Goats and chickens together

[1stChickenEva]

My goats and chickens share an outdoor space door space. Should I be worried about the amount of goat poo that my chickens are scratching through?

 

[Ridgerunner]

No. Chickens have been scratching through animal poo for thousands of years, it is a good source of nutrition. Either from bits that pass through partially digested or the critters that live and breed in the poo.

Goats are highly unlikely to carry any diseases that affect fowl, different animal types. Some parasites like worms could be an issue but if your goats have them they are in your environment and the chickens will get them even if you keep them separated. Just treat if you need to.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

See my Sig. I keep both together. As @Ridgerunner wisely observes above, apart from a few type of worms, Goats and Chickens basically don't share parasites. No issues there. They can share water, too.

The biggest issue is that goats REALLY like chicken feed, and if they eat too much it is both expensive (you would be surprised how much a goat can eat) and potentially dangerous to the goat. They can get bloat, something they generally can't fix on their own, potentially fatal. I have a few young goats that try it from time to time - no critical medical events (yet) - but I go to considerable effort to feed them apart from one another. Acidosis from high grain intake too, but assuming you free range your goats on forage/pasture, they shouldn't take in enough grain from chicken feed to run this particular risk.

Goat feed, otoh, is far too low in protein, high in fiber to support a chickens needs and has too much copper for essentially anything but another goat. Your chickens will pick up what the goats drop - don't panic. Also, don't feed your chickens exclusively goat feed.

and in a pinch, you may be tempted to feed your animals "12% all stock" - 12% protein is, after all, the typical protein content of a goat feed, and the fiber is good for them. Don't. As indicated above, its terrible feed for chickens, and it lacks the copper that the goats desperately need. First signs are a dull, wire-y coat, lethargy, a "fish tail" look to their tail, then reduced disease resistance, reduced fertility, hair loss (top of head, around the eyes particularly). The cost of a good goat mineral greatly exceeds the cost savings of offing a "stock feed" instead of a good goat feed in most instances.

Also, if you have a wet/humid climate, the goat mineral tends to clump (and stain anything not hard black plastic or rubber).


Hope that helps some!

 

[1stChickenEva]

See my Sig. I keep both together. As @Ridgerunner wisely observes above, apart from a few type of worms, Goats and Chickens basically don't share parasites. No issues there. They can share water, too.

The biggest issue is that goats REALLY like chicken feed, and if they eat too much it is both expensive (you would be surprised how much a goat can eat) and potentially dangerous to the goat. They can get bloat, something they generally can't fix on their own, potentially fatal. I have a few young goats that try it from time to time - no critical medical events (yet) - but I go to considerable effort to feed them apart from one another. Acidosis from high grain intake too, but assuming you free range your goats on forage/pasture, they shouldn't take in enough grain from chicken feed to run this particular risk.

Goat feed, otoh, is far too low in protein, high in fiber to support a chickens needs and has too much copper for essentially anything but another goat. Your chickens will pick up what the goats drop - don't panic. Also, don't feed your chickens exclusively goat feed.

and in a pinch, you may be tempted to feed your animals "12% all stock" - 12% protein is, after all, the typical protein content of a goat feed, and the fiber is good for them. Don't. As indicated above, its terrible feed for chickens, and it lacks the copper that the goats desperately need. First signs are a dull, wire-y coat, lethargy, a "fish tail" look to their tail, then reduced disease resistance, reduced fertility, hair loss (top of head, around the eyes particularly). The cost of a good goat mineral greatly exceeds the cost savings of offing a "stock feed" instead of a good goat feed in most instances.

Also, if you have a wet/humid climate, the goat mineral tends to clump (and stain anything not hard black plastic or rubber).


Hope that helps some!

Thank you for your reply. This definitely makes me feel better about them sharing their out door space. I do feed the chickens their feed separately mostly because I did notice the goats are hogs and apparently love chicken feed. We received the goats from someone who couldn’t care for them anymore and we did notice their fur was terrible but it is so much better now. Thank you again

 

[1stChickenEva]

No. Chickens have been scratching through animal poo for thousands of years, it is a good source of nutrition. Either from bits that pass through partially digested or the critters that live and breed in the poo.

Goats are highly unlikely to carry any diseases that affect fowl, different animal types. Some parasites like worms could be an issue but if your goats have them they are in your environment and the chickens will get them even if you keep them separated. Just treat if you need to.

Thank you for responding this makes me feel better about having them share their space. I do have 3 cow pastures that they will eventually be able to enjoy but I don’t have proper fencing yet