Cattle Vs. Goats Vs. Sheep: Why I Created My "Flerd"
If you have ever asked yourself what species of livestock are best for targeted grazing, you have just stepped into an ancient debate. A hundred years ago, cattlemen and sheep owners had range wars over this subject. People actually died! Fortunately, we became a bit more civilized when goats became a range management tool. Nobody I know has been shot over the issue. The decision to use cattle, sheep, goats, or a combination should be focused on the objective: What species will work best, and where?
I resisted combining sheep with my goat herd for a long time. I had three good reasons: Herd health, capital investment, and management challenges. My goat herd is blood tested for several diseases common in sheep and goats. Finding “clean” sheep took time. I finally found two breeders who blood tested their animals and had clean sheep. Of course, those sheep come at a premium price. I have invested over $10,000.00 dollars to make this targeted grazing herd improvement. Management of the two species can be difficult, too. The biggest management problem I wanted to avoid was shearing. So, I chose two breeds of sheep that don’t require shearing. Dorpers and Katahdins are considered hair sheep and shed annually.
The advantage of mixing sheep and goats is the different vegetation each species prefers to eat and when they eat it. When you put a mixed herd of sheep and goats in a new grazing set, the goats will start with the brush and other coarse vegetation that grows high. After that is gone, they start eating lower to the ground finishing with the forbs and lastly grasses. Sheep do the exact opposite, beginning with the lower growing grasses and forbs, then eating coarser vegetation growing higher off the ground last. This accelerates the grazing process because the sheep and goats are eating vegetation they each prefer and meet in the middle instead of being forced to eat what they don’t like at the end. I have seen the improvement since the introduction of sheep with grazing area looking more even and animals being finished significantly faster. I estimate a 15% to 20% decrease in the time a mix of sheep and goats spend in a grazing set. Time is money in any business.
Another plus for having some sheep available is their superiority as training animals for my herding dogs. Sheep bunch together rather than scatter as goats tend to do when worked with dogs. This is important as I always have to work with my dogs to improve their skills moving livestock and train young replacement dogs every four to five years.
Finally, a word on cattle. Cattle are wonderful mowing machines. Like sheep, they are grazers and prefer the low-growing grass and forbs. Cattle consume much more per unit than sheep or goats. They are ideal for reducing fuel loads on large open plains and pastures, but they tend to avoid steep, brush covered areas. They don't seem to like coarse, sticker-covered vegetation either. I've always felt mixing some goats with a cattle herd would make for a wonderfully managed range, but you would need improved fences to keep the goats contained.
So now I have a mixed herd of goats and a flock of sheep. A "Flerd" I suppose. I have been happy with the combination. The pros have outweighed the cons in the never ending challenge of operating a targeted grazing business in California.