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No text or images may be used without the express written consent of Rush Creek Farms. © 2005
Meet Our Herd
 
 
Foundation Sires
 

JFK Uncle Jesse was our first 100% New Zealand Kiko buck, purchased in 2006. Jesse had exceptional parasite resistance and only had his feet trimmed once while on our farm. He was a son of Tasman Aristocrat and dual-registered with the AKGA and IKGA. He died unexpectedly in the fall of 2011.

ICF Roscoe was a Purebred Kiko. Many of our colored commercial does are from his line.

Boss Hogg was a Savanah-Spanish cross from Smoke Ridge in Montana. He was sold so we could experiment with other cross-bred genetics. We still have several of his daughters - they consistently produce meaty-looking kids.

One of our favorite herdsires was PIG ("Pretty Impressive Goat"), a 75% Boer and 25% Kiko buck. We used him for 6 years, until so much of our stock was related to him we had to change bucks. Throughout his stay with us, he was a great goat. He was never dewormed and his feet required minimal trimming. He added the necessary muscling to our commercial herd, while preserving the hardiness that we require.  We have frozen semen at the University of Illinois and plan on using it in a few years to combine his genetics some of our newer, unrelated does.

Our last 100% New Zealand Kiko buck was RUS Zephyr.  He was used as an outcross sire because our doe herd was getting too related to PIG.

Arnold was the buck that sired our 2016 kid crop.  He was a 100% Savannah.

In 2016, we purchased two bucks (Sam, a Savannah/Spanish cross and Yam, a Savannah/Myotonic cross) from Richard Browning's herd at Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN.  If you are not familiar with Dr. Browning and his research, for over the last 12 years he has been keeping Kiko, Boer, Spanish and Savannah goats (straightbred and crossbred) and studying reproductive efficiency, survivability, parasite resistance and KY31 effects.  It is exciting to have these proven genetics in our herd.  After breeding season, we sold Sam and Yam on to another producer.  We have been pleased with their 2017 kid crop and are keeping 5 doelings as replacements in our herd.

For our 2018 kid crop, we purchased an unregistered 100% Savannah from a breeder in Indiana.  We have named him Captain Jack. . He sired some solid kids with color!  

In 2018, we are welcoming back some of our previous Kiko genetics!  We have purchased Sherlock, a two-year-old unregistered Kiko buck that has our Uncle Jesse and ZeeBee (both 100% NZ Kiko's from JFK in Missouri) from Susan Theus of Prairiestead Farms in Herrick, IL.  We are looking forward to adding back some of the Kiko traits to our herd.  We plan on keeping him for several years.

Our doe herd is composed of unregistered commercial crossbred does that have been raised on our farm and have met our strict standards.  Our herd allows us to supply the top performing kids for breeding programs -- commercial producers looking for quality does to produce slaughter kids.  Remember, our kids must gain 0.4 lbs/day if a buck or 0.3 lbs/day if a doe in order to be sold for breeding stock. Does are culled if they have poor mothering ability, poor parasite resistance or hoof problems. While we are happy to discuss our goat's pedigrees with you, we believe the true value of our goats lie in their performance. The Kiko was bred to be a low-maintenance performance goat, and with our crossbred goats, we aim to keep it that way.

 

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            Boss Hogg                            JFK Uncle Jesse  and Boss Hogg                  JFK Uncle Jesse and ICF Roscoe (March 2009)

 

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TSU Savannah x Spanish cross "Sam"                          TSU Savannah x Myotonic Cross "Yam"               Captain Jack

 

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            Sherlock - Purebred Kiko (2018)                             Sherlock in 2019                          

 

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            PIG - Pretty Impressive Goat!                            RUS Zephyr                                      Arnold



 


 Herd Dams and kids over the years
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zeebee.jpg Red.jpgRed was our best herd dam.  She was one of our first commercial does from Jack’s Fork River Kikos.  She was a high percentage Kiko descended from Tasman Aristocrat.  We euthanized her this spring (2020) at the age of 14 years.  She is greatly missed.   
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Kids playing on the steps

March 2009

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In 2009, we used kidding cubicles, three-sided pens with a 12" front board. Does can go out to eat and drink but the kids stay inside until they are big enough to jump out (about 2-3 days). This turned out to be a great solution for our overcrowded barn. ZeeBee (AKGA/IKGA 100% NZ) with her 100% NZ doeling and buckling March 2009  
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 Up and nursing before his sister was even born!
Josie and her buckling - the doeling was born a few minutes later - March 2009
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Mabel2009kids.jpg Mabel with her two bucklings - 2009 Kids sleeping under the hay feeder March 2009  

 

 

 

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