At their farm in Olmsted Falls, Ohio, Joe and Bridget Johnson have a hodgepodge of rescued animals and their young, including goats, sheep, a miniature donkey, and a miniature horse.
But a recent birth on the farm made the farming couple do a double-take.
“I thought I was crazy,” Joe Johnson told WJW News.
On Memorial Day, their 5-year-old adopted sheep named Ramona gave birth to her baby, Clara.
“He’s like, ‘Oh, Ramona had a baby,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, who is this?’” Bridget Johnson recalled. “‘That’s a goat, not a sheep.’”
Instead of mating with a ram named Russell, it appeared that Ramona had cosied up with Karev, a goat who shared the same black patch on its eye as Clara.
“Karev, he is a little bit of a player,” said Joe. “When you take into account all the factors, she looks more like a goat, she acts more like a goat, she sounds more like a goat. The sheep shearer came out and said, ‘she’s crossed with something,’ and then you look at a side-by-side and it’s hard to ignore.”
According to the Johnsons, Ramona had been hoping for a lamb for a while. She got a “kid” instead.
“She’s wanted to be a mom since the first couple months,” Bridget Johnson said. “We had goat babies the past seven years, and every year she tries to steal their babies.”
Goat-sheep hybrids, also known as “geeps,” are extraordinarily rare, and the possibility that Clara could be one sparked curiosity even beyond their town of Olmsted Falls.
“We want to solve this mystery not just for ourselves, but for all the friends, family, and neighbors who have followed Clara's journey,” Bridget Johnson wrote on her GoFundMe page.
“Texas A&M offers a specialized DNA test that checks chromosome levels to determine whether Clara is truly a geep or simply a sheep,” she explained. “The test is a significant expense for us, and while we love Clara regardless of her genetics and she will always have a happy home with us, the chance to uncover her true parentage would mean so much to everyone invested in her story.”
If Clara is a geep as suspected, it is remarkable that she made it past birth. Historically, most sheep-goat hybrids are almost always born stillborn, primarily due to a severe chromosomal mismatch between parents — as goats have 60 chromosomes and sheep have 54.
While geeps are extremely rare, they are not unheard of. In April 2022, a geep named Spring Rose was born on a Kentucky farm after a Nigerian Dwarf goat mated with a Babydoll sheep ram.
After DNA testing, Texas A&M confirmed that Spring Rose was a true goat-sheep hybrid — and a medical “miracle.”
“Even those that do make it to birth rarely live long. However, Spring Rose is thriving and growing well with 57 chromosomes. She shows all the signs of being able to live a long, healthy life,” Rebecca Sanderson, an expert in animal husbandry, reported in the Goat Journal
You may also like: This rescued sea turtle shocked scientists with its DNA results. After a 7-month recovery, he's returning to the ocean
Featured image: Bridget Johnson/GoFundMe
