"Originating from New Zealand as feral goats, "Kiko" is translated as "meat" in Maori. When the Kiko breed was first being established in the 1980s, the early criteria was based on survivability and growth. This had made them a much heartier and more economical breed than other meat production breeds. Additionally, Kiko's superior qualities include exceptional maternal instincts, parasite resistance, aggressive foraging, fast growing kids, sturdier hooves, excellent crossbreeding, high carcass yields, and the list goes on. The Kiko is a performance based breed being exactly the quality that we had searched for to aid in diversifying our permaculture habitation.
Our Goats
Our sandy soil forest of maples, oaks, sassafras, and cherry was starving for sunlight and nutrition. So we introduced our first Kiko goats in 2018 as close working companions to our farm's forestry management and since then, we have been able to keep brush cleared, continually thin our canopy allowing for fresh air and sunlight, and put manure down turning our loamy lifeless soils into grazing pastures.
The goats forage for all of their food during the summer months with no added grain or feed. Besides quality loose mineral, our goats also receive COWP (copper oxide wire particles) due to a lack of copper in our soil and also to aid as one of many of natures anti-parasitic foods.
We breed the doe herd for target kidding during the winter months of November through February which provides the kids with a higher milk fat to nurse on making faster weight gains. The winter months also provide dormancy among most of the internal and external parasites that really suffer summer kids.
The breeding traits that we focus on are for the Kiko breed standard;
1) Quality udders.
1x1 teats is a must for any breeder sold off our farm! It has taken 5 years to get to selecting for teat shape as we have retained many of our doelings to see how they develop but are now seeing 30 plus does kid their 3rd or 4th litters with tight udders and small short teats. Blown out teats and bags that pass below the hocks are culled.
2) Parasite resistance & resilience to haemonchus contortus (barberpole).
We own and operate our own farm microscope to check and measure fecal worm loads which is the only way to truly know a herd's parasite resistance. This gives us great insight into which lines should be considered of higher value. Not to be confused with resistance, parasite resilience is a goat's capability of performance with a worm load instead of it's ability to resist gaining a high worm load. This is also just as important but in much different respects. Using the Famacha Scoring System to determine the level of anemia due to parasites is a great way to determine resilience but not necessarily resistance. Since the beginning of 2019 we have decided to not use any synthetic drugs for dealing with haemonchus contortus (barberpole worm) on our farm with the theory that it will be much easier to cull and strengthen our herd as this breed was intended to be if we stuck to this hard fast rule.
3) Body conformation.
Kikos have a reputation to be thin on their back end and so for now, our only conformation that we are focused on is sizing up the rear flanks. This is accomplished by making select breeding parings and even at times hand breeding which entails bringing the male to the individual female in time of heat. We are beginning to see slow improvements. We like our does to be very feminine, triangular from the front back, and our males to be very masculine, triangular in the opposite.
4) Behavior.
Another much overlooked conformation that we hold high on our farm is the individual animal's behavior. The spectrum of behavior is an important variable to consider because, for example; a higher genetically performing goat with a good herd and human relationship could get bullied by a lesser genetically performing goat simply based on age, weight, horn size, etc. and never be given the opportunity to succeed and improve the herd overall. This can be remedied somewhat by isolation and containment but that theory ends up with rows of creep feeders and an over abundance of fencing demands. Bottom line is behavior is genetic and it is a selectable trait. What you'll notice on an AHF visit is that our herd is peaceful because the bullies don't stay. This variable elimination of aggression helps us to better diagnose the growth and on going health of our herd.
5) Weaning weights.
Because we run our herd lean without any added supplements, grains, or feeds all year round (sometimes using an insignificant amount of organic whole grain only as a behavior training treat), we are able to clearly see who the outliers are due to genetic based performance. To reach 40lb doeling & 50lb buckling wean weights at 90 days is very respectable for our farm and are easy contenders as future breeders.
6) Miscellaneous.
Because we are a cold climate, we also place an importance on our goats to be able to develop a think winter coat. We maintain our herd's hooves twice a year, before the heavy rains in spring and fall, mainly to rebalance and correct any posture. We keep an eye out for any posture issues or frequent rot, however, this has really not been an issue with our Kikos. Although color will never be in our breeding program, it sure is fun to see who comes out looking like what!
The goats forage for all of their food during the summer months with no added grain or feed. Besides quality loose mineral, our goats also receive COWP (copper oxide wire particles) due to a lack of copper in our soil and also to aid as one of many of natures anti-parasitic foods.
We breed the doe herd for target kidding during the winter months of November through February which provides the kids with a higher milk fat to nurse on making faster weight gains. The winter months also provide dormancy among most of the internal and external parasites that really suffer summer kids.
The breeding traits that we focus on are for the Kiko breed standard;
1) Quality udders.
1x1 teats is a must for any breeder sold off our farm! It has taken 5 years to get to selecting for teat shape as we have retained many of our doelings to see how they develop but are now seeing 30 plus does kid their 3rd or 4th litters with tight udders and small short teats. Blown out teats and bags that pass below the hocks are culled.
2) Parasite resistance & resilience to haemonchus contortus (barberpole).
We own and operate our own farm microscope to check and measure fecal worm loads which is the only way to truly know a herd's parasite resistance. This gives us great insight into which lines should be considered of higher value. Not to be confused with resistance, parasite resilience is a goat's capability of performance with a worm load instead of it's ability to resist gaining a high worm load. This is also just as important but in much different respects. Using the Famacha Scoring System to determine the level of anemia due to parasites is a great way to determine resilience but not necessarily resistance. Since the beginning of 2019 we have decided to not use any synthetic drugs for dealing with haemonchus contortus (barberpole worm) on our farm with the theory that it will be much easier to cull and strengthen our herd as this breed was intended to be if we stuck to this hard fast rule.
3) Body conformation.
Kikos have a reputation to be thin on their back end and so for now, our only conformation that we are focused on is sizing up the rear flanks. This is accomplished by making select breeding parings and even at times hand breeding which entails bringing the male to the individual female in time of heat. We are beginning to see slow improvements. We like our does to be very feminine, triangular from the front back, and our males to be very masculine, triangular in the opposite.
4) Behavior.
Another much overlooked conformation that we hold high on our farm is the individual animal's behavior. The spectrum of behavior is an important variable to consider because, for example; a higher genetically performing goat with a good herd and human relationship could get bullied by a lesser genetically performing goat simply based on age, weight, horn size, etc. and never be given the opportunity to succeed and improve the herd overall. This can be remedied somewhat by isolation and containment but that theory ends up with rows of creep feeders and an over abundance of fencing demands. Bottom line is behavior is genetic and it is a selectable trait. What you'll notice on an AHF visit is that our herd is peaceful because the bullies don't stay. This variable elimination of aggression helps us to better diagnose the growth and on going health of our herd.
5) Weaning weights.
Because we run our herd lean without any added supplements, grains, or feeds all year round (sometimes using an insignificant amount of organic whole grain only as a behavior training treat), we are able to clearly see who the outliers are due to genetic based performance. To reach 40lb doeling & 50lb buckling wean weights at 90 days is very respectable for our farm and are easy contenders as future breeders.
6) Miscellaneous.
Because we are a cold climate, we also place an importance on our goats to be able to develop a think winter coat. We maintain our herd's hooves twice a year, before the heavy rains in spring and fall, mainly to rebalance and correct any posture. We keep an eye out for any posture issues or frequent rot, however, this has really not been an issue with our Kikos. Although color will never be in our breeding program, it sure is fun to see who comes out looking like what!
Biosecurity
is of the most importance on our farm. We at least annually screen for Caseous Lymphadenitis, Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis, and Johnes, if not sometimes biannually when new stocks may be quarantined and introduced. We call ourselves a closed herd by our own standards and not by any organization's requirements, meaning; we have only introduced stock from other trusted breeders who have up-to-date clean test results. We will cull any animals that test positive, period. Any new goats purchased for developing our genetics at AHF were quarantined for 6 weeks with two fully negative blood tests taken. We do not vaccinate our goats for CD&T or CL and do not have any goats with any vaccine on our farm. If you come to our farm as a guest with livestock, we will ask you to park on the road off of our property and either offer you to wear one of our guest farm boots or booties over your shoes to help prevent any possible cross contamination between farms. We thank you in advance in helping to build the trust of purchasing a clean tested Arrowhill farm Kiko goat.
We have commercial, percentage, purebred, and 100% NZ Kikos available which are registered by the National Kiko Registry here in West Michigan. Please contact us to retain one of our Kikos.
Permaculture family farm with Kiko goats, poultry, sustainable forestry, and hospitality in West Michigan
(616) 322-8611
961 W M-20 New Era, MI
Est. 2016
(616) 322-8611
961 W M-20 New Era, MI
Est. 2016