THE LAST ORIGINAL KIKO GENETICS IN NEW ZEALAND

This is the website for Caprinex Enterprises and Garrick Batten, originator of the Kiko meat goat. We stock AKGA-registered Kiko semen straws and frozen embryos imported from New Zealand. The donor animals are directly related to the original NZ Kiko flock, and are also part of the ongoing Kikonui Project breeding program in NZ. The genetics offered here were underrepresented in the original USA import in 1994. Samuel, one of the great foundation Kiko bucks, figures prominently in the donor animals' bloodlines. These genetics are the only method available to fortify the narrow gene pool of the "100% New Zealand" strain of Kiko; they can also improve the peformance of bred-up lines.

ORIGIN OF DONOR ANIMALS

In 1994, the original shareholders of Goatex Group, Ltd. sold the company. The new shareholders decided to export Goatex's Kiko goats to the USA. However, some does and bucks had to be left behind in NZ for various reasons. Some were not in condition to travel and undergo the rigorous and physically demanding US quarantine regime because of age or pregnancy. Some did not meet export criteria. Some did not meet the white colour preference criteria for export. These animals were farmed on one property as one flock.

In 2003, Caprinex Enterprises started the Kikonui Project to develop an improved NZ meat goat. Part of the initial stage was to take over the flock that had evolved from the Kiko animals left in NZ after the 1994 export. There was a range in quality of the animals that went to USA in the 1990s. The quality of those left in NZ was probably similar, but since then they have been improved. Goats that cannot perform under demanding conditions do not survive under NZ culling practices. Some of the recovered Kiko does and one buck met the continuing selection criteria for the Kikonui Project. Many of these does were bred with semen of premier Kiko sires Sesame, Sting, Samuel and Shebang. These sires were so highly regarded in NZ that they were reserved from sale and not included in the genetics sold in 1994. It is these animals, and some of their progeny, that are the donors for this embyro and semen offering. Besides being AKGA-registerable Kikos, they have also been participants in the ongoing Kikonui Project breeding program.

KIKONUI PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND METHODS

KIKONUI means better than Kiko, and the name crystalizes the breeding objectives. The Kikonui Project is developing a superior maternal breed meat goat for NZ conditions emphasising growth rate and farmability under a range of NZ environmental, climatic, nutritional and management conditions. Those strengths are influenced by factors such as disease resistance, low labour inputs, survivability, mothering ability, milking ability, temperament, adaptability. The end result is maximum profit from kilograms of meat per hectare at the farm gate. The process is ongoing and progress continues to be made. The donor animals were participants in the new breed's early history.

The Kikonui Project employs population genetics, numbers, records, independent culling levels and constant challenge to identify superior animals. The buck regime is an example of one of the techniques used to challenge animals in the Kikonui Project. About half the buck kids in the Central Flock are culled at weaning based on birth rank, weaning weight, physical defects, particularly feet and legs, and dam’s characteristics. The remainder spend the next 12 months at 2000+ feet ASL with snow and frost during a 120-day winter where they look after themselves on a block of mixed pasture and brush with no artificial shelter or feed. Those that survive are then evaluated for growth rate, structural faults, and temperament. The best of them are deployed in satellite flocks where their progeny can be evaluated as a further measure of their ability.

Only Kiko does that have continued to rear kids under the challenging Kikonui Project regime have been selected to provide embryos. Some of them were among the top does during the early years of the Kikonui Project. All the bucks have been through the Kikonui buck programme.