Freeranging with cows??

[steffpeck]

We have about 4 acres of fenced pasture area that our Dexter's range on. We are thinking of moving our coop so that the pop doors enter into the fenced area so that the chickens can free-range in the pasture area also, instead of just their run. Is there any reason why this is not ok??

 

[miss_jayne]

i plan on doing this next spring with colored rangers and miniature cows.

cows and chickens (from what i read in Storeys guide on Raising Chickens) can go together.

this is just what we are going to do, i don't have any proof, YET!

 

[gritsar]

We lease our pastureland to a neighboring farmer because we don't have the time right now to raise our own cattle.
His cows drive me batty!

Most leave the chickens alone, but every time he gets a new bunch of heifers we always have those that just have to find out what a chicken and a chicken coop are.
Yesterday I found all my chickens cowering against the back wall of the pump house when three nosey cows had backed them up to. We intend to eventually fence off the acre where the coop is located to keep the cows out. In the meantime we are going to run an electric fence to keep the cows from terrorizing my chickens.
I would say just keep an eye out for the first couple of days. Once the cows get used to the chickens and vice versa, they should do fine.

 

[miss_jayne]

good points, gritsar! i am planning on putting mine out both as babies to grow up together and this will help me so much! not my topic, but helpful all around!

 

[Katy]

When I used to free-range my chickens, their favorite place to scratch around and eat was the cow lot......they loved cow pies!!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I gave one of the hens a fig the other day. She'd take a bite and then drop it in a cow pile, pick it up again and repeat. I had to remind her that wasn't a strawberry I gave her and that definitely wasn't chocolate she was dipping it in.

 

[mjdtexan]

Quote:
Thats funny right there.

We are going to get 3 cows in the spring. The plan is to raise 3, put 1 in the freezer, take 2 to market. Who knows how that is going to work out, as I am new to cows and chickens.

I had been reading that a lot of you let your flock out to free range 2 or 3 hours before night time. I am building the coop on the "not cow" side of the fence and the run too. I am going to put a "pop" door from the coop to the "cow" side of the fence to let the free range a couple hours a day on that side. I think its a good plan. I reckon we'll know in the spring.

I still have to fence the back pasture for the cattle. I will get it done in November. I have stray cows back there now.

 

[steffpeck]

Our chickens have gotten into the cow pasture before, and the cows don't seem to be bothered by them. I just wasn't sure if there were some health reasons why they shouldn't be together.

miss_jayne, what type of cows are you going to get?? Our Dexter's are small, and I just love them!! I will have to take some new pictures of them and post them. We have 5 cows, 2 heifer calfs & 1 bull. Next year we will have 5 new babies. I can't wait!!

 

[miss_jayne]

Quote:
we plan to get some mini's for meat. i think they are herford or dexters. i am drawing a blank!

i also want a jersey for milking. i think we will use two paddocks for them and the chickens will be with both.

i am jealous of your cow babies!!! ohhh! pictures!

 

[steffpeck]

If you got Dexter's, you could use them for both meat and milking. That is what we are doing. One of our calf's this year was bottle fed, and she thinks she is a dog, not much bigger than one either,

and we plan on using her for our milk cow. We will try to milk one of our momma cow's next year, but Jewel will be the best for a family milk cow. They are so much fun!!!