# Will sheep and goats get along



## bmhughes89 (May 31, 2017)

My girlfriend wants goats, which I am fine with, but I would also like to get a sheep to sheer and spin wool. My main worry is that they won't cohabitat well together. Anyone have any experience with this? I can always build another pen to keep them separate, but I would like to keep them together if possible. I've found some conflicting opinions online. Thanks in advance
-Brendon


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## coffeecassie (Aug 5, 2016)

No personal experience, but the petting area at my local Zoo keeps them together, so I'd guess it isn't a problem.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

They can "get along" but sheep feed doesn't have enough copper for goats, and goat feed has too much copper for sheep. The same thing applies to their minerals.

You'd be better off to get just goats and buy some fleece if you want to learn spinning.


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

We ran goats and sheep together for one long long month for the sheep. The goats have a much more aggressive personality. The sheep were less than pleased. I even introduced a ram a few weeks early hoping that would keep the goats from being such bullies. The goats just kept doing it away from the immediate vicinity of the ram.


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## Rose1317 (Jul 26, 2011)

What you need is Angora goats: their fleece is mohair. Lovely. I like ours a lot, and we also have fiber sheep (Shetlands) and dairy goats.
We have allowed our sheep and goats together, but as mentioned above, it's not a good relationship. The goats are indeed bullies, the sheep lose out every feeding time. We keep them separated now, which is a pain, but better for all concerned.
Minerals also different, the copper issue is important, goats need it, too much kills sheep.


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## DragonFlyFarm (Oct 12, 2012)

I kept my ram in with two angora and one cashmere goat when he wasn't in with his girls - they got along well although my tiny angora doe would bully the ram for a day or so after shearing. I kept an "extra" feeder in their field to make sure no one would get pushed off at feed time. They were getting orchard grass, sheep/goat mineral and the goats would get copper in a treat. Vinnie the ram went to freezer camp so the 3 goats and 21 sheep all share the big field during the day but are put in separate fields for meal time as one of my goats is very aggressive at feeding time and I don't trust him with the lambs. During the day the sheep tend to hang with the sheep and the goats with the goats. The wild turkeys seem to like everyone. On a side note I much prefer spinning my wool to spinning my mohair. Try some of both before you choose your critters.


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## bmhughes89 (May 31, 2017)

Thanks guys! I'm only going to start with a couple of goats and sheep so it seems like it would be best to keep them separate. I was also wondering if they were raised together if they would get along better versus buying adults and penning them together. Anyone have any experience there? I may just take the plot I have for them right now and run a fence down the middle to keep them apart.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

bmhughes89 said:


> I was also wondering if they were raised together if they would get along better versus buying adults and penning them together.


They would likely get along better if raised together from an early age.
If you want to keep them separate you will need at least two of each species.
Sheep and goats can crossbreed, but the offspring (called a "geep") is usually deformed and seldom survives.


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## Hiro (Feb 14, 2016)

I thought it was called a shoat........


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## bmhughes89 (May 31, 2017)

Bearfootfarm said:


> They would likely get along better if raised together from an early age.
> If you want to keep them separate you will need at least two of each species.
> Sheep and goats can crossbreed, but the offspring (called a "geep") is usually deformed and seldom survives.


Thanks! I thought they may, but I'm not looking for cross breeding. I'm not a big fan of castration, but this is really helpful. I got a lot to think about. Where from eastern Carolina are you? I'm down in Wilmington.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

bmhughes89 said:


> Where from eastern Carolina are you


I'm in southern Pitt County between Grifton and Vanceboro, about a quarter mile from the Craven County line.
Or another way to tell you would be about 25 miles North of New Bern and 25 miles South of Greenville.


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## bmhughes89 (May 31, 2017)

Bearfootfarm said:


> I'm in southern Pitt County between Grifton and Vanceboro, about a quarter mile from the Craven County line.
> Or another way to tell you would be about 25 miles North of New Bern and 25 miles South of Greenville.


Cool! I'm in Wilmington.


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## cfuhrer (Jun 11, 2013)

We ran suffolk sheep and nubian goats together for years without issue. The only time we separated was when the ram and buck were in during the fall.


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## sarahal88 (Sep 17, 2015)

Bearfootfarm said:


> They would likely get along better if raised together from an early age.
> If you want to keep them separate you will need at least two of each species.
> Sheep and goats can crossbreed, but the offspring (called a "geep") is usually deformed and seldom survives.


I am also wondering because I have sheep and plan to get a couple of dairy goats eventually. In the case of raising them together from a young age, would this only apply if you got lambs and kids at the same time? I am wondering if it would be better for me to get doelings instead of adult does when I get my dairy goats. The sheep I already have will be adults.


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## AchesonAcres (Dec 27, 2015)

We have all our sheep and goats together and haven't had an issue. We do separate the ram and a goat wether when lambing starts. Those two seem to get along fine, although the wether would prefer to stay with his goat girlfriends 

We have added dairy goats to the mixed herd as weanlings as well as adults. The LaMancha (as an adult) did fine adjusting to the sheep, but she can be a bully to the Nigerian Dwarfs!


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## sonya123 (Dec 4, 2016)

We have our goats and sheep together in the pasture right now. No problem. We do put them in different sections of the barn at night, or the poor sheep would never get any pellets or hay. The goats would take all the food. But out in the pasture, they are fine together, the sheep just avoid the goats. But, if it rains, the goats do let the sheep in the barn. I was worried about that, but it's not an issue. As long as you have enough space for both, and they are not cramped into a small space, they will be ok. We have goats with horns, so they could hurt the sheep if they wanted, but they don't. The goats are much more likely to fight with each other. We have had 2 pregnant does headbutt each other a month before they were due so bad one was bleeding on the head, and the other was throwing up. But they never do this to the sheep. 
Sheep can't eat goat pellets ( copper) but it's not a problem because the goats would never let them get near "their" pellets.


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## Von Helman (May 16, 2012)

I know a guy who runs both goats and sheep together and one day I asked him why he had a wire bound around the horns of one of his goats. He explained it prevented the ram goat from using its horn to lock in the leg of a sheep and breaking it as he was so mischievous. The wire prevented the sheep's leg from getting stuck in the lower V shape of the horns where the goat would then abruptly jerk and twist it until the sheep's leg was broken. He runs about 50 goats and 100 sheep together and that was his biggest issue which was quickly solved with some baling wire.


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## klcardella (Mar 26, 2014)

We have had sheep with a few goats for brush for 4 years with no issues. We give the goats copper boluses each year, and they have access to sheep minerals. The only issue we have is one large LaMancha wether that gets a little aggressive sometimes with lambs or pregnant ewes, so he goes in with the rams when the girls are pregnant or have babies. Otherwise, all is well. Sometimes the goats stay to themselves, sometimes they hang out with the sheep. Two of the goats have horns; the sheep do not; also no problems.


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## greenTgoats (Jul 1, 2017)

You can run them together, just provide sheep minerals and copper bolus the goats as needed.


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