Goat in the chicken coop... on purpose?!

[sarahc8]

Hello all! I am most likely getting a kid (goat) in the near future, and am thinking of wintering it (not sure of sex yet) in the chicken coop! We have a barn on the property, but I worry about the goat becoming lonely, and cold with no barnmates to keep it warm in the winter. My chicken coop on the other hand is well insulated and has a heatlamp for extra cold days... the coop measures appx. 9x13 ft and I currently have 1 Silkie rooster, A rouen hen and 5 ISA brown chicks. All my internet searches turn up articles on keeping goats OUT of the coop due to feed issues... my question is if anyone out there has helpful hints or tips on co-housing these guys, and how I could keep the animals noses in their own feed?

 

[sarahc8]

I should also mention the breed will be a pygmy goat, better for small spaces!

 

[judge]

We have two fainting goats and a mini pony that live in or chicken coop! Or coop is designed with the coop part on top and the run underneath.

 

[Stacykins]

For the sake of the goat's well being, please get two goats. Why? Goats are herd animals. Without a similar animal to herd with (another goat, sheep, alpaca, etc.) they will be miserable. Herd animals need that companionship, and humans are not a replacement for it. If you try and keep a herd animal singly, then the animal will be incredibly stressed out. Stress makes them more likely to fall ill.

Not to mention, if you try and keep a goat alone, you would need a pair of earplugs for yourself and anyone else in earshot. A lonely goat is LOUD. They herd call constantly. And it isn't a cute sound. It is a distressed screaming.

If you house the goats in your coop (I'd suggest building a new shelter, however. It doesn't have to be elaborate), you need to find out how to do several things. First, keeping goats out of chicken feed. Many a goat has gorged itself on chicken feed, gotten bloat, and died. How do you keep chickens and thus chicken poop out of the goat's food and water. I don't know about anyone else, but my chickens freaking LOVE getting into hay and mussing it up. Goats need hay, clean hay. Goats also need loose minerals to eat (mineral blocks do not provide enough trace minerals for them, if they rely on only a block, they will become deficient because they are getting mostly NaCl and not enough zinc, selenium, etc.), but they will not touch it if any poop has. Seriously, if a single goat raisin makes it into my mineral feeder, I have to change out the minerals completely before they'll touch it again.

 

[sarahc8]

I'd love to see pictures!

 

[sarahc8]

The goat will probably free range around the property... but the more i'm thinking about it, the more it sounds easier to just buy another goat so they can keep eachother warm in the barn- problem solved! lol... I can easily put a stall together... do goats really get outside in the winter? i'm in sk canada... and this year we had 20 ft snow drifts!!! no joke.... the barn was nicely snowed in all winter... i can clear a path to get in and out... but clearing the whole paddock?

 

[judge]

Our goats went outside. I cleared a path out of the chicken coop and if they wanted to go out they did. We are in Wisconsin and the snow got pretty deep here too at times. I don't know if they HAVE to go out though....?
Good Luck! We love our little guys even though they are a big challenge sometimes

 

[sarahc8]

lol I guess i'll clear a way out and they can decide... the coop and barn are about 100 ftt away from eachother... 50 ft away from the house... i am NOT looking forward to winter lol... i was lucky and the snow drifted in a way that left an empty space around my door... so i never had to shovel... but climbing down a 5 ft bank wasn't too fun lol

 

[akfarmfamily]

My town allows chickens now so I took the plunge and bought some laying hens. I had a cute chicken coop made from a plastic play structure inside a chain link dog run with a tarp over the top. It was a nice summer home, portable and cute, then I got goats and they kicked the chickens out and took over the house. So my temporary fix was to put up some higher roosts inside the corners of the fence under the tarp to give the girls a place to get away from the goats and quietly roost. The chickens returned the favor by laying eggs in the goats large feed bowl filled with hay. So I hoisted that off the ground about 3 feet and it became their new favorite nest box. I used some long and skinny handmade planter for the goat hay and the chickens have left it alone. I picked up some large dog houses (because we suddenly had three goats... it's amazing how they multiply.) I let the hens free range all day and they go to the high perch at night. I think my problem is that I leave the door open all the time so the animals always have access to each other. I used a mineral food dish attached up high by the perch so the chickens would always have access to layer pellets and oyster shells. I also throw layer pellets and scratch out on the ground when I let them out of the larger fence in the afternoon. I tether the goats in different sections of the yard and if they they are good (as in stay in our yard) I keep them off the leash. The chickens never go far. I have 4 laying hens on one side of the house and 16 chicks on the other side. I reclaimed the play yard for the baby chicks and they sleep in there at night and free range in the day as well. The other issue is the leftovers I give to the chickens. Timing and placement is much more difficult. If I leave the food out wild birds are attracted, if I put it in the fence the goats eat it. One of our goats will even eat the egg shells, so I now place the egg shells in with the oyster shells. I feel smaller amounts more often and sometimes directly from my hands, so I have very bold and tame chickens who follow me like puppies. We are building a chicken coop that will be goat proof, but it has been a great experience.