multi-species herds: who, what, when

This from another farmer:

I have not integrated cows and goats yet (our breeder told us that was a bad idea) but now I’m learning that it’s not at all bad. Can I just throw them together? Or do I have to gradually introduce them to it? Thanks for helping me here.

We've run cows, sheep, and goats together with no problems.  Although we don't presently keep goats, both our cow herds include some sheep as well, and the species both like and benefit one another.  That's not to say there's no roughhousing, especially between ram and bull, but no harm done.  Individual animals vary, though, so when we add a new pasture mate, we keep our eyes open for a while to see if there's any trouble.  This is even more important if one/some of the animals has horns, others not (a circumstance to be attended to whether or not you are mixing species).

Note that the roughhousing can look pretty shrewd without being dangerous! Our pony sometimes gets in a butting/kicking match with the ram; the Dexter bull will sometimes toss the ram a good few feet when the mood takes him; and the ram can sometimes catch the bull looking the other way and get him on the run. You haven't lived till you've seen a 2,000# bull running from a ram that tips the scales at a meager 175#.

The smaller the flock/herd, and (it follows) the smaller the paddock, the more you want to be alert to shoving and pushing, because if someone gets shoved into the fence and knocks it down, you'll have animals on the loose.