National Kiko Registry’s FAQs

NKR does not have members like a breed association. NKR is a registry and pedigree-tracking service that serves clients on a for-fee basis. Clients pay a $25 maintenance fee annually for tracking and storing their information in the NKR database. Clients are eligible to participate in special sales and educational programs sponsored by the National Kiko Registry and its affiliates. Clients can place free classified ads on the NKR website and can be listed in the website’s Breeders Directory. This directory is published each year in the May Kiko Edition of the Goat Rancher magazine.

No. To register a kid with NKR, simply send copies of the sire’s and dam’s registration certificates from an approved organization, along with the animal application form and correct fees. NKR accepts all registration certificates from national or international registration organizations.

No, we will give the transferred goat an NKR registration number, but the numbers in its pedigree will not change. NKR is a seamless registry service available to all Kiko breeders, whether individuals or association members. This practice of retaining original registration numbers began when the American Boer Goat Association used South African registration numbers in the pedigrees of its goats. This practice continued when the International Boer Goat Association and the U.S. Boer Goat Association were formed. It is common today for a Boer goat certificate to have pedigree numbers from several associations. It is likely that some NKR pedigrees may contain registration numbers from several registries.

No. The decision on whether to DNA test goats or not is strictly the breeder’s. However, breeders who can document the parentage of their livestock through DNA testing can generally command a higher price for their animals. As a management and marketing tool, the NKR highly recommends DNA verification for 100% New Zealands or any animals the breeder so chooses.

The NKR presumes the honesty and integrity of its clients. A completely filled out registration application is all that is required. For the protection of breeders, buyers, and sellers, a paper trail of sire service, semen collection, AI, and embryo transfer technician memos can be maintained by the parties involved. These are contracts between individuals and are not the responsibility of the registering service. To avoid any possible conflicts, however, NKR recommends DNA parent verification in all AI and embryo transfer programs.

No amount of policing from a registry organization has ever been able to weed out bad apples. Only through diligence by the buying public is unethical behavior exposed. NKR’s policy is to let the marketplace expose unscrupulous breeders and allow all others to conduct their business as they see fit. The NKR is a privately run business and can cease business at any time with any client proven to have committed fraud.

VGL is the Veterinary Genetics Lab at the University of California-Davis, the premier genetics testing service in the U.S. This is the company that performs DNA testing for a variety of species, breeds, associations, and individuals, including all of the U.S. Kiko registries, including NKR. When a breeder has a goat DNA tested, it is issued a VGL or file number.

The VGL number will be needed if the breeder wants to compare the animal’s DNA to another animal’s DNA to confirm parentage. Depending on whether the sire and dam both have VGL numbers, it is possible to have a goat sire verified, dam verified or parentage verified.

A breeder can begin a herd’s parent-verification process at any time. Simply download a DNA Request Form off our website and follow instructions for submitting genetic material for testing. The first generation of goats will be genotyped; future offspring can then be DNA-tested and parentage verified. The NKR registration certificate will have the animal’s VGL number printed on it for easy access if the breeder wants to transfer the goat to another registry. Unlike other Kiko registries, the National Kiko Registry gives full ownership of a goat’s DNA information to the goat’s owner. No other Kiko registry grants this right to its breeders.