All that said, goats and sheep do have somewhat different needs.
Often, they are kept apart for this reason.
I’ll get into the specifics of that in a bit, but the simple answer is yes, goats and sheep will be fine together, and won’t harbor resentment.
At the same time, you’ve got to be sure you’re fully providing for the needs of both animals.
Do sheep get along with goats?
In terms of their basic nature, yes, they do get along.
Sheep and goats both are fairly docile, generally speaking, and shouldn’t have any need to bother each other.
They may even bond in some cases, but the thing to remember is that goats and sheep are actually not as closely related as you might think.
They’re in the same Bovidae family, and they’re both ruminants, but they’re of a different genus.
Sheep are Ovis, and goats Carpa.
This is enough for some considerable variation.
That said, they basically get on well with goats, but the big caveat is that as long as both their needs are comfortably met.
If either animal isn’t getting enough food, enough space, enough adequate socialization, then they could quickly become violent or aggressive.
As long as they have everything they need, though, both animals should get along just fine with one another.
But goats can have big, heavy horns—so it’s important to have an idea of their aggressiveness.
Are goats aggressive towards sheep?
Again, as long as they have everything they need, there’s no real reason a goat should be aggressive towards a sheep.
That said, goats are usually considered to be somewhat more aggressive than sheep.
If a goat’s needs are not fully met, it is much more likely to become aggressive towards the sheep than the other way around.
Beyond that, goats also tend to have greater variation in their temperament and disposition between individuals.
This means that you may well have a goat—almost certainly a male—who is more aggressive than others and simply won’t tolerate sheep.
If you don’t plan to breed your goats, then castrating males at an early age is a good idea.
This will reduce violent and aggressive tendencies, and make them more likely to get on with sheep.
In any case, what’s clear is that you need to be very careful when mixing them initially, especially if you have uncastrated males.
You’ll need to monitor them quite extensively at first, as a male could turn at any moment and begin attacking the sheep.
Given the bigger size of goat horns, this can be a real problem.
The simple answer is there is no one-size-fits-all answer.
Goats and sheep, in general, get along very well.
However, they also might not.
You should always exercise the utmost caution.
The final point is about how and when they are introduced to each other.
If they are raised from an early age together, they will bond, and probably struggle to even see any distinction between themselves and the sheep.
The final issue is about their actual needs—and this is the reason they are more often than not kept separate.
| Related Posts |
|---|
Can goats eat sheep food?
The simple answer is probably they can, but a sheep and a goat also have more variation in their dietary needs than you might expect.
While a goat, for the most part, will get along just fine eating sheep food, there are actually some minerals they cannot share.
Sheep, for instance, are highly sensitive to minerals like copper which are a key part of a goat’s diet. you won’t find many of the minerals that a goat needs in sheep feed.
So, while goats can eat sheep food without suffering any immediate ill effects, over time, they will start to show signs of nutrient deficiencies.
Do goats and sheep need to be separated?
For the reasons mentioned above, goats and sheep are often separated.
Convincing them to feed at different times and on different foods without interruption by the other is hard, and for this reason, practical more than safety, goats and sheep are often kept separated.
If you can find a way to get them to feed on different foods without bothering each other, then you can probably keep them together no problem.
So, the simple answer is yes, but it’s going to be a lot more complicated than just putting them all in the same pasture and feeding them the same food.
They have quite different needs, even in some cases to the point of endangering the health of one of the animals.
If you can avoid it, it would be the advice of many veteran herders not to keep the two species together.
That said, it’s not impossible if you’re willing to put in some extra work.