Can a Male Goat & Female Sheep Reproduce?

Sheep and goats cohabitate but do not typically reproduce with each other.

Goats and sheep share many characteristics, but successful breeding between them is rare. Pregnancy is more likely to result from pairings between male sheep and female goats than male goats and female sheep. Most pregnancies end in spontaneous abortion.

Incompatibility

Goats and sheep differ genetically: Sheep have 54 chromosomes, and goats have 60 chromosomes. Embryos created from goat-sheep pairings fail to develop due to these chromosomal differences. It is also possible that the female's immune system rejects sperm from males of another species.

Male Goat, Female Sheep

Fertilization of sheep eggs with goat sperm rarely occurs because sheep egg cells reject goat sperm cells. When conception does take place, the product of fertilization (the zygote) does not survive beyond a few initial cell divisions. Artificial insemination of ewes with goat semen result in pregnancies that terminate between four and six weeks gestation.

Male Sheep, Female Goat

Female goats (does) can be impregnated by male sheep (rams), but these pregnancies spontaneously abort at eight weeks gestation. On rare occasions, a doe mated with a ram may maintain the pregnancy to term. In 1994, a goat-sheep hybrid was born in Botswana with 57 chromosomes.

References

• "Reproduction in Farm Animals"; B. Hafez, Elsyaed Saad Eldin Hafez; 2000
• "McDonald's Veterinary Endocrinology and Reproduction"; M.H. Pineda and Michael Patrick Dooley; 2003
• BBC News World Edition: "Funny Creature" toast of Botswana