Do Goats and Chickens get along?

[BlackBart]

mine did

 

[Harmony]

My little one (12 yrs old) has been beggin me for a 'pygmie' goat. I am building the 'taj mahal' of chicken runs..((at least as exhausted as I am it feels that way). Its approx 16 x 20 and I only have 6 chickens..
So can I put a mini goat in with them without issue?

Chickens and goats get along fine in a larger pen,.. but even with just goats that pen is a bit small. The biggest problem will be keeping the goats out of the chicken's feed (I say "goats" because a goat is a herd animal and it's best to keep a pair). Goats will over-eat the chicken feed and bloat (you can do a Google search for more information, or there have been posts here on the topic). I would build another pen, not to discourage you. Goats are a lot of fun, and can learn tricks just like dogs. In 4-H some of the dwarf goats are used for pack (with small dog soft packs), and even cart (though the smaller goats can't pull a person in one, just smaller loads). The chickens are great for keeping the flies down, by scratching through the manure,... just not in that small of an area.​

 

[allanimals21]

Goats need a goat friend. Be prepared to get two!

 

[Illia]

Quote:
And then when you find out that your goat can produce milk, cheese, and yogurt. . . Be prepared for five or so more.

To my experience, it can vary a little. My goats and chickens all share the same pasture, and the chickens share the goats' barn - But the goats are NOT allowed in the nesting room or the chickens' coop, or their own separate little run area, a sort of haven away from goats. . . Because although most of our goats may be quite the good girls - I have one that will try and eat any chicken around, especially blue ones, and the rest will do anything to get into the feed or try and climb up everything, usually causing a lot of damage.

 

[animalliker]

chickens and goats get together very well my cousins have them together and nothing has went wrong

 

[pardygwyn]

Goats and chickens especially appreciate each other at this time of year, when the flies are out and about. The goats attract them, then assume the position so the chickens can eat them.

I do agree with Harmony, you either need more space or separate pens. And at least two goats unless you like nonstop bleating...

 

[glenolam]

Hey, CT_Todd - I'm in Canterbury and I'm selling two of my pygmy doelings who are about 6 months old - if you are still interested PM me!

My 9 goats live with the chickens - the only issue I have is keeping the chicken feed separate and the poop in the goat house (I do have 2 separate houses, but the newer chickens prefer to sleep with the goats instead of with the other chickens).

Good luck!

 

[MysticScorpio82]

For those of you who have goats and chickens running together - are you housing them in the same building? If so how is that working out for you? What does your housing look like?

 

[pardygwyn]

Nope, not in the same house. My free-range chickens had a coop with a door that was too small for the goats to get in. The goats have various doghouses scattered around the property that didn't interest the chickens at all but were very protective for the goats in nasty weather (which is about the only time they'll go indoors anyway!). It worked well until the chickens started jumping my parameter fence and getting eaten by the neighborhood bobcat. I've since switched to ducks.

 

[glenolam]

I have two separate 8x12 buildings - one was the chicken house and the other was the goat house. The goat pen surrounded the chicken pen, and the goats wore down a section of fence so much I just cut it away, allowing the goats to have access to the chicken run and house. The goats don't really go into the house to sleep, they just go in there when they think there's food available (which, there isn't anymore since goats can NOT have chicken feed). Some of our newer chickens prefer to live in the goat house, and the problem I have is with chicken poop on the hay feeders. I have noticed that the chickens scratch at the goat house floor, trying to dig up worms and bugs, but I'm OK with that since they hopefully are eating anything growing under the hay on the floor like flies/fleas etc.

I feed my chickens in the yard and spread their feed around. My goats aren't allowed in my yard so the chickens are able to eat that way.