Goats vs. Sheep

[Feathers-N-Fur]

My in laws told me tonight that they want to give my daughter a ewe lamb for her birthday next month. What will I need to do differently with my goats when I put the lamb in with them? I know I will have to switch to sheep minerals and give the goats copper boluses. Is there anything else?

[RiverPines]

My main concern other than minerals would be just to watch the ewe as the goats are more pushy and she may not get shelter if they don't want to share and she may not get her fair share of food.

I keep my goats and sheep separate as the sheep are a lot more docile and calm. The goats are a pain in the butt for my sheep, to hyper.

I have Leicesters, Blueface crossed longwools.

[Lada]

Is there anyway you can house them separately? My only concern would be the mineral situation. I like the loose minerals because the goats can get what they need when they need it. Bolusing leaves it all up to you; and I would think a steady dose of copper would be more beneficial than one big dose every so often.

There's no scientific basis to that opinion, of course, it's just what makes sense to me.

[6e]

We had Hampshire sheep in with the goats and the Hamps bossed the goats around. LOL They were huge, pushy sheep.

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

"I would think a steady dose of copper would be more beneficial than one big dose every so often."

The copper "filings" that are in the copper bolus are stored in the rumen and contribute copper over a very long time. They don't just flush out after a couple of days.

So the boluses would provide adequate copper? I've had a couple people tell me they use a mineral that is high in copper plus they bolus them. Presumably, their goats are fine, but that sounds excessive.