# goats and sheep



## mooshu

i have thought about getting a few sheep(jacob) and a few pygmy goats. can they be feed together, and will a buck of the oppsite species harrass the females when they are in heat?


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## mooshu

no body knows?


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## freemotion

No clue, just felt bad that no one has chimed in....yet!  If it they are like all other animals, it probably depends on the individuals and how much space you have for them, whether there are corners that someone can get trapped in, the individual personalities, etc.  Keep in mind that goats need copper and sheep don't so you will have to separate them so they have regular access to species-specific food.

I have had different animals kept together for years, and they do best with some time apart.  The chickens go into their coop at night (mostly...some are in the rafters....  ), the turkeys have their own space at night so they can fill up on grain (they are too slow compared to everyone else to get enough to eat, at least right now) and the goats have their own space.  I also have a couple of empty stalls that I can stick someone in if needed....the growing doeling gets fed in  there twice a day so she can get a little extra.

I find it to be a lot of fun.  Not an efficient system for a serious farm, but it works for me.


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## clarkai

Yes, sheep and goats will try to breed each other, and you can have a baby geep born. But most of the time the fetus will die before it's born because goats and sheep have different numbers of chromosomes. Yes, bucks and rams will harass and try to breed with does and ewes.

It really is best to keep them separate unless you have a lot of room, can make sure the goats are getting copper and the sheep aren't, and can assure that your does won't be breed by rams and your ewes won't be bred by bucks.


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## freemotion

It works every time! 

 clarkai!


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## big brown horse

thanks clarkai!


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## mooshu

:/  a geep, huh? well, i wondered but didn't think it would be possible. guess i should have guessed as with the chicken hybrids that happen. does anyone actually have a picture of a geep?


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## bibliophile birds

mooshu said:
			
		

> :/  a geep, huh? well, i wondered but didn't think it would be possible. guess i should have guessed as with the chicken hybrids that happen. does anyone actually have a picture of a geep?


according to Wikipedia, geeps cannot occur naturally as they are the fusion of two embryos, one sheep and one goat, making them a chimera rather than a hybrid. it goes on to say that actual goat-sheep hybrids are poorly documented. there apparently was a well-documented on in 2000 in Botswana (the Toast of Botswana), but that's about it.

i think these pictures are of the same geep...

this picture is kinda weird






but this one's kinda cute


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## clarkai

Well, if geep means the chimera rather than the hybrid, then I used the wrong term. It was the term we used on our farm, but it's easy to be wrong. Perhaps uncommon is not the right wording- extremely rare and improbable to have a live birth from a goat x sheep cross. Most often, these result in spontaneous abortions.


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## bibliophile birds

sorry, i wasn't trying to say you were wrong. i'd probably call them geeps too. i was just relaying info.


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## mooshu

wow, that's really weird. thanks for the pictures. the first one looks photo shopped, but the second is really too cute!


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## clarkai

bibliophile birds said:
			
		

> sorry, i wasn't trying to say you were wrong. i'd probably call them geeps too. i was just relaying info.


Ah, don't worry, I didn't mean to sound offended. It's just weird when I've used a word for years and then find out it's defined as something else.


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## L J

bibliophile birds said:


> according to Wikipedia, geeps cannot occur naturally as they are the fusion of two embryos, one sheep and one goat, making them a chimera rather than a hybrid. it goes on to say that actual goat-sheep hybrids are poorly documented. there apparently was a well-documented on in 2000 in Botswana (the Toast of Botswana), but that's about it.
> 
> i think these pictures are of the same geep...
> 
> this picture is kinda weird
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> but this one's kinda cute


HI There, New to the board and found this old thread. Hopefully someone sees it. Anyway, I do have a natural born Geep. His mother is a sheep and father is a goat.  There was a twin set, but the female did not survive longer than about an hour after birth. she was around 2 lbs. They were premature. the male who lived was about 5 lbs at birth. The mother did not want them, she had no interest in a weakling (male couldn't walk for hours, so we finally pulled him in to bottle feed and keep alive). 
 The female born was white, had lamb body w the super curly wool hair. She had a goat head/face w goat legs. The male, now named Sammy, is mostly brown, and his fur looks like goat hair, but if you feel closer, its all wool underneath.  He has a lamb face and goat looking legs, the back legs are mostly all white. 
I have done a ton of research and can find a couple possible examples, to include on born in Arizona this last spring. 
I contacted UC Davis vet school as they have  research lab. Hoping to get genetic testing done to prove what we know ( the sheep and billy goat were the only 2 animals in the pasture.)
Here is a pic of Sammy. Would love to find anyone who has seen this before, any advice etc. I grew up raising cows pigs and horses, but this is my first goat or sheep. (long long story on how I ended up w this cute fella) Now a month old.


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## SheepGirl

Do you have pics of the momma and dad?


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## mysunwolf

I love the idea of geeps but really look forward to any genetic testing results!


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## luvmypets




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## L J

SheepGirl said:


> Do you have pics of the momma and dad?


I made a thread just for the geep.. posted pics of both parents. 
http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/a-geep-yes-a-goat-sheep-hybrid.30609/


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## L J

mysunwolf said:


> I love the idea of geeps but really look forward to any genetic testing results!


 yes me too, I know some people probably think I'm crazy, including a couple local vets and the nearest vet school! unless it was a miraculous conception, or something jumped over a 6 foot chainlink fence- That BillyGoat is the dad lol.


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