Curious about whether or not your Goats and Sheep can cohabiate peacefully? Read on to learn more
Goats and sheep have a difficult time cohabitating as a result of several key differences, including their differing nutritional needs, behavior, and habits. The result of these factors makes cohabitation a difficult and arduous process.
The question naturally arises, how can I mitigate this conflict, and allow the two to reside peacefully. Here are some of the issues that arise, and how to mitigate them.
Nutritional Needs
One of the trickiest problems associated with dealing with these two animals together is their differing nutritional needs. Goats, for example, require a copper supplement to stay healthy. This is usually given to goats in a mineral supplement. If sheep happen to consume copper, on the other hand, the results can be fatal. With this issue in mind, when you are feeding the animals, it is absolutely crucial that they are fed separately, as the consequences of forgetting to do so are literally fatal.
Although this is a hassle, as long as you can make sure that you can do this, everything else is generally smooth sailing nutritionally. In terms of eating habits, goats tend to eat brush, grass, leaves, trees, and shrubs. Sheep, on the other hand, prefer to feed broad-leaved plants and grass. These differences are rather convenient because you will not need to worry about the two of them competing for the same food, which will make your life, and their life much easier.
Additionally, they can be very helpful for you in terms of providing good pasture management, as goats eat what sheep do not, and vice versa. With this in mind, so long as you are vigilant about feeding the sheep and goats separately with copper, they can be a great combination for you.
Differences in behavior
Sheep and Goats are both social animals, meaning competition will inevitably arise between the two of them. Sheep and goat both have horns, and will utilize them if any conflict between them happens to arise. Between the two, Goats tend to be the more dominant, and sometimes violent member, making them a serious hazard potentially. The occurence of these conflicts is almost inevitable, especially when they both have a common desire, whatever that may be.
Mating season has been known to be a time of lots of physical conflict, and serious physical injuries can easily result from it. There is also a natural group mentality or an us versus them mindset, that can cause conflict. Make sure to keep newborn sheep and goats away from each other, as there is a natural tendency toward defensiveness, which can quickly result in conflict.
Although the behavior can easily conflict, it can generally be mitigated. The first thing you can do is remove the horns from your sheep and goats, as this will disarm their primary weapon from them, making conflict less violent and impulsive action less eminent. The next thing you can do is distance the goats and lambs during times when conflict is more likely, such as during mating season and soon while a newborn is still young.
Differences in Fencing
Both goats and sheep need to be fenced in. Sheep, as you can imagine, are fairly easy to deal with, and naturally flock together, and can easily be herded inside the fence. Goats on the other hand tend to think more individually, and will likely take more effort to herd up. It is crucial that you have a good and reliable fence for all your animals. Fortunately, there are many options available, but a woven-wire fence and electric fence tend to be the most effective and popular.
Naturally, there are pros and cons associated with each, as a woven wire fence is cheaper than an electric one, but electric fences tend to be more effective in preventing them from escaping. Sheep tend to be fairly obedient and faithful inside their pin, but goats are quite different. Goats are notorious for trying to escape, and if one goat makes its way out, all of them will continuously try to escape. Their behavior can likely influence the sheep to behave in like manner, especially if escaping the fence gives them access to something that the sheep desire.
With this in mind, make sure to always keep a close eye on your fence, making sure there are no holes or potential escape routes for the goats. So long as you are vigilant about the maintenance of your fence, you should face too many issues with your goats and sheep, outside of the rebellious influence of the pesky goats.
Differences in sheltering
Both sheep and goats require specific and individualized shelter. The main reason behind this is because sheep have a thick coat of wool that provides them a great deal of warmth that goats do not. As a result, what can be regarded as warm or cold weather to a sheep is quite different from what a goat would consider warm or cold. When it is wintertime, sheep are happy to be left inside a barn.
Goats, on the other hand, need to be kept warm, and such housing would be insufficient for their needs, as they would nearly freeze to death. During the wintertime, it is important for you to find a way to manually keep your goats warm, as forgetting to do so will have serious health consequences on the goats. Fortunately, outside of the wintertime, you will not need to worry about how you need to shelter the sheep from the goats, as they will both be fine. Just make sure to create a warm environment specifically for the goats, so their health can be preserved during the wintertime.
Interbreeding
Yes, surprising as it may sound, this is indeed an issue that you need to worry about. There is indeed interbreeding that occasionally occurs between Sheep and Goats, the result being known as a geep. Although most of these attempts are generally unsuccessful, it does still occasionally happen. When a geep is indeed born, they generally tend to be infertile and are subject to many genetic and health abnormalities.
Simply put, life is not particularly pleasant for them. With this in mind, it is within your best interest to keep bucks and rams away from each other, especially during mating season. Make sure to keep them close to their own species, and after they have completed their mating season, you can safely put them back together with the other species.
Although the occurrence of a geep being born is not likely, it is still much better to be on the safe side rather than the sorry side. It is also fairly easy to prevent this occurrence, merely keeping fertile sheep and goats away from each other during the mating season until they have mated with their own species.
Diseases
This is one of the biggest challenges inevitably associated with allowing sheep and goats to live together. One of the unfortunate results of having many commonalities biologically is the fact that they can spread diseases, and parasites, to each other. Something that appears seemingly inconsequential, such as a single sick sheep, can not only spread to all the other sheep, but also to all the other goats as well.
With this in mind, it is absolutely crucial that you are vigilant in terms of keeping up with the health of your animals, as forgetting to do so can be drastic for everyone. Another thing to watch out for is parasites, as both sheep and goats are subjected to the same ones. The easiest preventative measure that you can take is to have your sheep and goats tested for diseases before you purchase them.
By at least doing this, so long as you are vigilant about your upkeep, the overall health should be good. Make sure to keep potentially sick sheep or goats away from the others, in addition to testing them for diseases before you purchase them, in order to be safe.
How to Mitigate problems
Now that we have addressed the many trials that naturally arise from raising sheep and goats together, let snow summarize all the ways we can mitigate these issues. In terms of nutrition, so long as the goats and sheep are separated when copper is involved, the situation is a fairly easy one to navigate. In terms of fencing, so long as it is watched and maintained carefully, especially with the goats, everything should be just fine.
With the sheltering conflict, make sure to provide a warm environment for the goats during the winter, as they lack the furry coats that the sheep have been blessed with. With interbreeding, you can easily stop interbreeding from occurring by keeping the fertile and young goats and sheep separating during mating season. Lastly, diseases can be mitigated by having them tested prior to your purchase of the animal, as well as being vigilant in paying attention to the health of all the animals.