Hello, my name is Dennis. I am thinking about breeding sheep again. It has been 20 years. My questions are: can I graze sheep and goats together? Can I house them together? Can I keep a ram and a buck penned together? Thank you in advance....Dennis (Upstate Vermont).

I know that sheep and goats can be in the same pen and house. I have both in one pen and they eat the same hay and grains. I have to be careful about the minerals because the sheep can't have my goat's minerals (too much copper). But that's it - everything else is fine. Goats don't really graze - they browse...they WILL eat grass, but not if there are yummy weeds available instead.

The ram and buck together, I don't know. I don't own any - all of mine are female and I take them to be bred in the fall...

Sarah

 

When we had sheep, we kept the ram and buck separate. This was personal preference. I think the ram would be the more dominant and hurt the buck. Ours rammed us several times when he was with the ewes.

 

Rams and bucks together near breeding time when the testosterone kicks in and they start fighting can be lethal for the buck. They rear up before making their charge and the ram can hit them mid-section and kill them or do serious internal damage. My niece thought hers were fine together---seemed to get along fine all summer. Then, come October she saw the fight and had to bury the goat!