Anyone milk a Kiko?

CAjerseychick · #1 10/04/13, 11:27 AM

Hey all we are still in the market for that 3rd doeling (friendly goatie ambassador to our 2 wild miniToggs)-- the Nubian breeder has been too busy to show us her goatlings so we are on hold there-- meanwhile-- and i have posted on this, the Kikos do really appeal (we have long wet winters and boggy pastures as well).... and I found an organic farm not too far from here that has a negative CAE/CL herd, closed and does alot of funky natural health practices and runs an internship program-- the goats are very wellhandled and friendly-- and they have 3 doelings to choose from ready to go (I will ask to see the paperwork)-- they do select for ease of kidding, multiple births, and parasite resistance -- multiple births for me sounds like there must be Milk going on right? (remember I am a newbie)... And in the spring we will freshen our little herd with a Nigerian Buck, so the off spring should have some potential at any rate....

But just curious if anyone has tried milking a Kiko, I know they arent that common but in their homeland (New Zealand) they were allpurpose goats....

KSALguy · #2 10/04/13, 12:31 PM

Kiko are a meat breed, that being said they do have a lot of Saanen and other dairy breeds in their back ground to improve the feral NewZealand stock,. I have never had a Kiko so this is all speculation, but you can milk any female that produces milk if you work with them to cooperate, the only issue is length of lactation and amount, well bred pure Boer does are actually really good producers but their length of lactation is only long enough to raise a set of kids for the most part, I assume it would be the same with a well bred Kiko. you will get milk from her but you wont get as much as you would from a pure milking breed that has been bred for long lactation and lots of milk per milking. but if that's what you are ok with then go for it,

where I want to · #3 10/04/13, 01:20 PM

Hopefully some one who has experience to offer will say. I have an aquaintance who milks her Boer does for cheese making. The trouble with them for milk production is that they do not stay in milk generally a long as a dairy breed.

wintrrwolf · #4 10/04/13, 07:39 PM

" Whether raising Kiko on Kiko, or crossed with other breeds, Kikos bring improvement in profits because of their low maintenance, high rate of growth, resistance and tolerance to parasites, excellent maternal instincts, ease of kidding, vigor of newborn kids, and because of the incorporation of milk breeds in the creation of Kiko, an ample milk supply to raise twins that gain quickly to earlier sale weights."

That being said my friends that owned Kiko's did not milk because they were raising specifically for meat, I on the other hand being a dairy person noticed quite a few of his lactating doe's had some very nice looking udders THOUGH most (not all) of the teats looked on the small size but then I am used to my nubian girls...
As far as milking one no I have not and he weaned all the kids at 5 months.

CAjerseychick · #5 10/05/13, 12:25 AM

Ok thanks its what I suspected with good milk supply and tossup on length of lactation (not being specifically bred for it)....
the other issue is the fee is pretty steep for us at this time-- 500-900 plus with papers, (and if you are going to breed and sell off the kids, for us papers are important)...

wintrrwolf · #6 10/05/13, 09:24 AM

Oh I just have to add my neighbor gave me one of his 100% kiko bucklings.
But this years breeding is Monkey's so next year breeding I was thinking of using him on Pearl since she isn't one of my registered nubians, that way I can register her kids as 50% kiko which would place them at commercial level, around here commercial kiko goes for about 300 dollars. With Kiko's its all about the boys when registering.

loli · #7 10/05/13, 05:03 PM

We raise Kikos for meat and not for milk. I have milked a couple of them that lost kids and used the milk for the odd triplet or quad. They have enough milk to use but do not milk as heavy as some of the dairy breeds. You should be ok with milking them.

LFRJ · #8 10/07/13, 12:14 AM

We have Kiko and a Kiko/boer cross. We also have Kinders for dairy/dual. This year, we crossed a Kinder buck over our Kinders does AND over our Kiko cross. (our pure bred Kiko didn't take). Of all the offspring, (we naturally have some pure kinder and kinder/Kiko crosses - Kinkos?) we're keeping only the crosses: a kinder/kiko buckling and a kinder/kiko doeling. We have a number of reasons for doing so - the vigor will help our herd, the oomph in size will be appreciated - and our Kikos are the most mellow goats we have on our homestead. Very laid back, and we expect, much easier in the future to handle and tame.

It will be interesting to see what kind of milker the Kinder/Kiko doe turns out to be. I have no doubt that her brother, our future herd sire, will be top notch. He's a bit thicker and taller than his kinder cousins, but also more mellow in disposition. I expect he will be a real asset toward maintaining our dual purpose agenda.

CAjerseychick · #9 10/07/13, 03:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LFRJ

We have Kiko and a Kiko/boer cross. We also have Kinders for dairy/dual. This year, we crossed a Kinder buck over our Kinders does AND over our Kiko cross. (our pure bred Kiko didn't take). Of all the offspring, (we naturally have some pure kinder and kinder/Kiko crosses - Kinkos?) we're keeping only the crosses: a kinder/kiko buckling and a kinder/kiko doeling. We have a number of reasons for doing so - the vigor will help our herd, the oomph in size will be appreciated - and our Kikos are the most mellow goats we have on our homestead. Very laid back, and we expect, much easier in the future to handle and tame.

It will be interesting to see what kind of milker the Kinder/Kiko doe turns out to be. I have no doubt that her brother, our future herd sire, will be top notch. He's a bit thicker and taller than his kinder cousins, but also more mellow in disposition. I expect he will be a real asset toward maintaining our dual purpose agenda.

Thanx the mellowness is not something widely known about the Kikos, that is super helpful.....

Rockytopsis · #10 10/07/13, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wintrrwolf

That being said my friends that owned Kiko's did not milk because they were raising specifically for meat, I on the other hand being a dairy person noticed quite a few of his lactating doe's had some very nice looking udders THOUGH most (not all) of the teats looked on the small size but then I am used to my nubian girls...
As far as milking one no I have not and he weaned all the kids at 5 months.

Though not registered but bred by me on this farm I am milking a 3/4 Kiko and the other 1/4 is Boer/Nubian and at her peak I was getting 1/2 gallon of milk a day, milking once a day. I am trying to dry her up and still getting over a quart.

I have been milking her since March. Her milk is great and will greatly miss it when she is dry.

Nancy

saanengirl · #11 10/07/13, 03:44 PM

As with any goat, you want to look at udder conformation. There is a lot of variability in Kiko udders. Small teats way out on the sides of the udder are difficult to milk, and very common in meat goats. Look for moderately sized teats that drain the udder well.