Why separate sheep from goats?

I have heard(herd) a theological rule of thumb pertaining to the consumption of animals--Cloven hooves and cud chewing and all that. I think goats may not fit the bill and sheep may????? For me, as long as it isn't a rat or a snake and I have some Johnny's salt to put on it, I'll eat it.

Praise the creator of the universe for "Young Mountain Lamb Satays with Peanut Sauce, Sticky Rice and Artisan Pickles"--Now I am hungry. Hunger is more scientific than theological, I think(Yes--I am fat).

A Google search, Separating Sheep from Goats, brought up some answers based on the worlds perspective as well as the Bibles.

Very interesting.

I think you may be on to something with the grazing. Sheep graze low only while goats graze from low to high depending on what's available. In a low forage environment, it would make sense for a shepherd to separate the sheep from the goats in the morning in order to take the sheep to low growing forage and the goats to the higher stuff. This would roughly maximize the herd density.

Now I'm hoping for some confirmation from somebody who lives near that sort of grazing.

Goats graze from high to low. They will all so pick the more nutritious plants some of them no other animal will eat. Sheep tend to browse close to the ground. So close that they leave nothing for other grazing animals to feed on. Some times pulling up the roots in loose soils. That was the big complaint about sheep herders by the cattlemen in the early American West.

Congrats on getting it straight.

I think that it may be some thing to do with hormones. Put a group of goats with a group of sheep, and before you know it, in stead of the goats grazing the goats will be competing for their favours. Problems, problem etc.

Regards JD.

Sorry got my goats and rams mixed up. Goats milk gave me the clue.

Regards JD.

I voted you a GA for beating me to the cheese. I think that's about exactly the bottomline reason, all biblical references aside. The milk makes very different tasting cheeses. Goat cheese = Feta, while sheep cheese is more like mozzarella if I remember right (been a long while since I had some...).

To deter hanky x panky?

Sheep are good eats, goats are nasty tasting lil boogers.

most sensible answer i have seen. goats are territorial, the females as well as the males have horns and they use them. i could see the sheep being run off of all the good graze and beaten also. good answer yes, when sheep get excited and are run all of the time, they do not put on weight.

Goat manure has a bad smell and the sheep will not pick any where it is.

Run the Sheep in the pasture first the the goat behind them to eat the grabage weeds.

Sheep manure doesn't smell so great either....

In Fla. we fenced property then turned in pigs to clean out the rattle snakes then turned in goats to eat the excess folage and get rid of the sand fleas. The smell of goat manure will drive sand fleas out so the builders and workers don't get eat up with fleas or carry them home.

We had some good people quit a couple of projects when their wives kicked them out for bringing sand fleas home.

This is a Jewish Midrashic hinting back to passages in the Prophetic books, such as Ezekiel 36, in which the Lord talks about the leaders and people of Israel in terms of sheep and goats. The way that some animals butt into each other is the way that people who don't care about the helpless are acting. Out in the field, goats are more prone to butt into other animals and people (as have seen personally at family farms). Goats are more willing to go astray and climb up on hills away from the pens. Goats are a bit harder than sheep to shear for the wool. Goats are harder to keep herding and are also more irritating.

A big thank you to all who answered. I still don't have a definitive answer, but think it's one of these three:

grazing;

milking;

sexual

Now I can move on to something else that puzzles me - perhaps rugby (why do they all hug before beating the snot outta one another?)

Please be advised that both rugby teams enjoy going together to the pub afterwards for more bonding and drinking!

When I was in college, the rugby field was beside the physics building and I could watch them instead of paying attention to math. As near as I could tell, there were two gangs, distinguished by different color shirts. They's all get in a big circle and hug. Then they'd all fight for about two minutes. Then they'd all stop and drink beer. Then back to the big circle, and so on. This would last for hours, with the whole lot getting bloodier and drunker as the day wore on. I never actually saw any sort of ball but guessed they might use one if they were sober?

A goat is an escape artist.A goat is hard headed,obstinate and spiteful.It is nearly impossible to keep a goat contained in a fenced in area.If he ever learns to escape,you must kill him or he will teach all of the other animals to escape,including, but not limited to,cows,pigs,sheep,etc.

Sheep, on the other hand, are very easy to control, and a minimum of confinement enclosure is sufficient.

I know, I have been there,done that.

I think there is a philosophical parallel here.IMHO

I grew up on a sheep farm (merinos) and definitely no goats.

The 2 are very much the same and can mate. But they are actually miles apart . I think most cross breed are stillborn.

I found this article at Mr wiki http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep-goat_hybrid