Chickens eating leftover Goat grain

[TiaView]

Frequently, my chickens will eat my goats organic grain (because the goats are sloppy) and I am wondering if that is ok. We have a few guinea hens, turkeys and ducks that do this, too. It can't hurt can it???

 

[Gerbil]

Ours eat it and they are still annoying and alive!

 

[TiaView]

Good to know.

 

[sammileah]

my chickens wait by the goats gate to go in and clean up. but my goat feed looks alot like scratch grain with additives. they also help keep the bugs down. i'm working on keeping them together.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

My chickens always stood underneath the sheep at the grain feeder when they could, too. They were always trying to be close enough to catch anything that dropped from their mouths, when the sheep came up for air, but not get stepped on in all the jostling at the feeder. Now that's a real chicken sport and not for the faint of heart! They never got hurt, so I didn't worry too much about it, but I think it would be bad if a chicken's foot got stepped on.

Our sheep and chickens used to be pastured together during the day. The chickens moved along with the sheep as they grazed and also rested with them, when they would lay down. They looked really sweet together.

It's better for spilled grain to go to chickens than rodents. I think people forget how much spilled grain and spilled leafy bits from hay have been eaten by all those old time chickens that were never fed on the homesteads. Maybe the people weren't feeding them much, but the livestock were!

 

[Ariel301]

It's fine for them. I make a homemade mix of grains that I feed to both my birds and my goats; any whole or cracked/crushed/rolled grains are fine for chickens--that's what "chicken feed" was back in the day before layer pellets.

 

[2dancingrats]

Mine grab any chance they get to eat the duck/goose feed. It hasn't cause a problem yet.