I don't have a barn, but I do have a chicken coop that is more than large enough for my chickens. They spend their days free ranging in the fenced in yard and only go in the coop at night. If it rains, they go under the coop. So my question is, if I close off half of the coop and redo the fence so that it's more goat proof, would it make sense, is it possible, to keep the two nigerian dwarf goats I want to get in the coop, rather than building them their own shelter? It's a really BIG coop!
That sounds good to me ! they can keep each other warm in the winter. You may also want a separate milking area so that you can make sure your milk is clean I am not sure what you would use for that though? maybe a stanchon outside? Henry
As long as your goats can't get to the chicken feed then it should be okay. I learned this the hard way. I had my goat for 3 weeks and he kept getting into the coop to sleep with the chickens. I finally found out how he was getting out and put a stop to it. Then a few days later I noticed he wasn't feeling well. He had really bad diarrhea for 3 days, couldn't walk and wasn't eating. Fortunatley I was smart enough to give him 1/2 cup of Gatorade every 1-2 hours. I couldn't find a vet that could see him sooner than the 4 days that he was sick. On the 4th day he wasn't even pooping or peeing anymore. When we finally got him in to see a vet, they told me that goats digestive systems aren't made for chicken feed and it just sits in their gut and rots the stomach and intestinal lining. He said that if it wasn't for me giving him Gatorade he probably wouldn't have made it. So the vet gave him 5 shots and 2 antibiotics for me to give him at home. The next day he was a whole different goat. He was even trying to pull grass to eat it even though he was still too weak. Sorry to be so long winded, I just don't want this to happen to anyone else's goats. It was expensive and my poor goat suffered at the expense of me being uneducated. The
Our goats and chickens cohabitate, but the chickens have their own stall in the barn where I keep their feed and nest boxes. A) your goats will climb in the nest boxes, breaking the eggs B) chicken feed has a deadly calcium to phosphorus ratio for goats. Long term exposure in any sex of goat will lead to UC (even in does) along will copper and selenium issues. You MUST make sure the goats have NO access to chicken feed.
Thanks for the great info. If we do it this way we will build the goats a separate room in the coop. They'd have an access door to the outside and would be fenced away from the chickens. We've got more than enough room for the chickens we have and a few more so it really could work as long as we keep the goats out of the feed. I hope to milk someday though not necessarily right away. We will have to see what is available for goats when we are ready.
I have remodeled my coop so that my girls (3 nubians) have access to half of it. It originally had plywood up about 4 feet and chicken wire but after one day the goats had bent the wire trying to get to the chicken side so I totally enclosed the wall and it is much better chicken feed out of sight out of mind. I have a door for access to the goat side from inside the coop but be careful my hens love to play what does this door go to, and will get in with the goats when they can or get out of the run if they are given 1/2 a chance. My goats do not like the chickens in their pen!!
I gave my chickens access to the horse and goat barn. SO the chickens can get in and out but the goat can't. Works very well.
Quote:LOL, I don't think I could keep my chickens out of anywhere they wanted to be! They fly into the duck pens when they're closed. They fly up onto the deck rails. They fly over the garden fences. Once in a while I find a few in the front yard. Obviously I'm going to need better fences when I get my goats!
WOW, Glad I read this. My pigmy goats (2 of them) are in with my chickies. They do ALL climb in the house together. HOWEVER, I am moving the chick feed! TODAY! I did not know that about the chick feed not being good for them. Thanks for the advice!
