Goats/Sheep

[warthog]

I intend in time after lots of research to get a few sheep, they are certainly much easier to come by here than goats.

Does anyone here have sheep and goats together.

I do seem to remember reading or hearing someone say that sheep and goats can't be kept together.

 

[kimmyh]

The challenge in keeping goats and sheep together, is goats need feed that has copper in it, and copper can kill the sheep. Sheep can also carry ORF, which can be transmitted to goats, where it is called CL.

 

[Ninny]

So its not a good idea? I was thinking of having a mixed fiber flock.:/

 

[cmjust0]

The challenge in keeping goats and sheep together, is goats need feed that has copper in it, and copper can kill the sheep. Sheep can also carry ORF, which can be transmitted to goats, where it is called CL.

Orf and CL aren't the same thing. Orf (soremouth) is a parapox virus, whereas CL is cornyebacterium pseudotuberculosis.

Both soremouth and CL can be passed back and forth between sheep and goats, though, so it would be best to quarantine new sheep just the same as you'd quarantine new goats before bringing them into your existing herd.

 

[crazygoatlady]

I am not sure about the CL thing, but the copper issue is major--you will have to be sure your goats have copper or you will have lots of issues.

 

[crazygoatlady]

You could copper bolus the goats, but if it were me, I would not mix them. we are looking at sheep and fiber goats again, but everything will be separate. I would like angora rabbits again also, but my daughters say NO WAY IN H**L are we getting angora rabbits again. So I guess we will stick with sheep, fiber goats, and I am thinking a couple of alpacas.

 

[ksalvagno]

Got some nice fiber boys right here! I will have to get some pictures! How close to Ohio are you?

I think people still aren't completely looking at the milk angle of the goats. They still have to be pleasing to the eye to most people.

 

[ksalvagno]

Posted to the wrong thread. Sorry if my post makes no sense.

 

[cmjust0]

You could copper bolus the goats, but if it were me, I would not mix them. we are looking at sheep and fiber goats again, but everything will be separate.

Some people copper bolus sheep to control barberpole worms, if that tells you anything about the bioavailability of a copper oxide wire particle bolus to a ruminant animal..

I'm not saying the boluses are bad or anything like that -- we bolused our entire herd and saw some positive results...I'd do it again in a heartbeat -- but after having done it, I'm of the belief that occasional copper bolusing just isn't good way to manage copper in a herd of goats. Seems to me that they need a steady stream of copper in a high-bioavailability, such as copper sulfate or copper chelate in feed and mineral mixes.

Obviously, you can't let the sheep get into something with "goatworthy" levels of copper sulfate or copper chelate...hemolytic anemia -> death in a hurry.

That said, I agree with you overall... I wouldn't personally run sheep and goats together, if only for the differences in copper requirements.

 

[Ninny]

What about graining them in different places? The goats could sleep in one part of the barn and the sheep in another and graze together.