It is common in many homes to see domesticated animals interacting together without any problem. Sheep can live with almost any domesticated animal including chickens without any problem. Mostly sheep and chickens do not compete for food which makes it normal to see these animals living together. The same can be said for animals like goats, cattle and cats, these animals can also live together with sheep.
While sheep and chickens can live together, there are some animals which are not recommended to be kept together like chickens and dogs. There are benefits and disadvantages as well of keeping animal species together which we shall discuss in this article.
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Can Sheep Cause Harm To Chickens
One may wonder if sheep can be dangerous to chickens when living together but as observed in many homes especially in the rural areas and farm set ups, sheep are harmless to chickens and other domestic animals. Sheep being herbivorous animals do not eat meat and therefore will never attack chickens for food. Their food is plant based but despite sharing some foods with chickens these animals tend to share same space well together. They may be cases where the sheep may chase chicken around but usually this is not serious issue to worry about. There are many benefits which sheep and chickens derive from living together which we are going to discuss below.
Benefits Of Sheep And Chickens Living Together
There are many advantages of sheep and chickens living together which we shall discuss.
- Control of parasites is the first benefit of having sheep and chickens live together. Sheep and chickens are both prone to parasites which are different though. Chickens can be very effective in going around sheep and picking sheep worms from sheep body. The owner will have light work in controlling these parasites that attach sheep resulting in various diseases. Chickens naturally like to go around scraping for these parasites even from plants and on the ground also making the environment safe for sheep.
- Keeping sheep and chickens together will help control diseases. This is particularly if the grazing area is a bit free and of large space. This prevent overcrowding and rapid disease spread between same animal species.
- The third advantage of having sheep and chickens live together is for protection from predators. The vulnerability of chickens compared to sheep is big in the presence of predators found around homes. Chickens are vulnerable from many predators and having them around large sheep herd makes them safe and protected from those predators like eagles or hawks, foxes and squirrels.
- You will also benefit from effective utilization of space by having them together.
We have seen that there are many advantages of having sheep and chickens together. However, there are some disadvantages of having these animals kept together which we also need to look at.
Challenges Of Having Sheep And Chickens Together
There are a lot of issues that may arise due to having both sheep and chickens together. Below are some of the issues that may arise.
- Sheep love grains a lot and they may get access to grains probably for your chickens. If sheep eat a lot of grains they may suffer from bloat. Particularly for grains there is likely to be competition between these animals.
- Another problem likely to affect your sheep is copper poisoning in case they eat chicken feed that has considerable amount of copper.
- The other disadvantage of keeping sheep and chickens together is risk of losing your eggs. Chickens may find their own egg-laying places around the yard and sheep may easily trod upon the eggs if they are not collected.
The issues highlighted above are some of the concerns which anyone intending to keep both chickens and sheep together should be aware of. Proper planning is required to avoid these issues.
What To Do When Keeping Sheep And Chickens Together
Having mentioned that sheep and chickens can live together, there are certain things that need to be done to avoid the above mentioned challenges of this kind of space sharing. Implementation of this measures will help by maximizing the benefits that may be derived from this animal rearing set up.
- If you consider feeding your chickens grains, you may need to provide an enclosure for your chickens where the sheep cannot have access to. This will ensure that sheep are not exposed to grain feed which is a risk factor for bloat in sheep.
- You may also need to provide an enclosure for your eggs to make sure that they are safe from being damaged by sheep.
- Avoid overgrazing of your pastures by rotation method. This also ensures better control and management of different parasites.
- Lastly make sure that you keep drinking water safe as this is the most common source of diseases
Is It Recommended To Keep Sheep And Chickens Together
From the discussions above, it is clear that there are many advantages of having sheep and chickens live together. From predator control to disease control, the owner may derive many benefits. Despite the disadvantages mentioned above, proper control measures may be put in place and make the most out of this space sharing arrangement. However, it is a personal choice for one to keep chickens and sheep together. Additionally, one may find it desirable to keep different animal species together besides sheep and chickens. Ruminants like cattle, sheep and goats are very easy to keep together. There is little work that is needed for these animals to be kept together as long grazing pastures are adequate. Ruminants and poultry are also found to be very easy to mix around.
Conclusion
Sheep and chickens can live together. These animals may also interact with many other domesticated animals without any problem. This can be a great way of sharing space and creating a very unique experience around a home. One can find many consultants around for effective ways of keeping different animal species together.
