THE HELP CENTER

WANT TO VISIT THE FARM? HERE'S WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW.  

Because our herd is tested and disease free we require anyone entering pasture or barn areas to where shoe covers that we provide.  If you have children, we welcome them and hope that we can make the visit a super fun experience for them. Please help us by reminding them that the fences are hot and some Kikos can be a bit shy so we let the brave ones come to us! We do require visits to be scheduled so please call, email, or use our contact form if you are interested in a farm tour. We would be more than happy to answer other questions you may have as well.

100% NEW ZEALAND, PUREBRED, OR PERCENTAGE KIKO. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?

The lineage of a 100% New Zealand (NZ) Kiko can be traced all the way back to the original imports.  Percentage Kikos are created when you breed a registered 100% NZ buck to an unknown (unregistered) doe. The doelings born from that pairing can be registered as 50%. If those 50% does are someday bred with a 100% NZ buck, their doelings can be registered as 75%. Anything under 92% is considered a Percentage Kiko. Anything registered at 92% to 99% are then referred to as Purebred Kikos. Breeding up the percentage of your herd is possible all the way up to 99% but you cannot breed beyond that to get a 100% Kiko. The only way to get 100% NZ offspring is to begin with 100% Kikos does and a 100% NZ buck as breed stock.

BUYING FROM A TESTED, DISEASE FREE HERD? WHY IS THAT IMPORTANT?

We tell everyone to always consider buying from responsible breeders who have tested, disease free herds.  CAE, Johne's and CL are three diseases that we test for. There is no vaccine to protect and no cure for a goat infected with CAE or Johne's disease. Furthermore, a goat infected with CAE may show no sign of infection until later in life (and some may never show symptoms) but they still pass along the infection. This is done mostly through colostrum when kids nurse and secondly, it can be transmitted through blood. There are farms that are now vaccinating for CL. We have chosen not to vaccinate for many reasons, including the Merck Veterinary Manual guidelines and continue to frequently test to ensure we maintain a clean herd. According to the Merck Manual, "Commercial CL vaccines are currently licensed for use in sheep and goats. These vaccines should only be used in the species they are labeled for, because adverse reactions have been reported in goats given vaccine labeled for sheep. Rigidly adhering to vaccination schedules according to the manufacturer's labeling can help reduce the prevalence and incidence of CL within herds or flocks. However, it is important to emphasize that efficacy of these vaccines is not 100%, and vaccination will not clear infected animals. Vaccination of young replacement stock should be considered, and older infected animals should be gradually culled as economics allow. Once the disease is at a low prevalence rate, vaccination should be stopped and all seropositive unvaccinated animals culled. In "clean" herds or flocks that have no history of CL, vaccination is not recommended." Follow this link for more information about CL. A major supplier recently discontinued production of their vaccine which has caused many breeders a problem obtaining the vaccine to continue boosters and vaccinating new arrivals. For this reason, we highly recommend speaking with your local veterinarian about vaccinating for CL and what difficulties you may encounter continuing boosters for new arrivals to your farm prior to making any decisions. We quarantine and test all new additions to our herd prior to introduction and we plan to continue to manage our clean herd this way. CL is rather common, not only in goats but in other species, as well as wildlife, but rarely life threatening. It is however very contagious so the decision to vaccinate will vary from farm to farm.

WHAT DO WE VACCINATE FOR?

Currently the only vaccine we give is the CD&T vaccine.  We give this when the kids are 8 weeks old and they receive a booster at 12 weeks of age. All of our Kikos also get an annual booster. We generally try to give the does their booster 4-6 weeks prior to the date they are due to kid so that the newborn kids get some early protection from mom. There is a brief article about the diseases that this vaccine protects your goats from including symptoms of these diseases. Click the link below to navigate to the article. https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/cdt_vaccinations_for_sheep_and_goats