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This past fall a cute dwarf Nubian male goat appeared on my farm from parts unknown, and was very taken with my ewes. So taken, in fact, that he actually mounted them - successfully. Yesterday one of my ewes gave birth to twins, but they were obviously by different fathers, because the female was 100% all white sheep but the male was much smaller, has black and brown markings on legs and face, floppy ears and goat-type facial bone structure. Sheep eyes.
Do I call him a geep or a shoat? Geep sounds insulting and doesn't appeal to me, since he is so adorable, and a shoat is a young pig... perhaps a buckram or a rambuck? I assume he will be like a mule and unable to sire young - too bad, since he is so very cute.
Once he is weaned, I wonder if he will be a grazer or a browser?
Have any of you heard of such a pairing before? And if the offspring is viable?
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If this little guy is a hybrid, you should be pleased! A live birth from these pairings are rare, as they are different genera & have different chromosomal pairings. "geep' term has been used for the birth from pairing embryonic material of goat & sheep.... so that should not be used for your cute guy!
Good luck with your little guy & monitor him, as these pairings can have reduced vitality...but there have been ones that are healthy....and of course will most likely be sterile (esp with the chromosomal difference... 60 vs 54 is something to overcome!)
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Any chance you could shoot me a photo? This is fascinating!
Here is the wiki on it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep%E2%80%93goat_hybrid
Dayna
www.E-Z-Caps.com
Dayna Robertson
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If it's a true hybrid, that could be your retirement geep. There's only been a handful known to ever survive birth.
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Since there is no real good name for your little guy, maybe you could make one up...
Something like mixing up their 2 genera names, goats belonging to Capra & sheep to Ovis, you could have an Ovra or a Capis....
or you could use the Hawaiian, goat - kao & sheep - hipa = " hio " (leaning) or "kapa" which has many meanings- including the well known cloth, but also to call or designate, a river bank or side, & a rustling/rattling like rain...
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ARe these Muflons? Or some similar word that I've heard co-workers talk about?
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OK I looked it up and now understand that the muflon are "wildsheep" that a coworker called a "goat" and that they breed with domesticated sheep- which is not the same thing you are talking about. Sorry about that.
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Thanks for the link, Dayna - it was interesting. Seems that the more usual pairing is ram with doe/nanny and my pairing is buck with ewe. And in French the result is 'Chabin'; in Spanish, 'Cabruno'. So that's the answer to my watchamacallit question. According to the article, the kid/lamb (kamb? lid?) is usually stillborn. My little guy is not as vigorous as his full sheep sister, but he is now 3 days old, so wish me luck folks.
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Ohhhh, keep us posted. Sounds wonderful. I love odd farm stuff!!!
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
I want to be the kind of woman that, when my feet
hit the floor each morning, the devil says
"Oh Crap, She's up!"
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Yes, Pam - you should be personally interested because the mom is the ewe I got from you - the one with the ear tag who had her tail docked too short. Remember? Her name is Daffodil.
My little guy is now 5 days old and is already 'boinging'. I took some photos but I'm having troubling downloading them. I'll keep trying so that I can share with all of you.
Do any of you know how I can find out how many chromosomes he has? i.e., if he is closer genetically to a sheep or a goat?
