Goats and Sheep

[BabyandCotton]

Can a goat have a sheep as a companion? Thank you
-Liv

 

[BabyandCotton]

Anyone
-Liv

 

[5danehouse]

Hi,

what are your circumstances? Lots of people run sheep and goats together. In my case, the goats are definitely dominant so you'd need to watch for aggression as they decide what the pecking order will be. Once they have decided who's who they should be fine together. Sheep and goats are both herd animals. They do better with company.Give it a try.However, make sure both animals are vet checked before you put them together. You don't want to transmit any unwanted diseases or parasites by putting unhealthy animals with yours.
Also, when you have sheep and goats together, they can do a nice job of cleaning up rough ground. The sheep like grass and the goats like the rougher weeds and brush as well as grass.Both sheep and goats need a dry, covered place out of the rain and wind. They also need a container of loose salt and mineral to lick. They can't get enough of the salt and minerals from a salt block. They need the ground up stuff.
You will also need to line up a farrier or vet that can trim their feet at least twice a year if your aren't sure how to do it.In warm, wet weather,their feet can get overgrown and develop foot rot.Make sure you get the animals wormed and inoculated every year.It's important in a hot humid place like Florida. Geed luck.

 

[BabyandCotton]

Thank you. I was planning on just two goats, but I was thinking I'd like sheep and goats milk as well as wool.
-Liv

 

[HnkyDnkyZZFarm]

So long as the sheep have other sheep, they'll hang out in the same pen. They wont typically be herdies with the goats like they do with other sheep though. They need other sheep. A lone sheep amongst goats thinks he's the only sheep in the world and he's the low guy in the herd. If you're going for milk you'd either need a pair or to borrow a ram anyways.

My mini goats sleep separately from my sheepers even though they share a pen. The big mama goat is in another pen, I don't necessarily trust her not to get bossy with the sheepers or the mini girls. They DO like to mess with them just for the fun of it. They like to threaten them with a rear up and turn away before actually making contact, or to make them run just to chase them.

If there is a disagreement, the sheep will usually try to run away or go elsewhere.

Ram sheep take a bit more socializing than even a buck goat. It's more about repetition with the sheep. The goats when they see a reward don't have as much flock instinct in the way of coming up to you and trying to figure out how to get it. Very different personalities.

http://www.sheep101.info/201/handling.html

This site has some good suggestions on handling and basic what they will do when you do XYZ and how to use that. Where to stand, where to grab and why.

A simple way to catch a sheep is to have someone stand at a corner of the pen with a panel or gate, standing up, have the other person herd the sheep into the pen and the person with the panel brings it across to make a triangle cornering the sheep behind the panel where you can then grab it.

 

[HnkyDnkyZZFarm]

T'other thing... the copper in goat minerals are toxic to sheep. You'll have to find a way to keep the goats getting the goat salt/mineral and the sheep getting just plain salt. We put the goats mineral up off the ground so they have to climb to get to it. The sheepers are more in touch with gravity and don't really want to go a climbing like the goaties.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Another note is that sheep cannot have goat feed (too much copper) and the sheep feed is not correctly formulated for goats. As long as you can feed them separately and ensure neither is eating the other's food, you can potentially keep them together.