The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: plumseverywhere on January 02, 2011, 09:30:13 am
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The goats are in about 3/4 of an acre of their own with electric strip to keep them in and it works really well. then there is quite a bit of spare, hilly land that graduates to our plum orchard. we let a neighbours sheep graze the whole lot when we first lived here (pre goats) and it worked really well.
there are a flock of about 70 sheep on the land next to ours and they are owned by someone who lives away from teh area but needs grazing.
If my goats are up to date with jabs, worming etc could it work if we let the farmer use our land too? they would be grazing up to the electric fence but seperate from my goats.
do you think my goats would be tempted to try and get in with the sheep?
the grass in the spare bit of land gets so long and its hard to harvest our plums but we are not able to electric fence it all as its very tricky hill land in places.
I am only concerned because the man who used to graze his sheep here said he'd be concerned for my goats if he had his sheep back on here.
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I'd be interested to know why he would be concerned for the goats. There is no reason why goats and sheep can't share a field, never mind grazing in next door to one another. Obviously, more animals increases the spread of worms etc, but you can treat for that, and they won't actually be sharing the same ground.
Obviously you need to abide by movement restrictions when the sheep are on your land. But I really can't see any huge issues with it.
Beth
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Thanks Beth :) it would be an ideal situation for us as we can't really enter into keeping a flock of sheep of our own currently (probably maxed out with our current animals/children/work) but that land needs grazing. I could literally just open the gate and the sheep would be in our field too.
I will have to ask why the other sheep owner said what he did, maybe he's erring on the side of extreme caution? I don't know.
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From a practical point of view, I can't see anything wrong in the idea.There are a few questions I would ask, though. For instance, are the sheep used to (and would they respect) electric fencing? Would he be bringing tups on in Autumn who might be interested in the goats, or is it just summer grazing? How long does he want the land for - make sure you have a proper agreement. In fact, I would find it very hard to let anyone else use my land but I appreciate what you said about needing it grazed and not having enough time.
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Thanks Katie. those are brilliant points and I will make sure to check before putting sheep on the land. I did mention it to Ben across the road too but I think he's plenty enough land of his own without wanting to use ours!
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My goats are next to my sheep (stock fencing), and even were to cattle this summer. No problems. Just make sure that the sheep respect the electric fence, are wormed and vaccinated. But I would also stress that you need to have a proper agreement in place.
Kids/lambs will sniff each other through the fence, it's quite funny when they try to work out what/who each other is!
My sheep lambed in the hayshed, which is in the goat field, and it was sectioned off with hurdles. One of my ewes was quite noisy when lambing, and the goats stood with their front legs up the hurdles to see the new arrival! Very cute!
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we keep our rams in with our goats in the summer with no problems. We thought that the rams would take over the goat houses but the goats always win. They seem to think the sheep are lesser mortals though ;D
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I have always mix grazed my livestock, cattle/sheep/goats with no problems. You will always have hierarchy and hopefully things will settle down quickly. However, sheep have such insulation from the electric fence if they touch it with their fleece and not their face. I would want to know when his sheep were last wormed, what about the health of his flock, what agreements you make regarding water/damages/escapees/time restrictions and notice for leaving which works both ways, not just for him ?
Perhaps you could get a few more goats of your own to put into that land? Geese love grazing and make good lawn mowers.
Good luck whatever you decide.
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What about some very nice bucket-trained Wiltshire Horn to go on your land? I know a very nice breeder... ;)
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Sounds perfect Katie. when can they move in?
come and have a look when you get chance, see if it looks suitable for your sheep :)