# meat goats



## Hillsvale (Jan 30, 2010)

Can anyone recommend the best goats for meat... I have been told nubian... and I have been told nubian/boer crosses

Thoughts?


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## no nonsense (Jan 30, 2010)

Uhhh, pure Boer, selected for correct meat type and feed conversion efficiency.


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## Hillsvale (Jan 30, 2010)

thanks.... Oh and love your tag line.... how true!


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## Roll farms (Jan 30, 2010)

Kikos aren't bad either.  
Lots of loin on them, and generally they reach market weight w/ less feed, dewormer, and effort on the producer's part than boers do.
(You can check out Langston, Ok State, Tennessee U's websites for lots of performance test data that proves it.)
Some folks don't like crossbreds, but the Boer x Kiko does I've raised did real well for me.


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## no nonsense (Jan 30, 2010)

I've never seen one of those Kikos. You know, my purebred snob self. I just wonder why they never caught on as meat goats in this country, and then were just left in the dust by the Boers when they appeared.


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## Roll farms (Jan 30, 2010)

> why they never caught on as meat goats in this country


I'm sorry....but what country are you in??  Kiko numbers are growing by leaps and bounds in the US.

Boers have been in the US a bit longer than Kikos...so it would have been hard for the boers to leave them in the dust....considering the Kikos weren't even here yet.

Kikos are a true meat goat, not a show animal.  
Their "ribbons" are based on performance.

There will always be folks who want hardy meat animals buying Kikos, and folks who want pretty show winners buying boers.  Just depends on what your goals are.

The numbers speak for themselves:

http://theikga.org/research.html

Specifically this one: 
http://theikga.org/Brazil-GoatFitness.pdf

And, NN....Kikos have a registry, with pedigrees and everything...maybe you should look into them.


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## freemotion (Jan 30, 2010)

I love the last chart in that second link.  If I could find Kikos, I would definitely be raising meat goats here.  The numbers show a hardy goat that needs the least amount of pharmaceutical intervention.

Any animal of any species that increases greatly in popularity in this country usually goes downhill fast in hardiness.


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## Hillsvale (Jan 31, 2010)

thanks for your thought.. the heritage farm up the road frm me commented on boer meat ust this morning.... Kiko?.. I have only been researching for a short while but haven't come across that name... perhaps Canadians haven't caught on or perhaps I wasn't looking in the right spot!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jan 31, 2010)

There's a goat farm about 20 minutes from me that has about 150 kikos.  They're a production farm, not a show farm.


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## cmjust0 (Feb 1, 2010)

no nonsense said:
			
		

> Uhhh, ...


And so it begins, yet again...  



			
				nn said:
			
		

> I've never seen one of those Kikos. You know, my purebred snob self.


Kiko is a breed, btw, with several national breed associations, an international breed association, registries, pedigrees, and all that other fine stuff...  To me, the fact that you've never seen one demonstrates either A) closed-mindedness and a blinding bias toward Boers, or B) inexperience in your own field.

But that's just my opinion.


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## Mini-M Ranch (Feb 1, 2010)

Those of you who have consumed both boers and kikos, what is the taste difference, or is it noticable?  We have our dairy girls, but are thinking of adding a small meat trip just for our own consumption.  We can easily get boers here from a local farm, but have heard really GOOD things about Kikos for disease and parasite resistance.  Do you think there is a taste difference?


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## Roll farms (Feb 1, 2010)

I don't think there's a taste difference by breed, it's more based on age of the goat, condition (fat vs. skinny), etc.  

In other words...goat tastes like goat.

I'd imagine your boers would be more prone to fat around the middle, so you'd have less waste w/ a kiko.


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## Mini-M Ranch (Feb 1, 2010)

Ah ha! Of course that makes sense.  Thanks!  ***off to seek out Kikos near me!**


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