Selecting 90.000 Goshiki baby koi fish at the Kawakami Koi Farm. I’m joining Takashi Kawakami in Japan, owner of the Kawakami Koi Farm to do a full day of Goshiki selection!
Kawakami is a Koi Farm specialized in the Goshiki variety. The farm is founded in 1928, that means today it is already operating for almost one hundred years. Imagine how many Koi have been selected at this farm! So one hundred years of experience. Imagine the knowledge that this family has about breeding and selecting the Goshiki variety!
We are at fry mud pond that contains over 90.000 Goshiki that are 4 weeks old. All swimming around the surface, looking for something they can eat. It seems like the Goshiki are in a very, very good condition. Really active Koi, swimming around fast. At first sight that looks very, very good!
Koi swimming at the surface so actively is not something that I’ve seen at many other breeders. Now I have to admit this mudpond is really stocked highly with baby Koi.
For selecting Goshiki you can take some basics into account that are also used for selection of Kohaku. Which are white koi with red markings. If you know these, you already know the first basics of Goshiki selection.
Meaning we have to take into account the red pattern on the Koi. So some of the aspects that we do have to take into account during the first selection already is how the pattern lays on the back of a Goshiki.
We prefer to have multiple steps in the red patterns. The red pattern should surely not cover the entire body, we want white area’s to be visible. Preferable below the lateral line, no red is visible. So below the lateral line the Goshiki is white, and above the lateral line there is red.
The last part of the tail section preferable is white, just like what we also see with the Kohaku or Sanke varieties. When a Goshiki grows larger, the white last part of the tail will give a the Goshiki a stronger looking posture.
Then when we talk about the head of a Goshiki, then preferable the red lays between the eyes, just like with the variety Kohaku. The nose of a Goshiki is preferable white. Now of course it doesn’t mean if the nose is not white, that it won’t be selected. When the rest of the body shows a good pattern, it is totally fine. Especially during the first and second selection rounds.
On the head, there needs to be some indication visible that black is there. Usually right in the middle of their head, a black dot is visible. Typical what the Goshiki variety will show when it is young. But when it becomes older, you will see that the skin becomes thicker and the black won’t be visible any longer on the head. It will show up though everywhere in the white areas. Usually as like ‘moons’ that are visible in each scale. Like a net pattern, which makes them a very nice variety.
A breeder can only grow out a certain number of Koi. Simply because he needs sufficient space to grow out all the Koi. Overstocked mudponds will slow down the growth rate of the Goshiki and it will also increase the risk of diseases or other problems occurring during the summer.
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