Having recently been reminded in a roundabout way of the 100% NZ vs PB issue, I was wondering how other producers feel about their goats as individuals. Are your "favorite" does NZ or PB? Does their blood status have anything to do with their standing in your estimation? I have some NZ does I am really happy with, but I have some PB does that I think are just super goats, too. Actually, I think of my very favorite handful of goats there probably is a slight tipping of the scale towards the PB, but it may be coincidence. They just "happen" to be Purebred. I do think there is plenty of room for both. While it is nice for there to be a group of goats with only the genetic pool originally imported, I think by the time a goat is 15/16 Kiko, there isn't much difference, genetically speaking. And a gene pool really is stronger with outcrosses from time to time. As long as we breed the best to the best, and buy for the sake of the individual goat, not its label, I think we'll be just fine. Just musing... 
We purchased a large group of does that had been put under a test over several months. The ones we bought were the ones that scored well on the FAMACHA scores (2 or better each time)during the test period. There were PB and NZ in the mix. When they reached our farm we continued with checking eye scores as well as doing FEC. In 2 years time with that specific group, looking back at our records, the NZ as a whole performed much better. Now of course there were some NZ that we culled, but there were many PB that ended up getting culled. That was only as far as parasites go. Some of them were excellent dams, but if they can't survive the parasites without having to be constantly treated, what good are they for the herd? Just my thoughts on the matter. With that being said, I don't believe one is better than the other. I think too many people aren't breeding the best to best and have the inability to cull "duds" and the seedstocks have been "watered-down". Sorry for such a long comment....
ReplyDeleteThat is really interesting. I wonder if part of that was who bred what to what. And do people think their PB does are less "worthy" somehow, and aren't as careful in the crosses. We don't have the years behind us that you guys do, and I love to hear what other producers are finding. I wonder what our overall records will show us in a few years. This year I seem to have purchased more PB does, but I have been looking for some pretty specific lines and traits (lots of Terminator for the humid summers here, does that haven't needed deworming) and it may be people just aren't selling the NZ does that had what I was looking for. We've sold several Kikos as unregistered commercial goats, and as backyard brush goats, but not as registered breeding stock. I figure they'll still perform better than the typical goat around here for their new owners. I have a NZ pair right now that is on the bubble, but we made some bad management choices so we are giving them a year to see if they catch up. We still screw up. I guess that's always the way. And thanks for responding!
ReplyDeleteI think that it takes a few years, and lots of mistakes, before you really know what you have genetically. No one sells their best stock be it goats, cattle or what have you. So you take the best that you can buy and hopefully make smart management and culling deceisions and improve your herd until you have better animals then you started with wether they are purebred or NZ. I am seeing a lot of people breeding 100% NZ and trying to get the high prices when they really are not good meat goats that they are breeding and should have been culled. I also see a lot of people selling "meat" goats who have never had a goat processed to see what the carcass looks like. The bottom line is that these animals should be producing meat and the Kikos will fool you because they have more and longer hair then a Boer(especially around the rear end) and can look fuller then they really are. Are either of you working with Dr. Andries?
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