Goats will show dominance over other goats and sheep by headbutting them. Goats are notorious for getting their heads through fences, getting their horns caught and then screaming and attracting predators that take advantage of the caught animal. Horns can easily get caught in fences and can create an emergency situation. It’s a good idea to disbud or have polled animals anyways for safety reasons. This will allow you to supplement their diet properly without causing the other group harm.
If you can, feed the two groups separately. You’ll either have goats that develop a copper deficiency (from feeding a sheep-safe mineral supplement) or have sheep that become fatally ill (from consuming too much copper in a goat mineral supplement). If you are providing your sheep and goats with the same mineral supplement, one of two things is going to happen. See the problem?įeed goats and sheep separately, if possible. Large amounts of copper are fatal to sheep. This is usually given to goats in a mineral supplement. Goats require a copper supplement to stay healthy. The nutrition needs of the two species is different. This is where it can get a little tricky. You can put them on the same pasture and expect the goats to consume the weedy, brushy plants. Sheep prefer grasses goats prefer broad-leaf plants. I mentioned that sheep and goats eat different types of plants. Now, if you aren’t raising thousands of animals, then yes you can raise sheep and goats together. Simply put, it’s hard to create suitable pasture for both species for commercial production. This is especially true if you are raising either animal on a commercial level. On a large scale, it becomes more difficult. On a small scale, it’s very possible to raise sheep and goats together successfully. Goats can be raised for meat, mohair and milk. Sheep are frequently raised for wool and meat. It’s important to rotate the pastures that sheep are on to prevent overgrazing from becoming a problem.īoth sheep and goats can be raise for more than one purpose. Sheep, on the other hand, will flock together and can quickly overgraze a pasture. This helps to prevent areas from overgrazing.īecause of their browsing over a wide territory, goats are less likely to suffer from internal parasites. Goats will spread out and eat the most nutritious parts of plants. Sheep are more picky and prefer to eat grasses and cereal grains. It’s the tendency to ‘eat anything’ that make goats so good at clearing grown up land.
They prefer to eat leaves of brushy plants and forbs, or broad-leaf weeds. However, the way that they eat is a little different. Goats and sheep both eat plants and grasses. Learn more about how ruminant stomachs work here. The plant matter is broken down into nutrients that the animal can absorb and use. Bacteria in the rumen work to break down grasses and plant matter. The rumen, one of the stomach compartments, works like a large fermentation tank. A ruminant is an herbivore with a special stomach that has four compartments. But can you raise sheep and goats together in the same area? Raising Goats vs. Sheep and goats are both small livestock, which makes them ideal for the small farmer or homesteader. Interested in raising sheep and goats together? Then you’re in the right spot!
Can you raise goats and sheep together? Raising sheep and goats together.
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