Goats and Sheep: How are they similar, and how are they different?
Yesterday, Cub Scouts came to visit to learn about goats and sheep.
I asked everyone to sit on the rocks in silence with their arms folded and just watch the animals.
All the goats came over to see the children. Where were the sheep? Everyone concluded that goats are more curious than sheep!
We shook a pail of feed and the sheep appeared.
All the goats were very eager to get a taste!
Physical Differences
| Goats | Sheep |
|---|---|
| Buck, Doe | Ram, Ewe |
| Tail up | Tail down |
| May have a beard | No beard |
| Hair not as wooly | Very wooly |
| Most have horns that are narrow | If horns are present, they are curled |
How are they similar:
Both are ruminants, mammals with 4 part stomachs, have divided hooves and don't like getting their feet wet
Behavioral Differences
| Goats | Sheep |
|---|---|
| are browsers, they eat leaves, twigs, vines. | are grazers, they eat grass and clover. |
| will seek shelter when raining | will stay out in the rain |
| will rear up and come down to butt heads | will back up and charge to butt heads |
| Goats are more independent. | Sheep have a stronger flocking instinct. |
| Goats are NOT sensitive to copper. | Sheep are sensitive to copper. |
Fiber Differences
Fiber Goats, called Pygoras, can be sheared twice a year.
After the animals are sheared, their fiber was sent to a mill to be processed. The brown wool roving is from Cody( sheep) and the white is from the 2 pygoras, Munchkin and Sundae. One sheep made twice as much roving as two goats.
To see the differences in the fibers, our scouts tested fiber samples, first by just gently pulling them apart with hand carders and then felting them with handmade soap and hot water.
We also tried samples of Jacob sheep.
Scouts used soap and hot water and found out that the wool felted better than the pygora fiber. The pygora fiber felt softer and was not oily. The sheep wool felt rougher and was oily.
They also enjoyed using the drum carder.
Just for fun, we made felted beads from dyed wool roving.
