# Kiko Opinions?



## LadyNai (Jul 4, 2011)

So we are working on a multi purpose (Dairy and meat) line in our herd - this year we bred out our Alpines to a boer and got some gorgeous babies.

The boer buck however was an unmitigated disaster - other than his babies and the fact that he made great brats.    We have a two year old here (my baby brother) plus Mom, Dad and I.   The boy was aggressive and tried to attack us constantly - there was no getting into the pen with him ever.   He attacked all three of the adults and then the piece de resistance he went after the toddler when the toddler was outside!   (And the baby wasn't in the buck pen, he was outside of it following me to feed the wethers - he tried to get at both of us.    Through big strong cow panels)

So...   we're a little leary of dealing with another Boer buck.   Plus from what we have read Kiko's are a bit more parasite resistant.   We are looking for a new herd sire this year - and we are going to need something that's got a stable temperament as well as dropping pretty babies.  What are the general opinions of Kikos?   Did we just get a bad boer?

Thanks!

Naomi


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## jodief100 (Jul 4, 2011)

I have both a boer and kiko buck.  Both of them are nice, non aggressive goats.  The kiko is a bit more flighty and difficult to catch.  The boer is very easy to catch.  I think you just got an aggressive buck.  They can come in any breed.  

I love the kikos, my experience has been more parasite and disease resistance but more difficult to handle.  Not due to aggressiveness, just flighty.  They are not handled as much so they are little more difficult to catch.


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## Griffin's Ark (Jul 4, 2011)

A bit more parasite resistant... javascript:insert_text('',%20'');  anything is a lot more parasite resistant than a Boer! Of course that is just my opinion. On the other hand Kikos are hugely parasite resistant and great mothers and wonderful milkers.  Add them to a good dairy line and you can have a great dairy line.  Two of our Ober-Kiko crosses give a gallon a day easily, need very little hoof work and half the number of de-wormings  that our 100% Obers and Nubians need.  The cross that I am liking the most though is the Kiko Nubian cross, simply because I prefer Nubians above the other goats.  Nubians also give a better meat product than alpines.  You can't go wrong with a Kiko in my opinion, but I would find a bottle baby buckling to raise, so that you can train and imprint him correctly from the very beginning.


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## Ariel301 (Jul 4, 2011)

Yeah, aggression does not have a lot to do with breed. I had an Alpine buck that I raised from a few hours old and bottle fed and made a pet out of, and one day he turned on me while I was feeding him and knocked me on the ground and tried to kill me. From that point, I could not even go in his pen or he would attack. I never did anything to him to make him mean either, he just went crazy I think. So it wasn't your buck's breed that was the issue. 

I have never had experience with Kikos, but they sound really cool. I think I would buy one if the opportunity arose, there is certainly not a whole lot of meat on a LaMancha.


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## Roll farms (Jul 4, 2011)

The absolute meanest goat I've ever owned / seen / heard of was "KikoMan", a son of the famous Kiko buck Loverboy (Sunboy 117).
He took out 3/4" solid oak doors, fences, barn walls, whatever he wanted...and got absolute blood in his eyes when he saw me.  He would ram whatever I was on the other side of.  He was horned and dam raised, bought at 6 mos old.  It took 4 adult male humans to load him after we sold him...and I warned his new owners...they laughed it off....2 wks later I see the guy and he's got a knot / gash on his head and informs me that goat was 'crazy'...He ended up sending him to a slaughter auction.

It's a darn good thing he was hardy / resistant....b/c for 1.5 yrs we couldn't get near him to trim hooves or vaccinate / deworm, even if he'd needed it. 

I'm assuming since there are soooo many Loverboy offspring out there, that they can't all be that nuts...maybe it came from his dam's side....I dunno / don't care...but we got rid of all his offspring after he left.  

That is the only Kiko buck I've had experience with...and I admit, I'm not real crazy about trying again.  I use a boer buck on our remaining Kiko doe now.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jul 5, 2011)

They can be hard to keep fenced in. hard to catch.  i think a great animal if you have a lot of pasture, like in 50 to 100 to 200 acres, of rough terrain, and you don't want to do much parasite control.  I noticed around here,t he kiko/boer goats are staying listed a long time on craigslist. Even some nice black headed onse that looked like they had a lot of boer in them. I post a couple boer does on craiglist and they sell by the end of the day.  I saw these gorgefous black headed one up for weeks, and she wasn't asking very much for them. I though about buying a couple, but decided if she couldn't sell them, I probably shouldn't try to deal with it either.


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## Roll farms (Jul 5, 2011)

Kikos are great for "real" meat goat herds...where you actually sell at market / for meat....
I couldn't sell "kiko" goats here in IN to save my butt (I was one of the 1st to get them here, I think..).  We don't have a huge meat market, most of my kids go for 4-H / pets / breeding stock...nobody wanted Kikos, didn't know what they were or *care* about better parasite resistance / hardiness...they wanted something that 'looked' boer / could be shown.
Kikos are not show animals, for sure...they're generally not as 'pretty' as a really good looking boer goat (I know, that's up for debate / opinion...but for 'looks', IMHO, Boers have 'em beat hands down) and will not gain as quickly on feed as boers do.  Kikos gain BETTER on grass...and it will be meat, not fat...but for wether shows, you want 'meaty' looking kids who put the feed on their frame.

I'm not saying I prefer boers...If I could sell them / had a good close meat market, I'd actually prefer more Kiko x does (I prefer the crosses to pure, boers AND kikos - hybrid vigor).  I'm just saying in my market, boers sell better even though Kikos DO better.


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## jodief100 (Jul 5, 2011)

Depends on where you are.  I can sell kiko kids and BoKi kids for a better price than the boers.  I had two BoKi does and one Boer doe on CL.  The BoKi girls sold in two days, I still have the Boer and that was 2 months ago.  There is a graded sheep and goat auction not far away so there are a lot of "pure meat"  producers around here.  

I suggest to anyone looking to get into livestock of any kind- check your market demand FIRST!


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## bucknercrestfarm (Jul 5, 2011)

We had an oberhasli buck that ran my 3 year old into the ground and would go after everyone and every thing i will say nothing funnier then a big tom turkey going to blows with a buck but that buck was turned into dog food my boar buck was a puppy he loved getting trimed and getting his feet done. its just the animal! kikos come with a big sticker cost atleasted in wa state i also get alot of people raving about cross breeding dairy goats to kinder goats and have great out comes!


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