Boer, spanish, myotonic or kiko
Why Kiko Goats?
How does the Kiko Goat compare to the other popular meat goat breeds?
Common Meat Goat Breeds in the U.S.
Boer Goats
The Boer goat is the most popular meat goat breed in the United States. Developed in the arid regions of South Africa, they were first introduced into the U.S. in 1993. Boer goats are easily distinguished buy their white bodies and red heads, although other color varieties do exist. The breed is known to be docile, have high fertility and a fast growth rate.
Kiko Goats
The Kiko goat was first inported into the United States from New Zealand in the mid-1990s. The breed was developed by the systematic breeding of feral does with dairy bucks with further crossbreeding and interbreeding at the F2 and F3 generations. The breed was developed from the F4 generation. They are most known for their parasite resistance, fast growth rate, and ability to thrive under limited producer input.
Spanish Goats
Spanish goats are believed to have been brought over in the 16th century when the Spanish arrived. They were mostly used as brush animals in the South, most notably in Texas, and helped to keep the brush and toxic weeds managed in pastures meant for sheep. When Boer goats were introduced in the 1990s, crossbreeding nearly bred Spanish goats out of existence. However, not all ranchers jumped to cross their Spanish goats and the breed survived and is now again gaining in popularity. The most notable traits of this breed are their hardiness and the ability to thrive under limited producer input.
Myotonic Goats
Also referred to as the fainting goat, the myotonic was developed in Tennessee. They are best known for their muscle condition called myotonia congenita, which makes them appear to "faint" when stressed although they actually remain conscious. They are bred for meat and as pets, so breed characteristics vary more than other meat breeds. They are typically smaller in size compared to Boers and Kikos, but are heavily muscled for their size. Little research has been conducted comparing Myotonic goats to the other meat breeds, but that will hopefully change in the future.
Available Research
Multiple short-term and long-term research studies have been conducted at Tennessee State University by Dr. Richard Browning, Jr. and associates comparing the traits of the Kiko, Spanish and Boer goat breeds in a production environment. I will focus on the long-term study conducted, but you can listen to Dr. Richard Browning, Jr.’s overall opinion of the breeds by selecting the podcast link to the left.
Boer, Kiko and Spanish Goats
How they Stack up
A long-term (six year) study was conducted by R. Browning Jr., M. L. Leite-Browning, and M. Byars Jr. assessing the fitness of each goat breed on pastures in the southeastern United States managed together in a semi-intensive manner. A 3-breed diallel mating scheme was used with Boer, Kiko, and Spanish bucks with kidding in March or May. The traits assessed and their findings are listed in the table below. The overall conclusion of the study was “Boer does expressed substantially decreased levels of fitness compared with Kiko and Spanish does when semi-intensively managed on humid, subtropical pasture. Kiko and Spanish should be preferred as maternal breeds in meat goat production systems under conditions reflective of this study.”
R. Browning Jr., M.L. Leite-Browning, and M. Byars Jr. Reproductive and health traits among Boer, Kiko, and Spanish meat goat does under humid, subtropical pasture conditions of the southeastern United States. J. Anim. Sci. 2011. 89:648-660.
In layman's terms please! How does this relate to my business?
Let’s put this data into a possible real-life scenario so you can see how these numbers in particular may impact your ranch. Let’s say you are a starter ranch and you purchase 10 does. Based on the data provided by the study described above, let’s see how your does would produce over the first year of operation.
Kiko Scenario
Of your 10 does, 84% will wean at least one kid at 3 months of age, so approximately 8 does with kid(s). The litter size at weaning is 1.59 kids (8 x 1.59 = 12.72) or approximately 12 kids weaned. The average litter weaning weight is 27.2 kg (8 x 27.2 kg = 217.6 kg). Over the year, some does will be phased out due to illness or poor reproduction. This number is the attrition rate, so for Kiko goats, that is 10% per year based on this study (10 does x 0.1 = 1 doe). You will lose 1 doe this year that won’t be able to produce next year.
Of the 12 kids you weaned, you keep 1 female back as a replacement for your lost doe, so you have 11 kids left to sell at market. The average litter weaning weight is 27.2 kg. Divide that by the average of 1.59 kids per litter makes 17.1 kg per kid. Multiply that by your 11 kids and you have 188.1 kg of kids or 414.7 lbs. Kiko kids usually don’t get Grade 1 grades at the market, so let’s say you get $3.00 per lb. $3.00 x 414.7 lbs = $1244.10
Don’t forget about the input costs on your does during the whole year leading up to market. Based on the study, Kikos have an annual rate of parasitism of 24%, so approximately 2 1/2 does of 10 will need to be dewormed. The annual rate of lameness is 32%, so approximately 3 does will have to be treated for this.
Boer Scenario
Of your 10 does, 53% will wean at least one kid at 3 months of age, so approximately 5 does with kid(s). The litter size at weaning is 1.47 kids (5 x 1.47 = 7.35) or approximately 7 kids weaned. The average litter weaning weight is 23.0 kg (5 x 23.0 kg = 115 kg). Over the year, some does will be phased out due to illness or poor reproduction. This number is the attrition rate, so for Boer goats, that is 28% per year based on this study (10 does x 0.28 = 2.8, or approximately 3 does). You will lose 3 does this year that won’t be able to produce next year.
Of the 7 kids you weaned, you keep 3 females back as replacements for your lost does, so you have 4 kids left to sell at market. The average litter weaning weight is 23.0 kg. Divide that by the average of 1.47 kids per litter makes 15.6 kg per kid. Multiply that by your 4 kids and you have 62.4 kg of kids or 137.6 lbs. Boer kids more often fetch Grade 1 grades at the market, so let’s say you get $4.00 per lb. $4.00 x 137.6 lbs = $550.40
Don’t forget about the input costs on your does during the whole year leading up to market. Based on the study, Boers have an annual rate of parasitism of 53%, so approximately half of your does will need to be dewormed. The annual rate of lameness is 69%, so approximately 7 of your 10 does will have to be treated for this.
Even with the likely higher price at market your Grade 1 Boer kids may fetch, you are still making less than half the revenue you would be making from your Grade 2 Kiko kids. The math doesn’t lie – Kiko does are better for your ranch. As far as comparing Spanish and Kiko does, they stack up pretty fairly against one another. As a producer, you will have to weigh the pros and cons of each to decide which breed is better for your operation. We breed and love Kiko goats, so we are of course going to say they are the best, but Spanish breeders would most likely disagree. To be honest, both breeds will likely bring you success – so choose what you like best!