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Blackgranite said:
If you get goats, just know that they are horrible at getting worms. We have found it almost essential to have our own microscope and fecal exam parafrenalia. If you want the for the milk than I say, go ahead, but if you just want them for pets/ meat/ mowers, I would recommend Hair Sheep. great for meat, good pets, eat like goats, and even look like goats to the untrained eye. They also need far less maintenence than goats.
But good luck on your endeavor and thanks for responding!:)
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I originally wanted goats for clearing land, would sheep be able to do just as good of a job?
have a lot of brush have you ever heard of this.
 
Don 27 said:
I originally wanted goats for clearing land, would sheep be able to do just as good of a job?
have a lot of brush have you ever heard of this.
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Wow. I never thought of sheep getting caught in brambles, but it makes sense. Kinda a stretch to say it's carnivorous, because it's not by the definition of carnivorous plant, as it can't digest the animal. I think that's only a problem with wool sheep and a very specific age of hair sheep though. goats and 1+ year old hair sheep wouldn't have that problem.
As for the clearing, there's a few things.
1) Goats are not grazers, they are browsers. They will eat the top bits of everything, then go for the next layer. This is a defense against worms because they are so susceptible to them. Sheep, however are grazers and eat more than goats, but are not as keen on filling all their stomachs with anything and everything that enters their field of view (pun intended). Goats can eat poison ivy, Sheep won't. However, goats have a variety of things that they love to eat that will kill them, whereas sheep prefer grass over everything.
2) Goats are smarter. This is good and bad. They are bona fide escape artists, witch can be a big problem, especially because they can climb trees (depending on the goat and the tree of course). On the other hand, sheep are more vunerable to predators because they aren't as smart (wool sheep dumber than hair sheep BTW)
3) Sheep are more timid, but curious and form great friendships with humans and animals. Goats are more intelligent, so they form a more intelligent relationship, but are a bit selfish and mischeivious and use that relationship to catch you off guard a good deal of the time, but both are sweet and make good friends if that's something you want.
4) If you get into milk, sheep milk is some of the best tasting milk, but goat milk is by far the easiest milk for humans to digest and has several health benefits. having said that, sheep milk tastes good consistently, while goat milk can easily start tasting bad if the goat eats a random weed (the action of which sheep do on a much less frequent timeline). And the most important,
5) Worms and mineral. Goats take much, much more maintenence. More worms, you have to keep powder mineral out at all time as well as baking soda for them to eat as needed. Goats also need to be dewormed regularly and monitored closely for them. Sheep need grass and water. Period. Well, hay in the winter obviously, but that's under grass. If you get the right kind of sheep, it is practically impossible for them to get worms (as in no recorded cases of worm infestations). So if you don't got predators, sheep are easier to keep alive. But,...
6) The decision is really based on if you need something cleared, and don't want anything else to do with them, Goats will clear land an order of magnitude better that sheep (neither will eat brambles though, so you'll have to deal with those yourself)
That was waaaaay longer than I intended. Sorry for the tome of a reply lol.
PS: most of what I said in comparison was exaggerated for your knowledge, so you know a bit of the differences. Both will eat whatever you have out there, and both will most likely stay alive and healthy. just saying, Sheep are a ton easier, but won't really get the job done. Goats though, do have a big problem with worms. Any Southeastern owner will tell you that.
Oh. And goats are extremely picky about hay. no exaggeration there. We have a barn full of hay they absolutely refuse. Kinda funny, but also annoying lol.
 
Blackgranite said:
Wow. I never thought of sheep getting caught in brambles, but it makes sense. Kinda a stretch to say it's carnivorous, because it's not by the definition of carnivorous plant, as it can't digest the animal. I think that's only a problem with wool sheep and a very specific age of hair sheep though. goats and 1+ year old hair sheep wouldn't have that problem.
As for the clearing, there's a few things.
1) Goats are not grazers, they are browsers. They will eat the top bits of everything, then go for the next layer. This is a defense against worms because they are so susceptible to them. Sheep, however are grazers and eat more than goats, but are not as keen on filling all their stomachs with anything and everything that enters their field of view (pun intended). Goats can eat poison ivy, Sheep won't. However, goats have a variety of things that they love to eat that will kill them, whereas sheep prefer grass over everything.
2) Goats are smarter. This is good and bad. They are bona fide escape artists, witch can be a big problem, especially because they can climb trees (depending on the goat and the tree of course). On the other hand, sheep are more vunerable to predators because they aren't as smart (wool sheep dumber than hair sheep BTW)
3) Sheep are more timid, but curious and form great friendships with humans and animals. Goats are more intelligent, so they form a more intelligent relationship, but are a bit selfish and mischeivious and use that relationship to catch you off guard a good deal of the time, but both are sweet and make good friends if that's something you want.
4) If you get into milk, sheep milk is some of the best tasting milk, but goat milk is by far the easiest milk for humans to digest and has several health benefits. having said that, sheep milk tastes good consistently, while goat milk can easily start tasting bad if the goat eats a random weed (the action of which sheep do on a much less frequent timeline). And the most important,
5) Worms and mineral. Goats take much, much more maintenence. More worms, you have to keep powder mineral out at all time as well as baking soda for them to eat as needed. Goats also need to be dewormed regularly and monitored closely for them. Sheep need grass and water. Period. Well, hay in the winter obviously, but that's under grass. If you get the right kind of sheep, it is practically impossible for them to get worms (as in no recorded cases of worm infestations). So if you don't got predators, sheep are easier to keep alive. But,...
6) The decision is really based on if you need something cleared, and don't want anything else to do with them, Goats will clear land an order of magnitude better that sheep (neither will eat brambles though, so you'll have to deal with those yourself)
That was waaaaay longer than I intended. Sorry for the tome of a reply lol.
PS: most of what I said in comparison was exaggerated for your knowledge, so you know a bit of the differences. Both will eat whatever you have out there, and both will most likely stay alive and healthy. just saying, Sheep are a ton easier, but won't really get the job done. Goats though, do have a big problem with worms. Any Southeastern owner will tell you that.
Oh. And goats are extremely picky about hay. no exaggeration there. We have a barn full of hay they absolutely refuse. Kinda funny, but also annoying lol.
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Huhhh so theirs a lot of things I have to weight out... Thanks a ton for all the information. We eat sheep meat frequently so that would be benefit but the only pasture we have for them that I don't plan on farming this year is a brushy woods that I would like to use for something. There's a lot of under growth so I was worried that the sheep might suffer from the thicket. I don't want to find a pile of wool. I don't think its actually a carnivorous plant either, I just was showing the video to demonstrate how they can get stuck. As for hair sheep that's not a bad idea if I ever wanted to have some sheep in the brush that would probably be my best bet. For goats I don't mind clearing some of the bramblas as long as they can clean up the rest. After they get the under growth cleared out I will go in with the tractor and start cutting out the wood and pulling the stumps. I haven't yet figured out how I'm going to safely contain them I thought about electric and also field fencing so those are my options . I do have middle and older kids that would probably enjoy the goats or sheep.
 
Egg Basket.jpg


It is nice having you here!
 
Thank you all, and now I have some update's.
As for the frost bitten pullet hen:
We discovered that it was Frostbite. So I let climb as far up the toes as it would and clipped of the rest, so now he has one foot without toes, and another without 3 claws. Thus the name StubNub. Turns out it was rooster, but in my defense, he doesn't have a crested tail, spurs, or much of a comb yet, but he started trying to crow and exhibiting rooster qualities.
He's back out with the other chickens, roosting, etc... All is well that ends well, and thanks to all for the advice.
And also, I wasn't perfectly vigilant on closing up the roost, and a dog came and killed 4, and scared others from roosting that night and picked off another four. It also injured my wonderful Houdan rooster who fought it so bravely. So now Houdini is in unhappy solitary confinement for rehabilitation, healing nicely.
 
Blackgranite said:
Thank you all, and now I have some update's.
As for the frost bitten pullet hen:
We discovered that it was Frostbite. So I let climb as far up the toes as it would and clipped of the rest, so now he has one foot without toes, and another without 3 claws. Thus the name StubNub. Turns out it was rooster, but in my defense, he doesn't have a crested tail, spurs, or much of a comb yet, but he started trying to crow and exhibiting rooster qualities.
He's back out with the other chickens, roosting, etc... All is well that ends well, and thanks to all for the advice.
And also, I wasn't perfectly vigilant on closing up the roost, and a dog came and killed 4, and scared others from roosting that night and picked off another four. It also injured my wonderful Houdan rooster who fought it so bravely. So now Houdini is in unhappy solitary confinement for rehabilitation, healing nicely.
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Oh gosh, I am so sorry about the dog attack. :hugs
 

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