Sheep with chickens in an orchard question

Never had sheep, have raised plenty of cattle, pigs, chickens, turkeys.

Trying to find something to keep the grass short a small orchard. Currently have chickens but they can’t keep it down due to size of orchard (even though small)

A few questions for the experts:
Can sheep coexist with chickens fine?

Do you need pairs?

How much area do you need for them?  Trying to figure out if orchard is too small.

I don’t mind getting them, using to keep grass down and then butcher in the fall.  Not looking to keep over winter, or breed or do wool.  Would just do the same thing next year.

Sheep and chickens get along well together.  The chickens help keep the parasites and fly down in the sheep and the sheep seem to enjoy the chickens' company.  

Need to keep the henhouse apart from the sheep as the sheep rub on it and disturb the chooks.

Protecting the trees is the tricky part.  Some sheep like to eat bark, especially if they don't have sufficient minerals.  Also, some breeds are good at walking on their hind legs - so I would choose a modern breed that likes to stick close to the ground.

If you are getting locker lambs (sometimes called freezer lambs) where you buy some in the spring then slaughter them in fall/winter, then be sure to get at least two as sheep are flock animals and they don't do well alone.

You will need to fence or otherwise protect each and every tree if they are not big and old. young bark is a tasty nibble to sheep. Around here they say you can keep about 8 sheep per acre.

Have you considered geese or Muscovy ducks? Both graze and neither require a lot of water just enough to get their heads in, although they would like to be able to swim.

I knew goats would get to the trees, didn’t realize sheep would also.  We used to have ducks before, I’ll have to look into that again.

Thanks