sheep or goats?

[goldensunriseranch]

castrated males also called wethers are a good choice for non-breeding pets. any wethers (and bucks) I've ever had though never seemed too interested in browsing. more interested in playing or sleeping! or in the bucks' case more interested in getting to the girls. not like my does which eat everything in sight, but my does are usually bred or producing milk which makes them have more appetite and turns them into eating machines.

 

[kinnip]

This is my girls' pen. The horse fence is great for keeping in goats. One thing you have to be prepared for it the fence rubbing. They'll walk back and forth down the fenceline leaning into the fence. It looks like it must feel good, they love it. I haven't tried any electric, but I've been told that you have to run at least four wires close together. Otherwise, they'll just step through. The other problem with electric is that you'll have to keep the weeds clear of the bottom or it can short out. Cattle panels are pretty good, but you'll need flat ground for them. I tried them and they just teeter totter on every hump in the ground. If you're not interested in breeding, wethers are a perfect choice. They're sweet and stink free. There are also an awful lot of them who need good homes.

 

[Chirpy]

kinnip said:

The other problem with electric is that you'll have to keep the weeds clear of the bottom or it can short out.

This actually isn't true for most farm/ranch electric fencing anymore. They make them now so that they continue to shock even if lots of weeds are against them. I know, I use one that keeps my 2200 lb. Belgian inside the fence and it has 2 to 3 foot weeds up against it all the way down the 1300 plus ft. of fence line.

I suggested the larger breed goat (Boer) because I've heard (at least from people around here) that the smaller breeds (Pygmies and Nigerians) don't do as good a job with weeds. However, in your small area they may be exactly what you need. Talk to people in YOUR area and see what types of goats are recommended by people around you.​

 

[kinnip]

I'll have to check out that fencing. What brand do you use? Do you find it sucks more energy when the weeds are high?
I don't know about pygmies specifically, but my Nigerians can clear some weeds pretty fast. The only thing is they don't eat them down to the ground. All of my goats (Nigies and LaManchas) will eat the top 3-4 inches of a plant then move on. If they really like it, they'll eat all of it.

 

[Chirpy]

kinnip asked:

What brand do you use? Do you find it sucks more energy when the weeds are high?

We got it from Big R, it's a Parmak Precision, rated for 25 miles.

Ours is solar powered and has worked perfectly for four or five years now. We don't have electricity out to our front field area so we went with the solar and really like it. I have no idea about it using more power since the sun keeps it going and it doesn't cost us anything. I do know that my horses give it a wide berth, including my Belgian gelding who went through every other fence we had.​

 

[ams3651]

anyone else?

 

[greyfields]

I keep both. They serve different functions. Goats clear brush, sheep mow grass. I think both smell sweet. We have bucks and I don't find the smell that bad really. /shrug

They make a good tag team as far as keeping your farm clean.

 

[lasergrl]

Some primative sheep breeds will graze and browse. Icelandics will eat weeds. My two 1/2 jacob 1/2 icelandic wethers cleared out a weedy 20 foot square area in one night! My nigerians just nibble. My vote is two nigerian dwarves, and two shetland or icelandic sheep! Benefit of the sheep is that they can fill the freezer by the end of the season. Goats I guess you could but I suspect you would get too attached

 

[Alexis]

Earlier posts were correct, sheep mow, goats weed-eat (typically). My goats will not touch the grass if there is anything else weed-like within reach. We keep them enclosed in hog panels, but we had such a problem with their heads getting stuck (the weeds are always greener on the other side!) that we used zip ties to attach chicken wire to the lower portion of the fence. Mind you, our goats have horns, so it wouldn't have been a problem otherwise.

Goats have wonderful personalities and are also fabulous help cleaning up kitchen scraps! They're also quite willing to spend a day clearing up blackberry infested areas on a tie out cable and a dog collar wherever we can't put a fence.
Ours are pygoras - and one is an intact buck who I've never notice an offensive odor from.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

goat will jump fences alot. even if they are fed good. are will be eating in the pasture and see us feeding the chickens or horse. and one in perticular jumps the fence. grrrrrr