The Irish Farmer’s Journal has stumbled across an incredibly rare goat-sheep hybrid on a farm in Co. Kildare and no… we’re not kidding.
Mating between different animals isn’t that unheard of and the technical term is called ‘misdirected mating’, but producing healthy offspring from two different types of animal certainly is a rarity. That’s why this Kildare goat-sheep hybrid, or ‘geep’ as the Irish Farmer’s Journal is calling it, is such a big deal.
Speaking to the Irish Farmer’s Journal recently, the geep’s new owner, Paddy Murphy, said: “It had all the hallmarks of a goat. I knew a goat had gotten in among a few of the hoggets, I didn’t know what would turn out.
“They were all normal lambs apart from this fella. He looks like a goat, trapped in a lamb’s body, a Geep I think it’s called! He even has horns like a goat and he is very quick on his feet.
“He’s perfectly healthy and thriving away. He has been a great source of craic for the lads in the pub, we might even have a competition to name him.”
It’s great to hear that the little geep is “perfectly healthy and thriving away” given that hybrid animals are often born stillbirth or with sever physical disabilities.
Here’s to hoping the young geep doesn’t become a “nuisance” for Mr Murphy.
For more on this story make sure to check out page 10 of this week’s Irish Farmer’s Journal.
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