I RAISED GOATS FOR A YEAR (and THIS surprised me) 🤯 Homesteading Farming Sheep Goat Comparison

Are you looking for a sheep vs goats comparison for your homestead ventures? A year ago I bought goats, thinking they would be pretty much the same as my sheep... and there were a few things that surprised me!

Are you looking for a sheep vs goats comparison for your homestead ventures? A year ago I bought goats, thinking they would be pretty much the same as my sheep. In this video I discuss some of the things that surprised me as I raised sheep and goats side by side. I talk about the differences between sheep and goats, how goats have an advantage over sheep, and how goats are at a disadvantage compared to sheep.

-the Shepherdess

0:00 Sheep vs Goats for Farming and Homesteading
0:58 Goat Advantages over Sheep
2:17 Goat Disadvantages over Sheep
4:58 Goats or Sheep, which is better for you?

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#sheep #farming #ranching
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About this Channel: This channel chronicles my journey as a sheep farmer from the very beginning. My primary occupation is in business management. In 2020, I discovered the principles of regenerative agriculture and embarked on a journey with the end goal of building a profitable small farm on 23 acres by 2027. Thank you for joining the journey!

[dobs]

The best description of why goats? I work in kitchens in a rural area and we were talking about goats, and a coworker walked by and said 'its hard to hate an animal that's always smiling".

[thesmiths]

Goat milk uses for my family: cajeta, ice-cream, eggnog, feta, mozzarella, potato soup, yogurt, kefir... also I give a modest amount to my dogs and cat, plus I leave a jar out on the counter to clabber for a few days and feed that to my chickens.
We don't raise pigs cause we eat Kosher animals, but lots of people use excess milk in growing pigs.

[TheKellyKelly]

We put molasses on the fence when we started goats in 5 strand polyrope and once they licked the energized fence they never messed with it again. Also it seems that the kids learned from the parents and never tested the fence either. One note though is that they seemed to know if the fence was off or low. It was a good indicator if they started looking like they were going to test the fence that your fence isn't operating correctly. So for us teach them that the fence is bad and keep it hot, keep enough food/water in the areas and knock on wood we never had any break outs in the 4 years we ran goats. We've decided to get back into them since I've retired from the military and the property we have in East Tennessee needs a lot of clearing to create pastures

[ram_diesel_power]

I’ve raised 100 plus katahdins. Now we raise Nubians and Lamanchas for milk. I enjoy the goats better. They have good personalities.

[WomenLivingTorah]

We raise katahdins, which are considered the ‘goats of sheep.’ They are excellent foragers and land clearers. Ours will clear the bottom levels of trees while there’s still perfectly good pasture around. We’ve had goats before, and we find that sheep are much easier to work with/contain! We also REALLY enjoy our katahdin sheep milk & meat! (In regard to the milk, consider how goat milk has a ‘particular taste’ compared to cow milk. IMO, cow milk has a ‘particular taste’ compared to sheep milk. Sheep milk is so smooth and creamy. Very delicious!!)

[niiaryeeankrah]

Love your insights even though I'm a goat lover over sheep and wished you'd delve more into the goat world. Incidentally, I do watch all your videos despite the heavy sheep rotation. I find them very informative.

[odin]

I crossbreed kiko and Spanish goats with nubians. The kiko in particular are very parasite resistant and much more independent. The result is larger offspring that are decent milk producers and meat producers but the key thing is the parasite resistance

[arccroses]

I have 16 Nigerian dwarf and Nubian/Kiko/ Nigerian crosses. I also have 6 Katahdin and cross sheep. 2 ewes, 2 ewe lambs and 2 males. The 2 males, 1 ram and 1 wether, are crossed with St Croix and some wool type sheep as they do not shed as well. I also have a breeding pair of lowline Angus cattle, waiting on a calf due soon. They each do their own thing when I let them all out together, from their individual pens, on our small acreage and they all eat different things. They keep the grass mowed and the wooded areas trimmed. I enjoy them all. I milk the goats and their raw milk is sweeter than any cows milk I've ever had, it also cured my daughter's lactose intolerance. It needs care and cleanliness to not get 'goaty' or skunked as I call it and cannot last more than a week raw before it gets that flavor. My experience is that the smaller goats are easier to keep contained and my does do not climb or jump as much as bigger breeds that I've had in the past. I've not had to do much for the sheep as far as health or worms, the goats have needed more medical attention over the years. Goats need monthly hoof trimming, more if the hooves are pale colored as they grow faster.

[smalltownshooter]

I'm in NE Texas as well. I attempted to run. Goats with my sheep, and containment was constantly an issue. I sold my goats because we favor the lamb meat.

[HoneyHollowHomestead]

🤣🤣Yes! I whole heartedly agree with you! Personality is hands down more fun! Yes, they ignore 2 strands of electric fence. I started out trying 5 strands of electric, but if there was a fault, they were through it. Got an LGD to run with them and now they just free range. I pen them up at night, but they are free to roam my very brushy and hilly property. They always return home to chew their cud and hang out.
I raise Kiko's (commercial), but I also have a Sanaan that I have crossed with a Kiko. I really like the combination, so far. Her first daughter born here is due to kid in about 2 or 3 weeks. Part of me regrets selling the buck I bred her to, but it was time for him to move on. We use the goat milk for my husband and I. I do buy half and half for my coffee, but I am hoping that the Kiko/Sanaan cross will produce a higher butter fat than the Sanaan. The extra milk, when I have it, is fed to the chickens.
I love my goats. Would like to raise some sheep for my freezer, but I haven't been able to do that, yet. I don't eat the S.A.D. anymore. I have gone carnivore and am doing very well on it.

[brandonm]

We raise Boer Goats at Lucky M Boer Goats here in Nebraska (we have a few videos here on youtube). Our circumstance is a little different as we are stuck without pasture in our living situation, ours are fat and happy so no attempted escapes and we have mainly just cattle panel fencing. Ours get alfalfa starting a month before kidding and then up to the last week or two before weaning to help slow milk production down. They're all on some level of grain as most of the herd is some level of registered show style stock. The rest of the year they get native prairie hay baled here on the farm. Depending on feed load you can almost guarantee some level of hoof trimming and the fact they will kill every tree you thought you liked. Subsequently they also will love you if you keep your Christmas tree fresh and then toss it to them afterwards. Our biggest challenge is management. I usually preach a good mineral program for the goats can be more important than the grain aspect, we like Duraferm concept aid Goat loose mineral and their protein tubs. Many issues with parasites, hooves etc can be directly linked to genetics. Our newest buck's hooves are much more sound and the trimming is less even with the grain load for maintenance he carries. Parasite resistance will also follow some blood lines. We copper regularly but we buy the bovine boluses for cost savings and then measure them out into a syringe with yogurt for a parfait and then we reduce them spitting them out. Also in our area we supplement Bo-Se for selenium based on our feed etc. Also our goats are very picky and I have a couple in a pen with some weeds in it and they won't even look at them.

Ultimately, the advantage to sheep is that you will have veterinarian support and product support for sheep at a multiple factor greater than goats. Most still see goats as $150 per head annoyance. Most products you will use will be off label for some other animal and you only learned that through a connection you made of other goat people.

[elijahsanders]

I have heard goat milk is great for cheese making because of it's high fat content. You can also do feta :D As a kid we had a female nubian named Baby and a companion mini pot belly goat named Dingle Berry :D We used a standard large sqaure woven wire fence, but Dingle Berry was a master escape artist and I think taught our milder mannered Baby to escape once in a while. I believe we fed them mostly hay/alfalfa, occasional oats or pellet feed(?), and some limited browsing of oak. We eventually got a really stinky male nubian, lol, that we kept seperated by a fence. Baby gave birth to 2 or 3 kids one year (which were adorable), and we enjoyed milking her by hand and drinking the milk :)

[kellyjogriffin]

The hoof issue is related to the copper. I find that giving a good goat mineral with adequate copper (even many goat minerals don't have enough) takes care of the problem. SweetIix Meat maker or Purina has a good one. But if you're running sheep and goats together you'll have to rely on boluses, which isn't as good as steady consumption..

[jeffery]

I had a couple goats years ago (very small scale) and just recently bought a 50 head herd of goats. Mostly dairy crosses. 75% are Nigerian Dwarf and I laughed out loud when you showed the two strand electric fence. ALL GOATS ARE ESCAPE ARTISTS.

[McRod-]

At Iron Quail Ranch we raise 100% New Zealand Kiko goats in Arizona. We use a 4 inch field fence around the perimeter of our ranch. The goats stay in a 115'x115' dry paddock during the dry/hot season (Apr-Aug). When monsoon rains green up the riparian we rotate the goats using 300' of electric netting fence along the permanent fence line.

Kikos are very intelligent and very hardy. We don't have copper, feet or worming issues, primarily because the dry arid environment. Kikos are a hands-off breed. Arizona is the copper state and there is sufficient copper additives naturally and in the supplemental feed used during the dry season. I rarely clip hooves as they will typically break off naturally. Sheep would not work here as we don't have sufficient pasture. Goats have no problem foraging through thorny vegetation. Goats also don't have a high water consumption. Maybe 1-2 gallons per day, per goat. This minimizes the amount of water hauling needed to get water to them. They are also very heat tolerant as long as they have shade. Temps here are currently 110°F+ everyday.

[barbarabrooks]

I raised Nigerians for 3 years. They were easy to raise and rarely lost any kids despite not being assisted. I didn't have any parasite problems. Electric fences don't work well on sand, so I divided 21 acres into 3 paddocks with field fence for goats. I have Post Oaks, Blackjack and Hickory trees which the goats eat. I find the grass grows better if it gets afternoon shade. I switched to Boer goats which I'm crossing with Spanish for better hardiness. I also plan to add a Kiko sire at some point. Meat goats bring a good price at the auction, while Nigerians are mostly pets. I like goat meat and goat milk, but I can't milk easily due to hand tremors so I'm sticking to meat goats. I would advise people to thin trees, but not clear them. The extra shade helps protect grass in the hot afternoons, and the goats prefer trees to pasture any day. I am interested in St. Croix or maybe Royal White sheep since they eat brush, but I am afraid the goats would bully them. In my case, it's better to have a sheep that's cheap to feed, even if it takes longer to reach 100#. I am slowly enriching my sandy soil. My goal is to get a mammoth donkey and some Amish farm equipment so I can spread compost, have a dump cart and plant cover crops. I watch Horse Progress Days videos, and it looks like the animal powered machinery with small engines is cheap and efficient. I would prefer a mammoth donkey because it eats the same food as goats, and is resistant to infections, even if it isn't quite as strong as a mule. However, it can be a struggle to keep donkeys from overeating. Thanks for your useful videos.

[TheFeralFarmgirl]

I started with sheep, and ended up with goats. They are a very challenging animal to keep. The saying goes, "if you can pour water through it, they can get out." But I love goats. They are my favorite animal now. (And this is coming from someone who DESPISED them at one time.)

[hellkatsanddogs]

I'm so glad we went with sheep for all of the reasons you outlined! I don't find sheep to be entirely unpersonable, they still keep me entertained and, so far, they are playing their role here flawlessly. Goats are too much trouble, and I already have my hands full!

[NaomiGMF]

I have nubian goats and love them. When young they are more energetic and escapy but don't stray far from the herd. Once they are moms they settle right down and don't cause trouble. Their personalities are wonderful and each is unique. I find goats to be similar in a lot of ways to dogs, very interactive. Goats are all about ROUTINE! I am glad you tried them and liked them.

[beerguypdx]

I see our neighbors' goats outside their fence all the time. Now I know how they get past the electric wires. They don't seem to wander far from their paddock but they sure are escape artists.