Out of curiosity how many of you keep sheep & goats together? & how well does it work? As I’m considering a couple of Pygmy’s or Boers to live with my tup at certain times of the year.
We used to have a Saenann nanny & a couple of her kids for several years & I know that unlike sheep their browsers, not grazers & they need shelter & don’t like the rain & can be pretty destructive & naughty. They’d be kept predominantly in apple orchards adjacent to our barns. I don’t want a dairy breed as I don’t have the time to commit to it at present & unless I start making goats cheese which I love, but I can’t really see myself bothering to learn. I have tried goat meat a couple of times which I can’t really say I’m 100% sold on unless others can convince me. As I wouldn’t have a problem sending the odd 1 for meat. But they’d mainly be used for clearing areas with overgrown plants & trees & hedges that the sheep don’t bother with. I’m open to a couple of nannies & a billy or a couple of nannies & castrated billies.
So convince me or otherwise - I’d be thinking 3-4, do they need much supplementary food throughout the year? & can you feed them sheep mix? The sheep are native breeds & are mostly on grass with the exception of being late in lamb & when with lambs at foot. We do have a few weaned lambs he can go back with for a bit if need be though.