Kinder

The Kinder Goat Breeders Association established the herd book in 1988, three years after the first cross, and by 2006 about 3,000 animals had been registered. The breed has since spread to about thirteen US states, Brazil and Canada.

It is still a small book. The FAO listed the breed as endangered in 2007; by 2020 the international DAD-IS database carried its status as unknown.

Mid-sized, which is the design. Bucks run about 135 lb at 20 to 28 inches, does about 115 lb at 20 to 26. The coat is short, and the standard does not restrict color. Both sexes are horned; in the United States kids are commonly disbudded.

They breed year round, often produce triplets or quadruplets, and are easy to handle.

The Kinder Goat Breeders Association describes a midsize goat that is easy to handle and a safe choice for families and people working alone, with a friendly, calm personality. Alabama Cooperative Extension adds energetic and playful.

Kinders are genetically horned. The association does not accept polled animals, and a Kinder must be disbudded or dehorned to be shown.

Keep bucks apart. The association warns that housing bucks and does together year-round leads to accidental breeding of does that are too young or have recently kidded.

The milk side is documented: about 1,500 lb over a 305-day lactation at about 5.5 percent butterfat, occasionally reaching 7 percent. The high solids suit cheese.

The meat side holds up too: kids dress out at about 60 percent.

Shelter and fencing in place before the goats arrive. The association's minimum is a shelter with at least three sides that blocks wind, rain and snow, more enclosed in colder climates. Breeders commonly fence with sheep and goat, cattle or horse panels or other woven wire, and some use hot wire or electric netting for rotational grazing.

Feed: goats are browsers, preferring about 60 percent browse, then weeds and grass, plus quality hay. Offer a loose mineral formulated for your area's deficiencies, because goats' small, soft tongues cannot use mineral blocks well. Grain is not required, but the association recommends it in many situations for a fast-growing, prolific breed.

Company: a single goat is not the best option. A buck needs a companion buck or wether, and a doe another doe or a wether.

Health testing: the association recommends testing your first animals for caprine arthritis encephalitis (CAE) and setting up annual testing after that; many breeders also test for CL and Johne's. Find a veterinarian who sees goats before you need one. With good care, goats live into their teens.

The trade is the compromise being real. A Kinder gives less milk than a Nubian and less meat than a Boer, and the case for them is a smallholding that wants both from one animal rather than keeping two herds.

Kinder is a trademarked breed name and the Kinder Goat Breeders Association keeps the herd book. Ask for registration papers and the dam's milk records; in a breed this small, also ask how far the seller's lines are from everyone else's.

Recent sale prices on HoofnHorn, where there are any, are further down this page.