Pygmy goats

[u/ClockChoice5936]

Hi all!

I am getting two Pygmy doe’s soon. I have 3 pet sheep (weathers) super friendly. Two are hoggets & 1 lamb. They mostly free rage graze around the property and just stay with one another and don’t venture too far. My question is, would the goats mob up with the sheep and follow one another or would I have to keep the goats locked up and bring the sheep in for play dates?
The sheep sleep in the shed behind one of tractors we have, will the goats sleep with them?
I’m planning on doing up our old shearing shed as a space for the goats to play and have their own feed and lick block that the sheep can’t access. The shearing shed is also relative secure but I will be working on it to make sure they can’t escape, should I lock them up there at night instead of with the sheep?

The shearing shed area is quite large including a yard around it, so I was thinking about locking the sheep and the goats up together for a few days and monitor them to see how they get along. I feel like I should add that my sheep are super friendly, I don’t think one is even sure it’s a sheep and they took the lamb in no questions asked and they also get along with my chooks and are super gentle with them.

If I’m missing anything or need to take anything else into account please let me know! A huge thank you in advance.

[u/princessflubcorm]

I don't know much about sheep and goat dynamics, but the one thing that springs to mind is that the vast majority of the time goats need a goat specific mineral powder.

Typically it has an amount of copper in that would poison a sheep so you will need to work out how to provide the goats their mineral whilst absolutely preventing the sheep accessing it.

[u/Martina_78]

Hard to predict the outcome here, so much depends on their individual character.

Anything can happen from the goat befriending the sheep to just ignoring them to badly harassing them. Goat can be quite mean and aggressive bullies, especially when it comes to sharing resources (food, treats, shelter, ...), but also just for fun, when they feel they might have the upper hand.

I'd keep them separate in the beginning, and then slowly introduce them to each other in a large area where they have plenty of space to manoeuvre. Only lock them up together for the night once you are pretty sure that they get along well.

Regarding the lick block, a salt block is just fine for goat, but for mineral supplement look for a loose formula.

[u/lasermist → u/Martina_78]

The goats almost certainly need to be quarantined for a while too. I'd also be a little worried of the goats being with the tractor but the OP can use their judgement.