Noise makers

[Genipher]

We live in town and while we can legally have (one) goat or sheep, the goats (yes, plural!) were too loud for our neighbors and we had to return them asap. Now I'm wondering...would a sheep or two be as noisy as the goats? My daughter wants something with wool but I don't want to attempt anything if we're just going to have to turn around and return them due to noise. A "baaa" or two here and there isn't an issue. But if they were to bleat on and on and on like the goat kids did every time we left the yard...


So. My question: How noisy are lambs/sheep?

 

[bubba1358]

Depends. I have 3, and one of them is constantly jabbering at me whenever I'm visible. The other two are very quiet, and only bleat when I am carrying what they think is food.

Sheep are much more social than goats, though, and one would not do well in general. There would be loneliness and isolation issue to contend with....

 

[Genipher]

Oh yes, I would probably go against the city and get 2. I have no idea why they only allow one. Seems that would create more problems...When we got the goats I had 2 of them. We could have legally kept one and let the neighbors deal with the noise but I didn't want to create problems with the neighbors or isolate the goat.

So. Seems like the noise would depend on the sheep, eh?
And the one that jabbers at you...that's when you are visible? The goats we had were "yelling" whenever we were out of sight...Also, during the day a bit of noise would be fine (most of my neighbors are older ladies that are at work during the day...I'm a SAHM) it's the noise at night that I'm worried about. So are they fairly quiet at night?

 

[Ruus]

I think it probably depends on the sheep. I have one former bottle baby that still bleats at me if I'm outside but not paying her attention. She's a brat. The others only baa if they're scared of something, like the Evil Lawnmower of Doom, or the Neighbor's Scary Cows of Death.

I've never heard a peep out of any of them at night.

 

[SheepGirl]

My sheep are loud when I walk out the back door. They are anxious to be fed, even though they have a huge field of lush green grass

However, when I'm not out there, the only one I can hear bleat is Hank, my ram. He bleats at night...I can hear him through my bedroom window. My ewes don't bleat at all (that I can hear) when I'm not out there. Like I said, they only bleat when I'm walking out the back door, and still it's usually just 2-4 of them making noise. My two mature ewes don't make much noise at all, my one yearling ewe never shuts up, her twin sister talks occasionally, and my lambs all yell when they're running towards the gate. Once they're at the gate, though, they shut up and just enjoy me petting them and scratching them. Hank bleats the entire time until I feed him. Once he has his hay he no longer talks/yells at me.

I have found that when they are penned up/in a dry lot/dependent on you for their feed, they talk more, even when you're not out there. When they are more independent/in a field, they are a lot more quiet.

 

[Genipher]

As we would have to dry lot, I would assume they would be loud(er). sigh.

Oh, Ruus...your comment made me laugh out loud! And then I had this odd thought of a book written by sheep with the titles The Evil Lawnmower of Doom and it's sequel, The Neighbor's Scary Cows of Death. hehe. They could make really interesting kids books!

Now my mind is wandering on a tangent...has anyone ever thought of writing a how-to book from the animal's perspective?