I have two nigerian dwarf wethers, and would like to possibly get a couple of babydoll sheep. My question is whether or not the goats and sheep can co-exist in the same shed and pasture. I feed my wethers grass hay and sweetlix 16:9 loose mineral. From what I hear, sheep shouldn't have the sweetlix because of the copper. If any of you out there have any words of wisdom, I'd love to hear from you!
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Everyone around me with guinea hogs has the same lines, but I know someone in Kentucky who also has them. Wonder if that would be convenient for you? We can discuss this privately, as Jabe probably isn't interested in pigs. :)
Maybe you can help me hook up with some of the guinea hog people from your list that you trust, so that I can find some others to buy from. If I can get one sex from you and one from somewhere else then I might can get started this year with them! I gotta get sweet ones like Julia, so they don't get eat! Or if you have breeders around you that would have them at the same time, maybe I can get them at once! I don't know what to do about this. I know that is the breed I want. I wish I could find some around here or between here and Nashville or close to there. I hope to be able to catch you with some when my son goes to visit his in-laws in Ill. But I gotta find a mate! I am trying to decide how many sows I should get to, to at least keep the dude happy! Do those guys get mean if they don't have a girl for you know...
Good point about the sulfur in our water. Makes me wonder about the others who have sheep with copper problems. I know one person with NDs and Shetlands who keeps the goat minerals available for her sheep all the time, but I know she has severe copper issues with her goats too. Someone should do a survey of people who have sheep that need extra copper to see if it's more breed-related or if it's totally related to copper antagonists like sulfur in the water. Admittedly, I mostly know people with primitive breeds, and the few modern sheep breeders I know have never had issues with copper, even though they live in my area. Would be interesting to know if they have sulfur in their water.
I have British Soay Sheep. They are one of the most primitive breeds of sheep and they are VERY sensitive to copper. Sheep do need copper but there is usually enough in the grass they eat. If you are going to use minerals I would suggest using sheep minerals for the sheep and goat minerals for the goats and find some way to keep them from the other's minerals. My friend has a problem with her sheep. At some point they ingested too much copper. They store the copper in their livers and when they get stressed the liver releases it into the blood stream and it kills them. Deborah has a situations where the sulfur in her water prevents copper uptake so she needs to give her sheep some extra copper. But unless you know you have a problem like this, I would definitely steer clear of extra copper for your sheep.
I know what you mean about having a hard time choosing a breed, Margaret!
I haven't heard anything about the Gulf Coast Natives and copper, so can't help you there.
As for pigs -- a lot of people do breed gilts back to their sire, especially when they're just planning to eat the results. We love our guinea hogs! They are such sweet animals. I'm on a guinea hog list, and I have heard of a very few that are not nice, but people are quick to butcher them and remove them from the gene pool. My Julia is a very sweet girl, even when she has babies. And the pork is really outstanding. I thought our Tamworth pork was good, but the guinea hogs got 'em beat. Plus they are lard hogs, so we get about 3X as much fat from them, which we can render into lard and use in cooking, baking, and making soap.
So Deborah since some of the shetlands need the copper and you think it is because the primitive breeds may have a different requirement, do you suppose there is a chance that the Gulf Coast Natives might also need the copper? I plan to get some sheep after I get more land and have seriously considered getting the GCNs. Since it gets so hot here and they are native to the coast, but on the ALBC list as critical, I would really like to be a part of saving the breed. There are lots of beautiful breeds out there but I can't seem to decide on any other one that I think would be as comfortable here. I really would love to get a few of the Guinea Hogs this year. But I want to find at least two reliable breeders first so I can get a couple of sows from one and a suitable mate from another. Only I have this question about that what do I do about the next generation? Do people breed the girls back to daddy or do I need to get a different one? Do you think I could possibly find one nice bred sow anywhere (that is VERY TAME)? That would be perfect! I really want my pigs, but I am so afraid of not being able to get mates for them! I am pretty sure that I could arrange transport from Il. later this year, but without mates, it would be a waste of money and effort!
I used to have a babydoll with my Shetlands, and I give my Shetlands some of the goat minerals because they were getting copper deficient. Sheep do need copper; they just don't need as much as goats. I put goat minerals out for the Shetlands for a few weeks three or four times a year. Having only one babydoll, however, I don't know much about their needs. After realizing my Shetlands needed more copper, I was surprised to find other Shetland breeders who said the same thing. Some of the primitive sheep breeds seem to need more copper than the modern breeds.
If your only goats are wethers, they probably don't need much copper because they have pretty zero demands on their body compared to breeding bucks and milkers. You could probably just put minerals out for a week every month or something like that. Or you could put the sheep and goats in a different place at night, and only have the minerals in the goat's shelter.
I have a friend that keeps her goat with her sheep, but she doesn't provide minerals either, and I wouldn't advise that. If I were going to try it, I think I would use a sheep safe mineral, and bolus for copper. (assuming that the other minerals levels in the sheep mineral were adequate) I don't personally have both.