How to get goats and sheep in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch
Understand the benefits of mini animal ownership and how to care for them in The Sims 4
Want to know where to get mini goats and mini sheep in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch? The Sims 4 Horse Ranch adds more animal companions than the title might suggest, with mini goats and mini sheep an unexpected yet adorable first-time addition to the Sims' world. However, upon starting the game, it's not entirely obvious how to expand your fuzzy family to include these cute mini ruminants.
Read on below for everything you need to know about adopting goats and sheep in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch, including a few words on why you might want them (aside from the obvious) and how to take care of them once they arrive.
How to get goats and sheep in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch
Mini goats and mini sheep can be purchased via the Ranch Animal Exchange added with the Horse Ranch expansion. This service can be accessed in three ways while in Live Mode:
- Interact with a community notice board in Chestnut Ridge and select the "Call Ranch Animal Exchange" > "Buy Mini Goats & Mini Sheep" option
- Using your Sim's phone, select "Call Ranch Animal Exchange" under the "Home" menu and choose "Buy Mini Goats & Mini Sheep" from the options list
- After purchasing the Hay Now! Animal Feeder in Build Mode, click on it and select (you guessed it) "Call Ranch Animal Exchange" > "Buy Mini Goats & Mini Sheep"
From here you can select the animal you want to purchase, with a few different coat marking options for each species, as well as the ability to apply filters to show only one type of animal or the other.
Mini Goats cost §150 each, while Mini Sheep cost §400. Unlike horses there's no hard limit on how many goats and sheep you can have on your ranch, but eventually you will run into performance issues if you try to cram them into every available inch of space.
How mini goats and mini sheep work in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch
Unlike the titular horses, mini goats and sheep aren't considered family members in The Sims 4. If you have Cottage Living installed, you'll recognise goats and sheep as being similar to llamas, cows, and chickens from that expansion. The game treats them something like objects for many purposes, although they do obviously have a degree of autonomy and you can form relationships with them that will be tracked in your Sim's relationship panel.
As simpler animals than horses, goats and sheep don't have individual personalities, so you can't choose any traits for them beyond their basic physical appearance. They also don't require much care: a hay feeder is an essential purchase if you want to keep them well-fed, but otherwise they just need regular attention from human Sims to keep them happy.
Goats can be milked around once per day, while sheep need shearing about as frequently. If you also have Cottage Living installed this yields resources (milk and wool, respectively) which can be used in Sims' recipes or crafting products that call for them. Without Cottage Living, milk and wool are automatically sold for simoleons.
Befriended goats and sheep can be asked to help with the gardening using a special social interaction. Once recruited, sheep will eat weeds that can negatively impact the quality of garden-grown produce, while goats will eat insect pests if they appear on produce plants.
For more Sims 4 Horse Ranch guides, take a look at our page explaining how to find the secret cave in The Sims 4 Horse Ranch.