Keeping Chickens & Goats together

[brahmakid11]

i have my goats in with my chickens and they do perfect together

proud owner of 38 chickens 6 rabbits 6 goats 1 peachick 2 cats 1 dog 2 hamsters 1 guinea pig 2 crabs and 14 fish

 

[Hawkeye95]

Quote:
I think you're right and for the most part, horses do keep coyotes away. My gelding killed one just a few years back- he ran it down and kept stomping on it until the body was mush. It was disgusting. I took the tractor and scooped up the body on the front loader and dumped it over the fence. Ick. But it depends on the character of the horse, too... I have a 31 yr old mare and two years ago she was attacked out in the back pasture in the middle of the night. We heard the screaming and ruckus and we ran out and shot at the coyotes. My mare was unharmed, but there were about 5 coyotes together, and they were leaping around her and trying to jump on her while she slept on the ground. They did pull on her tail. Now, she sleeps in her enclosed stall every night in the barn for her own safety. My gelding will kill anything that gets in the pasture, but he was unable to protect her that night. You just never know what is going to happen! Seriously, predators can be so unpredictable! But totally NOT flaming you!! I think my gelding is awesome at his 'job'.

But my other horses-- they don't do a darned thing! ha!!

 

[flyingtnh]

Quote:
I think you're right and for the most part, horses do keep coyotes away. My gelding killed one just a few years back- he ran it down and kept stomping on it until the body was mush. It was disgusting. I took the tractor and scooped up the body on the front loader and dumped it over the fence. Ick. But it depends on the character of the horse, too... I have a 31 yr old mare and two years ago she was attacked out in the back pasture in the middle of the night. We heard the screaming and ruckus and we ran out and shot at the coyotes. My mare was unharmed, but there were about 5 coyotes together, and they were leaping around her and trying to jump on her while she slept on the ground. They did pull on her tail. Now, she sleeps in her enclosed stall every night in the barn for her own safety. My gelding will kill anything that gets in the pasture, but he was unable to protect her that night. You just never know what is going to happen! Seriously, predators can be so unpredictable! But totally NOT flaming you!! I think my gelding is awesome at his 'job'.

But my other horses-- they don't do a darned thing! ha!!

Definitely this is horse dependent. Our Haflinger X gelding is a herd protector/watchdog, and will charge like a bull anything that seems aggressive in the paddock or pasture - nugget down, ears back - and will move between strange sounds (tarp snapping, branches falling, etc) and the QH gelding. Our QH is much more passive, and I think would be in a flee mode rather than fight with a large predator. Our goats are very new and getting used to their surroundings, so no read on them yet.

 

[wava1vaughn]

Keeping chickens and goats together isn't a problem but my Hershey really likes to eat Dobbies.

 

[flyingtnh]

Three nights later, the chickens have all figured out how to get in and out, and the goats haven't. I guess that's progress!

Next year's DP production crew arrives next week!

 

[farmboy22]

As long as the pasture is kept green and healthy you should have no problems concerning parasites or fighting. My goats do not bother with my chickens much but they sometimes approach the chickens and lower their heads as if to but the chicken they never do of course. The chickens do eat the goat poop, but I don't see how that is a problem because that is what they would eat in the wild. Hope this helps.

 

[farmboy22]

As long as the pasture is kept green and healthy you should have no problems concerning parasites or fighting. My goats do not bother with my chickens much but they sometimes approach the chickens and lower their heads as if to but the chicken they never do of course. The chickens do eat the goat poop, but I don't see how that is a problem because that is what they would eat in the wild. Hope this helps.

 

[katlovesaandw]

This is an old thread but I want to thank you guys!
I posted on a goat forum about this same thing and OMG!
We are longtime chicken and muscovy duck parents! HUGE pen, huge coop.
I want to get 2 mini goats as pets and we are wanting to house them in the chicken pen at night for security and let them have free range of our large fenced yard during day.
Chickens have free range of same yard Fri-Sun when I the daycare I run is closed.
IF we would need to get a seperate pen for goats, then we would......
Goats have their own house and feed area attached.

On the other forum, I was told my chickens had fleas and mites. They do not. They are treated and we have never seen them.
I was told that they would eat goat poop and get sick and die OR pass on stuff to us in their eggs. Sure, could happen but if they are all wormed and pest free....how is that different than our chickens eating bird/squirrel or other wild animal poop that could be in our yard on occasion.
I was told that if my goats ate chicken feed, they would die.
I was told that the goats would hurt the chickens or the chickens would hurt the goats.

And that ducks are extremely messy and DEFINITELY should not be housed with goats.
Needless to say.....I am no longer a member of that group as that is the 2nd time I was told EXTREME info. Before that....it was that feeding 2 mini's would cost me $75-100 a month or more.
Since then I have talked to several friends who also raise goats and learned more reasonable but healthy feed for mine that doesnt cost so much that I cannot afford them.

So, long story short.....whomever started this thread....THANK YOU! You guys have given me hope. We are housing them together to start with and go from there. We will see how it goes.

 

[lcammack]

We have two Nigerian Dwarf goats that live with our 24 hens very nicely. First goats should not eat chicken feed, it is like crack to them and they will bloat if they get to much. I would say that this is the biggest challenge to keeping goats with chickens. So just make sure that they cannot get to the chickens feed. We accomplished this by making the doors on the chicken coop as small as possible and placing them high enough off the ground so that the goats could not jump in. The chickens fly in just fine. I thought it important that the goats had their own house and that the chickens not be in it pooping in their hay and/or nesting in it. We hung a heavy rubber mat over the door and the goats just push through, but the chickens have not even attempted to see what is on the other side. Mini goats are pretty inexpensive ours have about 10,000 sq ft of pasture/browse and we only went through about 5 bales of hay in 9 months or so.

Chickens will happily eat goat poop. Which is nice because they keep the pasture clean. As long as the goats are healthy this is really not a problem. Our hens look great and lay very well. Maybe they get extra nutrients? Any way, good luck and best wishes.

As far as housing with ducks, just make sure the goats have fresh clean water. They can be a little picky about dirty water, and ducks love to make water dirty!

Any way, good luck and best wishes. It can be done, with a little ingenuity and persistence.

 

[EHook518]

I have two Pygoras that live with 9 hens. They are really good with them, except for the occasional mad dash around the pen which sends the chickens running back to their run. I had to get very creative to keep the goats out of the coop. I basically built a box with one side open, goats cannot bend their bodies around corners, and so far one only got through it once (after if had been installed for a while). When she got through and realized there was nothing there for her she never tried again. In order to keep the chickens out of their hay I had to build a new feeder. They were wasting so much hay by getting in there and kicking it out, and of course my goats won't eat ANYTHING that touches the ground! My chickens don't eat the goat poop at all. I have three young pullets that run to the goats for protection, sometimes they even jump on them to get away from one nasty hen. They also pick off hay and dirt off the goats, which helps me cause they are fiber goats. I just wish I could grow some bushes in their pen for some more shade but they wouldn't last a second.