Sheep and goats

[Clovers_Clan]

Goats are like potato chips... and sheep are like cheetos. And well I'm licking the orange off my fingers! I just brought home two baby doll lamb ewes to keep my Shetland ram lamb company. This year is my first foray into sheep. I know mineral needs are different. Those of you who raise both goats and sheep, what are other differences/similarities? De-worming protocols? Nutrition? Breeding/lambing?

[gone-a-milkin]

I am no help on your sheep questions, but congratulations on them.
Looks like you will have some nice colored fleeces to work with before too long.

[Woolieface]

I have Shetlands and goats. Goats are harder on fences, can be more obstinate and better at escaping areas than sheep. Sheep are...sheepish. At least most of them, in my experience.

Goats need quite a bit of copper but sheep should have none in their minerals. That is the main mineral difference. I use sheep mineral and copper bolus the goats.

My sheep are twice as hardy as my dairy goats and have had no trouble lambing or being great mothers. That is, at least in part, due to their breed being a primitive one versus an improved dairy producing animal.

I, personally use herbal wormer on both and dose them according to weight. The sheep, in all reality, probably need it less often than I give it to them, but I do both sheep and goats at the same times.

The sheep do fine with pasture alone but my dairy does need grain and alfalfa.

Both my sheep and goats are seasonal breeders so I'm always expecting the kids and lambs around the same time March through May.

The flock and the herd naturally segregate each other, even though they share the same space at least part of the time. Some of my goats downright dislike sheep, but I've never had any all out attack and injure one.

[cfuhrer]

My sister raised suffolks. I raised nubians.

They ran on the same pastures, ate the same grain mixes, got wormed the same at the same times.

We only separated when we turned the ram and buck in because they spent more time playing with each other than working.

Goats are escape artists, they like to find the hole in the fence. Sheep are buldozers, they create the hole in the fence.

[Woolieface]

Only my cranky ram has ever done the bulldozer thing. My ewes are content to stay within the confines of anything that looks remotely fence-like.

[mygoat]

They do share a lot of diseases so I'd suggest good biosecurity when bringing in either species.

[Agriculture]

In addition to all of the above, sheep are stupid and goats are smart. Sometimes too smart. Rams can often be aggressive toward humans. Bucks less so.