# Sheep vs. Goats for meat



## Kye022984

I was thinking about starting some meat goats but, have recently had some local criticism about the taste of goat's meat vs. lamb. I haven't researched much on lamb and know a lot about goats from our own dairy goats but what do you all think? Which meat tastes better? Which meat is better for you? Between goats and sheep which ones are the most easy to keep? Are sheep loud? If anyone has some advice that will help greatly thanks.


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## Jcran

I love goat meat. I raise boers for meat and find it fabulous. I am a bit more leery of lamb unless I know who raised it and how old it is. I've had some pretty "muttony" lamb before.  We butchered our own lambs this year at around 5 months old (free bummer lambs from a friend that we in turn traded back because they were ewe lambs and tamed down by us-we then butchered two wild, pasture-raised woolies for the bbq) and they were fabulous; all grass fed and still nursing...delicious. I have not ever raised sheep long-term but would think they might be a bit more work if you had to deal with the fleece, etc? Just my two-cents.


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## bruce2288

That is kind of like which is better beef or pork? Red wine or white wine? a personal preference.


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## Ernie

If you're raising it to sell, it doesn't have anything to do with what people on this forum think. It's all about what the local people think.

Goat is primarily eaten by Middle Eastern and Latin American cultures. If you don't have enough of them in your area then you're not going to sell much goat meat. I ran into that problem in rural Illinois. After about 3 years I transitioned over to sheep.


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## birchtreefarm

I would caution not to lump all sheep into one "flavor" basket. Different breeds taste different. If you can, see if you can try some lamb from different breeds. You don't want to end up raising something that you don't like to eat! If you don't like it, why should your customers?

Also, on the wool side of things, if you don't want to deal with wool, you can look into hair sheep. They don't require shearing and naturally shed their hair every year. I think I've read that they are fairly mild in taste as well, but as always, do your research.

I don't know if one meat is better than the other health-wise. I'd guess they are about the same.

Are sheep loud? They can be. Some of mine are loud, some aren't. Not much help, am I?


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## SLD Farm

I have dorper sheep and Boer goats. The dorper can be loud at times. I think the big question on normal sheep is the wool. They are more labor intensive than goats because of it. 
Dorpers and other hair sheep have no wool so that can be taken out of the equation. My dorper are great! I haven't hardly touched them all year. No feet trimming, no parasite issues, nothing. Easy keepers.

Around here sheep and goats at auction sell for similar prices per lb.

From the meat aspect...I like goat best.


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## francismilker

SLD Farm said:


> I have dorper sheep and Boer goats. The dorper can be loud at times. I think the big question on normal sheep is the wool. They are more labor intensive than goats because of it.
> Dorpers and other hair sheep have no wool so that can be taken out of the equation. My dorper are great! I haven't hardly touched them all year. No feet trimming, no parasite issues, nothing. Easy keepers.
> 
> Around here sheep and goats at auction sell for similar prices per lb.
> 
> From the meat aspect...I like goat best.


Good insights there! I too have to second the notion that hairsheep are much easier than wool sheep. Also, they tend to trend the goat prices at local auction as well. I don't see much difference in the ethniticy of those that purchase them either.


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## Bret4207

My lambs tend to grow much faster than my goats. So from a poundage aspect lambs would be a faster return.


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