# Why are goats more popular than sheep?



## CJ (May 10, 2002)

When we had our farm, we raised Katahdin sheep and Nubian goats. The sheep were by far my favorite, really the only reason we kept the goats was for milk, we still had kids at home.

Is that why they're more popular, for their milk? I find sheep to be easier keepers, cheaper to feed, and I prefer the meat.

When we get the new farm up and running, I want sheep again, no goats I think.


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

I think its the shearing thing mostly but hey goats milk is the best drinking milk out there. I like sheep better but thats just me, goats are friendlier but brattier too.


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## Kmac15 (May 19, 2007)

I prefer sheep, and don't want the bother of sheering so I have hair sheep.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Most of my sheep have been every bit as friendly as my goats. 
Could also be the breed of sheep and that I did halter train every one.... and well, they get treats time to time. 

I honestly do not know why people seem to get goats first.... because I hear a lot of folks, not liking their goats because they get out all the time. Or get into things, or climb the sheds.... etc..
One reason I ended up with the two I have. 
They do not get out of my pasture, but I do have cattle panels and predator rated hot wire. 

Ross is right... could be people do not want to shear. I have heard people say all sheep are dumb but I found no more so than goats.
The goats can be kept in milk longer than many sheep can. 
That can be a plus if your family drinks lots of milk.

Personally I like sheep better, but that's just me. Also like sheep cheese much better than goats. You do not get the stanky musty buck smell like you can in goat cheese. 
Specially if the goat folks keep their bucks anywhere near their milking does. 

Another plus to having sheep... no yucky buck smells with the sheep Rams.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Goats have more of a dog personality. And they give milk! How can that be beat?


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

My sheep follow me all about like a puppy and every bit as friendly.
They can give you milk too.... though it is a little thicker, at least in my experience. 
Great for cheese, cream.. Ice Cream... num!!


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## loli (Aug 14, 2011)

I thought you could milk sheep, but they don't have as much as goats. I really think one of the reasons that you don't see a lot of sheep is because most people don't know how to cook the meat and they don't like it as a result. JMHO on this one.


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## bknthesdle (Mar 27, 2011)

I love my sheep, but I miss my goats and would love to have a pair of Nigerian dwarf goats. They definitely have a more dog like personality. More like clowns. I enjoyed taking them for walks. You just couldn't help but smile when your around them. My sheep are more subdued, the only clown like times with them are when there are lambs around.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

Most of my breeding ewe's, back when,,, did not play much. 
Who can blame them, after taking care of all those bouncy baby lambs!

But the wether's.. like the guys I have here,,, play every bit as much as my wether goats do.
Caspian (Black and white one) has taken to jumping on and off the wee shed we have for them.
They bounce around and play, fun to watch them. Even the one ewe I have, likes to run with them but she is a bit more.... uhmmm round, so she can't do the airs above ground like the boys do. VBG
So not all sheep are boring.


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## eieiomom (Jun 22, 2005)

mekasmom said:


> Goats have more of a dog personality. And they give milk! How can that be beat?


My sheep are just like overgrown puppy dogs and have wonderful, individual personalities and give lots of milk !
Can't beat them 

~Deb


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## hastyreply (Nov 10, 2012)

In Texas there are more people who eat chevron or cabrito than mutton or lamb. Also most who think sheep think wool. It is nearly impossible to find someone to shear sheep. Also there is no market for wool unless you cater to the fiber people and they want pristine wool. 30 years ago the only goats were Spanish Goats. Now with the commonality of Boer goats they have become more popular. They are not only meatier than than Spanish goats they are calmer. People don't know that hair sheep exist or think that Barbadoe sheep are the only hair sheep . There is a difference in meat from wool sheep and hair sheep. There is also the reputation that "sheep are born looking for a place to die". 

I think as more people learn about Katahdin, St Croix and Dorper breeds that you will see more of them. I see more and more on Craig's list. The Dorper is the Boer Goat of the sheep breeds.


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## Clancy (Jan 5, 2013)

There are goat people and there are sheep people, kinda like dog and cat people. The goat people are like crazy cat ladies.


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

Crazy cat ladies? LOLOLOL

I confess I never tried milking our sheep. They have small teets!


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## peteyfoozer (Nov 23, 2012)

I think a lot of people start out with goats as they do tend to have more of a doglike personality. I had both, but sold all but one goat and kept my hair sheep. Got tired of the goats leaking out of fences and climbing on the shelters, as well as their volume when they complained about wanting food or attention! I have Jersey cows so didn't need the goats for milk, and lamb is one of our favorite meals so it was kind of a no brainer for me.


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## J.T.M. (Mar 2, 2008)

My closest neighbor had goats . UPS made a delivery up to the door , when he went back to the truck he found a goat had taken up residence and was not very interested in moving out . The driver walked the mile to my house and had my wife go get the goat out


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## bknthesdle (Mar 27, 2011)

Roflmto!


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

Regardless of what you do with them and how they are trained, a goat naturally wants to be with people. Sheep naturally want to run away. 

Besides, goats are easy to milk and give 10 months a year. Big diff with sheep.


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## eieiomom (Jun 22, 2005)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> Regardless of what you do with them and how they are trained, a goat naturally wants to be with people. Sheep naturally want to run away.
> 
> Besides, goats are easy to milk and give 10 months a year. Big diff with sheep.


_Just like anything, there are exceptions to the rule._
_There are many in my flock that have not read the book..._
_It depends on the individuals and the breed._

_~Deb_


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## earthkitty (Mar 3, 2011)

For Americans, goats are more mainstream, and people are most likely to do what their neighbors do.

I have both, and I enjoy both, although they are very different. Of the two, more people have goats, which means more people are exposed to goats than sheep, so when people decide on livestock, goats are the more obvious choice for lots of folks.

Around here, if you see sheep out in a pasture it is a big deal. VERY few people have sheep in my neck of the woods, and everyone has a goat or two. When folks find out I have sheep, they look at me cross-eyed and ask me what in the world I do with them.

Most Americans have never even heard about drinking sheep milk, even though humans have been doing it for thousands of years. Goat milk is more mainstream, and many people think anything different that what they know as "normal" is gross. Most people won't even take our duck eggs, because anything other than a chicken egg is weird.

AND people for some reason think that sheep are stupid; my ram will show you that is not true.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

I think people have goats for the milk. Too many have eaten mutton and hated it. I picked sheep because of the wool and I can't stand the smell of a buck during breeding. Nasty!


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

lonelyfarmgirl said:


> Regardless of what you do with them and how they are trained, a goat naturally wants to be with people. Sheep naturally want to run away.
> 
> Besides, goats are easy to milk and give 10 months a year. Big diff with sheep.


 99% of my sheep I have had over the years(have had a number of different breeds) love people.... They prefer to be with people... 
When I was breeding, was one of the reasons I had a long waiting list for my lambs. Because they were tame and friendly. At least the ewe's and wethers were.... 
Rams of course I treated different for safety sake, but I would not keep any ram that was the least bit aggressive.

I sheep I have now, even that ewe... can take them for walks and they enjoy it. Follow me around like puppies and get into everything. They haltered trained pretty quick. 
Could go packing with them if I wanted too. 

I have one goat here... that really doesn't want anything to do with people. 
Unless you have a cookie and then.. only then, will he come near. 
He is treated the same as all my stock. He just doesn't like people that much.

My sheep will happily follow me every where, help me do chores.... even follow me into the house if I let them.


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## Goat Servant (Oct 26, 2007)

Hehe oh you sheep people (said in a friendly way) we goat folks are still looked upon as somewhat an oddity. Or just plain odd.
Ive never been around sheep. Most of our goats are pretty friendly.
But I LOVE Porcacino!! (sp?)


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Raise sheep if you dont like a lot of drama.

Raise goats if you like drama and like to do a lot of fencing....LOL


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Like someone said earlier, I think most people get goats because they're more dog like most of the time. I love my sheep though, and even though I own both, I'd pick sheep every day of the week if I had to choose just 1 to raise.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

bergere said:


> You do not get the stanky musty buck smell like you can in goat cheese.
> Specially if the goat folks keep their bucks anywhere near their milking does.


Can't let this go.  A buck running with does making the milk taste bucky is an old wives tale. If you have had goat milk or goat cheese that tasted "stanky, musty, buck", then the doe that milk came from had mastitis, either sub-clinical or full blown (although some mineral deficiencies can cause "off" tasting milk, but generally not to that level).

~smiles~ That being said, when I first told DH that I wanted goats again (I hadn't had them since I was a teen), he BALKED. He had to be dragged kicking and screaming into letting me have goats.

It turned out that, as a teen, he worked summers on a sheep ranch, and he *hated* sheep. He thought they were stupid, hated the smell of their wool, and although he had never been around them, he was pretty convinced that goats would be just like them.

6 months after I FINALLY got my goats, he came in, smiling, and said to me, "They are NOTHING like sheep! They are *wonderful*! Thank you for introducing me to goats!"

I don't know how big of a difference there is; I am still trying to drag him, kicking and *fighting*, into letting me get Babydolls. 

What I *think* may be the issue in why people don't go for dairy sheep:

1. Shorter lactation cycle. Goats simply produce more for a longer period. My *average* milker produces a half-gallon a day, and will milk though if I don't want to breed her.

2. Bred for ease of milking. The pictures I have seen of dairy sheep, well, those are TINY teats compared to my goats, and my hands start cramping just thinking about milking them. Dairy goats in the U.S. have been specifically bred for decades, and more, to have easy-to-milk teats.

When it comes to meat, lamb is fattier, on average, than cabrito, and lots of folks don't know to drink a *hot* beverage when eating something like lamb chops.  Even a mature goat has a flavor that is close to beef or venison, which most people are accustomed to eating. Mutton tastes very different, which can be off-putting to many people.

And yes, there are hair sheep, several breeds...but they are not readily available everywhere. Some people, if they want sheep, are only going to find wooly breeds available to them....and then they have to find a shearer, which is not always an easy thing to do. You can watch a youtube video, and do an adequate job of trimming hooves, or pulling blood for testing from it....but no youtube video is going to prepare you to shear a sheep on your own.

Last is health. Over the last decade, dairy goat owners have gotten on the band wagon of disease testing and mineral requirements. Even small herders are regularly testing for CAE, CL, and recently awareness of Johne's Disease has been raised and small herders (as well as commercial dairies) have been testing for that as well. People are working towards eradicating these diseases. Coccidia treatment in kids is standard even in tiny herds, and information on vitamin and mineral requirements, and the diseases caused by deficiency, is readily available.

In contrast, when I started looking for reputable sheep breeders in my state, and was calling around, out of the dozen people that I spoke with, not ONE of them could say that they had paperwork that showed that they had *ever* tested their flocks for OPP, CL, Johne's or Brucella abortus. Since DH's stipulation of me getting ANY kind of sheep whatsoever was that I had to get disease-tested, clean animals and see the paperwork with my own two peepers that said they HAD tested negative....the reason I did not get sheep last year, and do not have sheep now, _ is that I cannot find any breeders within a state of me that test for disease and keeps a clean flock._ I am sure they exist, but I think they are in hiding, practicing survivalist biosecurity by not allowing a hint of their existence to escape.

Since these diseases have such a negative impact on health and longevity, it could be why sheep have a reputation of "looking for a place to die". It' not that goats are any hardier; it's that, with dairy goats at least, goat owners are more paranoid about keeping disease away from their herds, and non-diseased animals will have longer, more productive, and less problematical lives than diseased animals.

If one of ya'll would point me to a clean, disease-free, *tested* herd somewhere near the state of Texas, I woul be happy to try out sheep and let ya'll attempt to convert me.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

CaliannG said:


> Can't let this go.  A buck running with does making the milk taste bucky is an old wives tale. If you have had goat milk or goat cheese that tasted "stanky, musty, buck", then the doe that milk came from had mastitis, either sub-clinical or full blown (although some mineral deficiencies can cause "off" tasting milk, but generally not to that level).


Not in my personal experience. 
Known a few people to run bucks with their does and milk. And every one of those folks, cheese and milk tasted and smelled like buck to me.
None of their does has mastitis. 

Now, another dairy, that doesn't keep the bucks on the same property,.. their milk and cheese is just wonderful. I mean, super, super good. 

So to me, there is a difference.


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Well CaliannG just so you know....Sheep goto heaven....and we all know where goats go....LOL!!!

[youtube]e0mx5ERj1eI[/youtube]


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## Lazaryss (Jul 28, 2012)

Fowler said:


> Well CaliannG just so you know....Sheep goto heaven....and we all know where goats go....LOL!!!
> 
> [youtube]e0mx5ERj1eI[/youtube]


That's hilarious. The main reason we went with goats, and not sheep, so far is because we have had lamb and mutton a few times and have not liked the taste. We do, however, plan to get a lamb for the kids to raise pretty soon.


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## J.T.M. (Mar 2, 2008)

HA !!! Looks like poodles go to hell also 

Goats are kind a like poken a stick in a hornets nest ... On paper it seems like a good ideal , but when you go and do it 

~ not sure if the video helps or hurts my case ~ 
[YOUTUBE]5IuRzJRrRpQ[/YOUTUBE]


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## mariaricarto (Jul 1, 2010)

J.T.M., That is a cute video of the kids! How do we get this over to the goat forum?


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## goto10 (Oct 5, 2009)

I have both goats and sheep. I have the goats for milk but I also got the sheep for milk even though they are a non-dairy breed. I prefer the sheep. I think more people would have sheep if there are hair sheep that would produce as much milk and had a 10 month lactation as a goat. I think with proper breeding and time, that could become a reality.


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Yeah and who said sheep are stupid?...well they never seen one surfing!!!...LOL!!


[youtube]lUlC79KBfmA[/youtube]


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## momagoat61 (Mar 30, 2008)

I been a HT Member for several years and now I see why I havn't been to the SHEEP forum but a time or two. Its just a different breed of folks in the sheep forum.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

bergere said:


> Not in my personal experience.
> Known a few people to run bucks with their does and milk. And every one of those folks, cheese and milk tasted and smelled like buck to me.
> None of their does has mastitis.
> 
> ...


I do apologize, but bucks running with the does do not cause bucky-tasting milk.

Sun-clinical mastitis can cause bucky-tasting milk, and requires milk testing to diagnose it.

Mineral deficiency can cause bucky-tasting milk, especially a deficiency in selenium, cobalt, and/or zinc.

Poor sanitation practices or rough milk handling can cause bucky-tasting milk.

There are many things that CAN cause bucky-tasting milk. However, unless you are letting the buck in the milking parlor, allowing him to rub against you and/or the doe WHILE you milk, and not washing your hands or the doe's udder at ALL, then running a buck with the does will NOT cause bucky-tasting milk.

Now, there is a * tendency* (not saying ALL people who have this practice are like this, only that there is a tendency) of people who run their bucks with their does to do so either because they can't afford a separate buck pen, or they simply don't care about things like due dates. People who have financial issues or give-a-ratz-azz issues are likely to be scrimping in other areas, such as proper testing, minerals, and/or sanitation.

People who have their bucks in separate areas are more likely to have the means to properly care for their milking animals, as well as the desire to know things like due dates, so that they can give proper, pre-breeding supplements, pre-breeding parasite control, pre-kidding supplements, etc. All of which are important to the health and well being of a dairy animal, and important to ensure milk quality.

In other words, I am not denying that your experience is valid....just that it was not caused by the buck running with the does.


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## anita_fc (May 24, 2008)

Crazy cat lady? Hey! What's wrong with crazy goat lady?

I've had sheep for a lot of years, and I am ready for my last two to be gone. Shearing is the big problem. I hate hate HATE shearing time. 

I didn't care for the dairy goats we had for awhile, but I'm absolutely hooked on my pygmies which I've had for almost 6 years. Way cuter personalities than the sheep I've had. I've had Shetlands, Columbia x Finn, and Suffolk x Finn. We pastured some Katahdins for a friend one year and I found them to be noisy and, well, scruffy looking!

Anita from Idaho
Dan-Ani Pygmy Goats
www.gndt.net/dan-ani


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## thequeensblessing (Mar 30, 2003)

We've had dairy goats and boer goats in the recent past. I didn't care for goats milk, but the boer goats were ok. Until we ended up with CL in our flock from a buck we bought. We currently have sheep, hair sheep to be exact. We sold them to someone who already had CL in his flock and didn't seem terribly bothered by it. I liked their personalities ok, but they were always cruising the fence for a weak spot! 
Our Katahdins and Dorpers may not be quite as pet-like as the goats, but they are much easier keepers. I don't have to shear, they are naturally parasite resistant, they breed year 'round and the meat is excellent! We bought a Jersey cow for milk a few years back and I like the quality and quantity much better than the goats milk. Daisy Mae is an absolute doll of a cow too. 

All of our animals, sheep included, recognize our whistle and will come running up to us when they hear it. We hand feed them, and some even love to be petted. The only ones we don't turn into "pets" of any sort, are the rams. We try to keep some level of respect there so they know who is boss.


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## chamoisee (May 15, 2005)

IMHO goats are *fun*. They're intelligent and engaging, interesting animals. Also they're harder to kill than sheep. I haven't had as many sheep as I've had goats, but the sheep seem to decide to die, they just give up..whereas the goats put up a fight. Goats do jump/climb some fencing, but electric keeps them in more easily than sheep IME.


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## Fowler (Jul 8, 2008)

Goats are terrorists!!! Sheep dont live to die, if your a good shepherd you can spot a problem before there is one. IMO...goat people like draaaaama...sheep people dont.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

In all honesty... my small heritage sheep were very hardy. They had a great will to live.

Now my Dad's commercial flock... yes.. they tended to drop pretty easy. And I think these kind of sheep, have given all sheep a bad name.

Also seen some commercial type milking goats, be pretty fragile and always had problems with worms. Even with very good care. 
Specially in the Wet NW.

Think in either breed, you will have lines that are very hardy, and have no health issues....and other lines... well.. that give everyone a bad name. 

You know the one animal that gets into more things than the sheep or goats I have here... and tries to help.... with the kind of help I don't need.
My Miniature mare Maggie. (rolling eyes)


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## Hairsheep (Aug 13, 2012)

I raised goats before...They would make Houdini look like a minor magician, for their escapes...Just last year, I decided I would try hair sheep...wonderful animals for the most part, friendly, yet shy and best of all, pretty much stay put!
I have read(do not know this personally, being my first year with them) that their meat is rather beefy tasting, they produce a good amount of milk for about a 4-5 month window and said milk is made into very expensive cheese.
They will eat anything a goat will eat, it seems to me, as I even cut brush and still standing weeds for them with a machete, along with some grain that I give them(a cup each of oats and corn).
They DO gain size quicker than a goat(the Boers I had took about a year to get huge), yet my Katahdin ram is already(8 months) that size.
To me, less hassles, bigger gain sizes on poor feeding materials, tasty meat, great cheese = an animal everyone should own:happy:


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## ErikaMay (Feb 28, 2013)

Hairsheep said:


> To me, less hassles, bigger gain sizes on poor feeding materials, tasty meat, great cheese = an animal everyone should own:happy:


NO.

Its our secret they are great animals. Mainstreamers can have their stinky goats...and we can sell them our sheep meat at high prices! bwahaha!


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## Laurie J (Mar 9, 2005)

Sheep are more profitable. My father-in-law has both (he doesn't want goats, mother-in-law won't let him get rid of them!) At 4 months he'll have a herd of lambs that weigh 100 lbs. and will bring $200 at least, his goats of the same age will be 40 lbs. and he'll be lucky to get $55. We have a 3 week old lamb that is already 50 lbs. 

I like goats just fine; we started with goats. They do have a lot of personality, but my sheep have a lot of personality too. Shearing is a couple of days of hard work, but no burning off their horns or dealing with the escape artists! To each his own, I say! This is just what we prefer.


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## unregistered168043 (Sep 9, 2011)

Alot of people get goats because they want a pet-like animal that also gives milk. Many have small holdings with little or no pasture so goats may make more sense. As for homestead/farm economy, the sheep has it over the goats, hands down, no contest. Sheep are simply a more efficient, more economical livestock as long as you can provide them with pasture.

I have pasture, so sheep cost me almost nothing besides some wormer 3x per year. I had goats but they require grain ($$) and high, bullet proof, fencing. If I had a smaller place with little or no pasture I would probably go with a few goats for milk/cheese.


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## krebolj (Feb 23, 2013)

I have dairy goats, none have mastisis and the milk still gets a bucky taste. More often in the summer, despite ice packs in the milk bucket and immediate chilling. They are hell to feed, I hate disbudding, the "market" is saturated, and they regularly leap over a 4.5 ft gate to let themselves out of the pen at their leisure. I am trading them in for tried and true producing dairy sheep (still don't cost as much to maintain according to the farm I'm going through) and another breed to experiment with. Plus they are soft and fluffy, and quiet.....oh the quiet. My Nubians give me headaches.


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## unregistered168043 (Sep 9, 2011)

Yes same happened to me. I had goats first and they gave me such trouble. They could not be contained no matter what I did for fencing. Eventually I tied them up but they would twist around and get all tangled in the rope. Then I just let them go loose, and they ripped the screen door apart, broke into the house when we werent home, ate the christmas tree, crapped on the floor and left goat crap hoof prints everywhere. Then they scratch up the house, then my car. They broke into the garage I dont know how many times and knocked over the grain bins...grain everywhere. They would hang out in front of the stoop and crap, and crap, and crap so there was shovel fulls of crap everyday. Then I got rid of them and got sheep...aaah. They mind their business, eat grass, are quiet, stay in a 4 foot wire fence, and are completely unobtrusive.

On top of it all they taste great, give wool and milk!


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## zephyrcreek (Mar 30, 2012)

I have to laugh. I have both goats and sheep. My sheep are the loud noisy ones.....and I have mini-Nubians. Lol


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## plowjockey (Aug 18, 2008)

Not more popular here.

We have raised sheep for 6 years, but recently acquired two pygmy does, one from an animal shelter, other a a baby.

They are DW's "pets", otherwise they go straight to the locker. We plan to breed them but I'll have to find a smelly billy. I can't stand goats.

Always hogging the feeders, driving off the sheep and ramming baby lambs. If I leave a door or gate open - for 30 seconds, they are through it. Will always get their head stuck in the cattle panels, trying to get at exact the same food, that is already located 5 feet away from them.

There is a line from a song, that is quite fitting "sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell"


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## krebolj (Feb 23, 2013)

Darn Tootin'- I'm sorry but I have to laugh at your post! That is quite a sight to imagine.


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## krebolj (Feb 23, 2013)

Zephyr Creek, my nubians SCREAM....MEAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. All. day. long. For no reason.


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## zephyrcreek (Mar 30, 2012)

Too funny. I'm wondering if it is a bloodline thing. I grew up with dairy goats. Nubians were always my favorites, and we never heard a peep unless it was feeding time. I have mini-Nubians now, and they are also quiet unless it is food time or weaning. Lol


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