Maternal Instincts: Both Kiko and Human!

About four years ago my father, Joshua Crise, began his research for what would prove to be both a successful and satisfying adventure. Goats! Meat goats, in particular, were the next bit of life that would make their way to our small ranch in Lee, Maine. But first, he had to decide what breed would best fit our environment, as well as, our lifestyle. In late 2015 to early 2016, he had it narrowed down to two breeds: Kikos or Boers. In the end, it was an easy choice. He landed on Kikos for several very important reasons/attributes.Kikos have been bred since the 1980s, starting in New Zealand, for some very key characteristics that made the decision of which meat goat breed to raise very easy. The Kiko Advantage! Kikos have exceptional maternal instincts, great parasite resistance, are both aggressive foragers and breeders, fewer hoof problems, vigorous and fast-growing kids, less producer input, and great carcass yields. All of these characteristics have proven to be true in our experience and we are extremely satisfied with my dad’s decision to raise Kikos.Here we are three to four years into raising Kikos and I have finally pulled the trigger and decided to invest in my own stock. In October, we traveled to Indiana and participated in the Cream of the Crop Kiko Sale. I came home with two beautiful does, Balu, and Judo, who was confirmed pregnant at the time of the sale. Upon contacting her previous owner, I found that her due date was between January 1st and January 15th: a fifteen-day span where she could kid. This was a very different experience for us. In our previous kidding seasons, we knew the exact day all our does had been bred, so we knew roughly when their due dates would be, give or take a few days.The days leading up to January were slow but also went by very quickly. All our kidding seasons leading up to this point had gone very well. However, as the days grew nearer to January, I, in particular, started to become very antsy and worried about delivery, largely because the span between when she might have kids was so large. Now, remember, we picked Kikos because of their fantastic maternal instincts; keep this in mind.Goats have some very telling signs that help allow their people to know when the kids are coming. Some of these signs include hoofing the ground, making what seems to be a nest, some become withdrawn, some want more attention, their bags begin to fill and tighten, and they also may become vocal. Another sign can be gauged from the ligaments on the back part of the goat, right near the tail. These ligaments feel almost like two pencils running along the outside of the tail that drop off towards the rear. Within about 12-24 hours of kidding, these ligaments will completely disappear as things begin to loosen for the kids to make their way into the world.We had heard of this technique before, however, we had never used it on any of our does as we always knew almost precisely what day the kids were coming. However, with Judo, a virtually new goat to the farm, we had no idea what we were going to be looking for. About four days before January, Judo started hoofing the ground; she had yet to do this. All of us thought she must be close! Her bags had begun to fill in, they weren’t huge, but we all remembered that Asia, another one of our Kiko does, had very small bags when the kids first hit the ground.The days started rolling on by. Still no kids. Judo had been moved to her own kidding stall with a secluded, fenced-in area for her to move about. The heat lamp got turned on each night just in case those kids decided to make a surprise arrival in the night, not unknown to us. Now you see, we have a security camera system in place at the barn, in all of the kidding stalls, and around key places in the barn area, but wouldn’t you know, the cameras were acting up and not working properly. Would you get on that Dad!Now we were into January and still no kids. For days I had been thinking today is the day, today is the day, but to no avail, still no kids. At that point, we decided to do some more research on the ligament method. We did a lot of reading and watched several YouTube videos. Through trial and error, and luckily Judo was very patient with us, we finally found the tell-tale ligaments. Over the next couple of days, we checked Judo’s ligaments four or five times throughout the day. If ligaments were still ‘feelable’, then she wasn’t close to kidding.January 2nd I came home around 9:00 PM. My dad had sent me a text that I should go check Judo’s ligaments. Sure enough, her ligaments were starting to disappear. My immediate thought was that she was going to kid in the night. The ligaments weren’t completely gone but disappearing, and I wasn’t sure how long it would take for them to be gone and then for the kids to come after. So, we set up a night watch. We set alarms in two-hour increments through the night to check on Judo. Now remember again, we picked Kikos in part due to their keen mothering ability, but nevertheless, my mother and I couldn’t help but worry, so we trudged to the barn in the “arctic” temps to see how Judo was doing. While it was in the teens, and considerably cold, I think it felt even colder every time we went out there after getting out of our warm beds.On the morning of January 3rd I went and checked on my girl around 7:00 AM. Still no kids, BUT, the ligaments were completely gone, nothing to be felt anymore. She wasn’t really showing any other signs at that point, so I went back inside and continued watching a movie to pass the time. At that point, my dad had figured out a way to make the security cameras work by capturing movement and then sending a recording to our phones. The recordings were delayed; however, they did the trick!I was bound and determined to be there for the birth of my first kid or kids. I put on three layers of pants and six layers of shirts and jackets and trekked to the barn with three blankets and a folding chair. I sat outside for about 45 minutes, off to the side of the stall to give Judo some privacy. My dad made his way outside, and at that point, I was freezing. I could barely move my fingers, and I couldn’t feel my toes. Begrudgingly my dad convinced me to come inside, to trust the camera system.At about 11:00 AM, inside my warm house, the security camera caught a segment of video and I knew it was time! Judo was kind of propped on her side, a position that many of our does had kidded in. I raced outside in my seven layers of shirts and jackets…to find Judo was back outside eating...facepalm. False alarm? A contraction? I really didn’t know! I went back inside and kept all my clothes on so I didn’t have to get dressed again and went back to watching my movie.Shortly after, another segment of video came through showing the same thing: Judo propped on her side, kind of moving around uncomfortably. I raced back outside, and this time Judo was still on her side, grunting and groaning. I knew for sure it was time for the 2019 kidding season to begin!The last kidding season it was all hands-on deck. Everybody was out there pitching in somehow. This was not the case this year. My mom was gone an hour away to work, my brother was at his job two hours away, my grandpa was at his job 20 minutes away, and my dad was upstairs working from home, on a call with someone on the other side of the globe. Normally, he would be able to sneak out to help with something like this, perks of working from home, BUT, of course, he was in a meeting, and actually giving the presentation and could not leave. Wouldn’t you know it, my grandma and I were the only ones available to be there in case Judo needed help, both of us only ever helping dry the kids off before. We picked Kikos for the very reason that they were great when kidding and rarely had any problems, but there I was, still worrying that we were going to have problems. I just wanted a healthy kid or kids! Of course, I was worried. Naturally, I was even more worried because the experienced people couldn’t help.A few more contractions that didn’t bear any fruit and then it was finally time. With another push, I could see what I thought was a nose sticking out. I quickly texted grandma that she should come out. I hadn’t had her come out yet because it was so cold; I didn’t want her to freeze before the fun had even started.Side story to all of this, Judo had only been on our farm three months at this point, however, she had taken to all of us. Generally, when new Kikos come to our ranch from another farm they have not been handled much, as they likely came from a large farm. We could immediately tell Judo had been handled. She was constantly under foot and always wanting our attention. Goats really are just like dogs; they even nudge your hand when you stop petting them. Needless to say, she was the sweetest out of all our does when kidding. She wanted to lay right next to me, so that’s just what I let her do. I sat on the bench and she ended up laying right on top of my feet. Grandma and I were both at the barn. It had been about 20 minutes and it seemed like Judo wasn’t making any progress. A little nose was still sticking out, but nothing else. At that point I am getting worked up. I know the kid was in the right position, but it seemed like it was taking way too long. All the other does had a few contractions and then out popped the kids quite fast. So, I started doing some Googling. Phew! We were still in good shape. Google told me that I should only begin to worry after about an hour. Still doing good then!We could tell Judo was very uncomfortable. She was getting up and down into that propped, leaning position. She had a few more contractions and then finally we got a peek at the nose and two front feet: perfect position for a nose dive. Things were idle for a few minutes and then the real grunting and groaning began. Grandma whipped out her camera; she was in perfect position to capture the whole birth.A few very intense and loud grunts and then out popped a completely white kid. All white! This was a huge surprise! Judo is belted in color; her hind end is brown, the middle is white, and her front is brown. So when all white came out I was completely shocked. Somehow it must of been the milk man or the mailman. Everything seemed to be in order, and Judo immediately started doing her job: licking her kid clean so she would be nice and dry.At that point we weren’t sure if there were any more kids coming. Judo was still pretty large, so we had a gut feeling there was at least one more. We let Judo keep licking. Baby was already wiggling around trying to find her legs. Judo had been standing up for this part. Suddenly she flopped back down into that propped position and started groaning. Either another baby was coming, or she was passing the afterbirth.I picked up the first baby and began to dry her. It was in the teens outside so we wanted to make sure they were nice and dry so they didn’t freeze. So while Judo was preoccupied with something else, we assisted to make sure the first kid was all wiped off. I’m sure the kid would have been fine on her own, but hey, I was still worrying over here and I needed everything to go perfectly.A few groans later, happening very quickly compared to the first, an all brown baby slipped right out. Again, completely taken by surprise when she was a solid color! At that point Judo was completely hollowed out. Her sides were caved in and she looked like nothing could be left inside her. Twins! My first goat kidded twins: perfection.Judo worked on the second kid, licking her all over. We let her do this for awhile and then I switched and took the second baby so we could get her nice and dry too. Knock knock knock… Thank goodness, it was my dad! He finished his presentation and came out to help. It was perfect timing. While Kikos are very good at the whole kidding process, we still assist sometimes because it would be terrible to lose a kid, especially if we could have helped prevent it. It was perfect timing for him to come out because the last thing we make sure happens is to tie off and cut the umbilical cord, and then iodine the area to prevent infection. I was so glad my dad stepped out at that point because I had never done that part before.Smooth sailing…that’s how I would describe the entire process. As much as I worried and fussed over everything, things went perfectly. With the kids dried off and tied off, Judo worked efficiently nudging them and stimulating them to make sure they were both up and moving and searching for milk. Both were already trying to suckle anything they could find. With just a little guidance, both kids had latched on: colostrum and first milk!My Judo kidded two beautiful little doelings. The first, the white one, I named Ichi, which means ‘one’ in Japanese, because she was born first. The second, the little brown one, I named Kata, which in karate, are the positions you learn: both keeping with the kind of Asian/Karate name Judo holds.Everything went perfect. SO much better than I could ever have imagined. Through all my anxiety and fretting, the Kiko breed pulled through, and with amazing accuracy in regard to everything we have seen in our research. Judo has been protecting her kids for the last three and a half months, though they now hold their own quite well. Ichi and Kata continue to gain weight phenomenally, keeping up with Nani, our monster doeling from last season. They are so much fun: energetic, full of life, and love to play with their humans.All I can say is that I should have trusted everything I read about these powerful maternal instincts. These are truly amazing animals. Solid pick Dad in choosing Kikos!I’d also like to pat myself on the back…I purchased a pregnant doe at an auction, with Dr. Fred Brown sitting behind me, whispering, “that is a good buy, you can’t go wrong with that investment.” He wasn’t wrong. Thanks Fred for the encouragement. She kidded two girls! That was everything I hoped for and more. She’s already proven to be a moneymaker. Boy, do I really know how to pick ‘em!Hopefully, I will have just as great of luck in May when we go to the Mountain Premier Invitational Conference and Sale in West Virginia if I decide to further expand my little co-farm!(Josh and Kathy Crise, and their grown children, Amelia and Kevin, operate Marble Creek Acres in Lee, Maine. For interest in a future year’s Kiko waitlist, questions or if you have topics you might like to read about in a future Goat Rancher, we can be reached at 207-619-3758, email [email protected] or marblecreekacres.com)