We used to keep a mixed flock of goats and Katahdin sheep. We got rid of the goats. The event that tipped us over the edge was when my wife was on a ladder trying to fix the gutters on the barn. One of the goats was watching her with a jaundiced eye. After she got to the top of the ladder and was leaning over trying to reach the loose gutter, the goat decided that was the perfect time to butt the ladder - attempted homicide of the shepherd.

But this was just the last event in a long line of offenses. There is a good reason why sheep are associated with righteousness and goats with wickedness in the Bible. Sheep treat each other with much more kindness than goats. When you feed grain to the sheep, the first sheep sees you, baa's, and the rest of the herd comes running. They jostle each other at the grain feeder but fundamentally everyone gets to eat. When you feed goats, on the other hand, the first goat who sees you will try to sneak into the barnyard without making a sound, the better to eat all the grain herself. If two (or more) goats see you, they will proceed to fight in order to decide who gets to eat first. They will do this every single day, without fail, the same fight over and over and over.

Sheep have a sociality. When it's time to leave the barn in the morning, everyone lines up single file, with the head ewe in front and the ram, if there is one, in the very back. The head ewe will take a few steps, stop, look and smell. Everyone behind her will stop and wait. She'll take a few more steps and repeat. The ram makes sure nobody gets left behind. Going a hundred yards into the pasture can take ten minutes.

We never found any sociality in goats. Sheep are members of a tribe. Goats are the ultimate individuals.