by Brenda Nelson

Created on: January 25, 2010   Last Updated: January 26, 2010

You might think it is fairly easy to tell sheep and goats apart but you would be surprised to see how many people mistake some breeds of goats, such as the Angora, for sheep, or how may people mistake some breeds of sheep, such as the Barbado, for goats. So let us establish right off the start that not all sheep have wool, and not all goats have short coats.

The easiest, and most consistent, way of telling goats and sheep apart is from looking at their upper lip. Goats have solid upper lips. Sheep have a slip upper lip. Below are some other differences between goats and sheep.

-Goat Facts-

1.  Goats are browsers, while they will graze, they prefer to feed on shrubs, trees, and bushes.

2.  Most goats have tails that are short and stick up.

3.  Male goats, and some females, have beards.

4.  To butt heads goats often stand up on their hind legs and come down with their heads together.

5.  Goats have poor tolerances of rain, wind, and cold weather, and will often seek shelter.

6.  Goat nannies (mothers) will leave their kids (young) in groups while they go off to feed.

7.  t is not uncommon for some breeds of goats to have more than three kids at a time.

8.  Goats tend to climb fences, or anything available.

9.  Goats chew on just about everything and are known to eat things they should not.

10.  Goats have 60 Chromosomes.

-Sheep Facts-

1.  Sheep are grazers, while they will nibble on bushes, they prefer to eat from the ground, eating grasses and so on.

2.  Sheep have long tails, that are often docked. Naturally their tail would hang down to their hocks.

3.  Sheep do not have beards, although some hair sheep will grow manes.

4.  When butting heads, sheep back up a few steps and run towards each other.

5.  Sheep are fairly tolerant of all but the worst weather, and will seek shelter on sunny, hot, days.

6.  Ewes (mother sheep) keep their lambs with them while grazing.

7.  It is uncommon for sheep to have more than three lambs at a time.

8.  Sheep do not climb fences.

9.  Sheep generally do not eat things they should not.

10.  Sheep have 54 Chromosomes.

-Misconceptions about Differences-

You will want to note that some goats and some sheep both can have horns, so the presence, or lack, of horns does not indicate one from the other.

Hair and color also do not indicate if an animal is a goat or sheep. As mentioned above, some goats have long coats, and some sheep have very short coats, which are not woolly at all.  While goats are usually thought of as more colorful, some are solid white, and some breeds of sheep are quite colorful.

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