How do YOU keep goats out of chicken feed?

[Wild Chicken]

We just built a goat/chicken "palace" and thought that we had the two pretty well separated, but our sneaky little Chloe does any thing and everything to try to get to the chicken feed

We were just wondering how those of you that have goats and chickens in the same vicinity keep the chicken feed safe from the goats

 

[helmstead]

LOL I separated them entirely. Good luck!

 

[Chirpy]

I feel your frustration. We have our 2 Nigis sharing the chicken run but with separate housing than the chickens. I keep the chicken feed inside the coop. The goats are so small that it was a real challenge for us to keep them out. It became a challenge for my son and husband to beat the goats. It was goats 3 - guys 0 until they came up with this ugly but very effective solution:

Here's from the outside -

Here's the view from the inside (one side 2x4 board on the right was taken off but then put back on) -

There is normally a ramp they walk up to get into the coop (it was off for the picture). On the inside the chickens just jump up and duck down to get out. This solution has worked with zero goat admittance since it was put together last summer. The goats can't bend their bodies to make the 'turn' up and into the coop.

Good luck... goats are so much fun and such a challenge at times!

 

[karen71]

You can't keep them out of the feed- they are little devil's

Mine are together also - but I'm thinking of seperating them because the goats keep getting fatter and push the poor little chickens out of the way

 

[helmstead]

Quote:
But you must keep them out of the chicken feed, as chicken feed can be deadly to goats.

Best figure something out quickly!

 

[cutiepieacres]

I have free run chickens in the goat pen, I have a separate fenced in alley way in between the bucks and does incase a buck escapes his pen he still has another barrier. In the divide I also have water and a chicken house and the chickens go under or over the fence to get in where the goats cant so I just feed them in there, while I havent had an escaped buck as of yet the chickens have made good use of it.

 

[bheila]

My wether almost died from eating chicken food. You must separate them ASAP or sacrifice your goats and have some hefty vet bills. Trust me it's not fun to watch your goats suffer like that.

 

[Wild Chicken]

As of right now the chickens are still in their other coop, but when we lock the goats up at night in their section, in the night Chloe has somehow jumped the 3/4 door we have that separates the two areas, and there she is in the morning in the chicken area looking all cute and smug

And when the goats are wandering around with us during the day Chloe is a little houdini and wiggles her way into the old chicken coop and there she is in front of the chicken feed.....

Sooooo, before we have any problems when the chickens are moved to the new coop, I am trying to figure out how we are going to do this. I guess we're going to have to get pretty creative. Thanks Chirpy for being so helpful!!! And I'm going to do something such as you have done.....or I'm going to have to revamp the 3/4 door somehow.

 

[FlightsofFancy]

Quote:
Just did that!!! Not fun! We loved our chickens being housed with the goats, but NO MORE!!! I almost lost my brand new herd sire to chicken feed. He is still recovering. I am still not sure why some goats can eat the chicken feed and others get really sick, but it is not worth the gamble.

 

[PotterWatch]

Only way I have managed it is to keep them completely separate. Our chickens used to range around the yard, but when we got the goats, we couldn't keep them out of the coop and the feed. The chickens now have their own run, the goats can't get their feed and our grass isn't being ruined... good deal all around!