completely true yet. I think a good browse and less pasture will make most goats more worm resistant.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Good information and will look into it .


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

First off, welcome. 

When I was in it for "meat goats", I had a FB boer buck to 50% to 99% nubian/boer DOes. The growth rate was better than the FB boers, back then.
Boer/Nubian are what I liked, if you want to mix breeds.

I have genetics now with good growth rates, it is in what goats are bred together, because if you breed them wrong, you will get less meat on their bones.


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

I agree with chelsboers. After some initial culling, you should be able to develop a hardy heard of fullblood/high percent Boers. Buy goats from people that are doing what you hope to be doing down the road. Keep daughters from the does that are "easy". 

I must say though, I am impressed with lamanchas and the crossbred lamanchas I have seen. If the ear thing doesn't bother you. I have a good friend that raises quality nubians. They are lovely and I wouldn't be surprised if I somehow end up buying one from her some day, but it would just be for a milk doe. Not some cross breeding experiment thinking I was somehow going to improve on my high percentage Boers.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Think im going to stick to just boers but get a dapple kind as well bc for some reason they sell for more lol plus they are simply gorgeous lol


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Yay!!! There's some people out there pro lamancha boer lol that's my favorite cross. I don't like to milk either. I bought a lamancha years ago, and of course she HAD to be milked. I kept all her doelings and with 50/50 you don't NEED to milk them but you can, and their kids 75/25 boer lamancha oh goodness do those suckers grow for sure!! But a lot of people can't get past the ears  
Any ways I actually just got done talking to a lady who breeds kikos, I've never been impressed with their looks either. They always seemed small and just blahh to me. But after talking to her I realized why people go for them and why they cross to boers. She says although a kiko does look smaller they actually have more meat on their bones. Boers have bigger bones. So when crossing the two the idea is to have the nice big bones of boers but yet still get the more meat from the kiko. Now of course it doesn't always work that way. Same as mixing a boer and a Nubian. Sometimes they just tend to take after one side more then the other. I have a boer Nubian and she looks more Nubian than boer (actually she looks full Nubian to me) but she was born here and I know she is 50/50. She just had triplets and one is a nice stocky girl, the other two still look a lot Nubian to me.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Im exploring all oprions and seeing whats available in my area lol keeping all options open.lol


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

The Kalahari Reds are such beautiful goats. They look like a Red Boer, but supposedly they are not a 'Real Boer'. They look like Red Boers to me but they are such a big boned sturdy and hardy looking goat. I think they are only in South Africa and Australia. Its fun to look them up. They are an awesome breed.


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## walleye (May 28, 2015)

Ill check them out and see what they offer lol might be difficult to find but then again w goats nothing is impossible if there is a way so I have noticed


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