Keeping the goats out of the chicken house

[helaineking]

I am raising 11 chickens (large fowl). I let them free range in the paddock almost all day. Around noon, I put them back in their hen house to eat grain, and then let them out in an hour or so. At night, they get locked up. My question is this. I also have 5 Nigerian Dwarf goats in the same paddock and they are crazy for chicken feed! Short of locking the doors to the coop all the time, how do I keep the silly goats out of the feed, and still give my birds access to their house? They aren't laying yet, but I see trouble in the future. Their nesting boxes are in the coop, and if the goats can get in there (which they can if the door is open so that the chickens can go in), they cause a disturbance and bump into the boxes.

Anyone else had this problem? And if so, how did you manage?

Greatly appreciate all help.

Elaine

 

[3KillerBs]

Can't you create a screen of some sort with spaces just large enough for the chickens to go through but too small for the goats to squeeze in?

 

[helaineking]

Good idea! I've been thinking of making a gate with three bars across it that the chickens could squeeze through, but the goats couldn't manage.

 

[donrae]

This is the challenge of goats with chickens. It's really hard to fence goats out from where they know there's something they love as much as chicken feed. I'm not sure on the particulars of your set up, but it's going to have to be sturdy, and something the goats also can't flip over to get inside. Good luck!

 

[helaineking]

Here's what I did today. I put up a wire gate over the opening to the hen house, so the chickens can go in and out (in theory...we'll see if they really can) and the goats will not be able to get in (again, in theory...they have been trying but so far, have had no luck). Also added wooden barriers on all three open sides of the screened in yard, to keep the goats from destroying the chicken wire by "scratching" themselves on it. Anyway, that's what THEY claimed they were doing, but I knew better. They were slowly stretching it out until it would break and they would be able to gorge on chicken crumbles. The barriers work really well.

 

[Wise Woman]

My Nigerians and my chickens share one shed as their house. My husband put picket fencing with a gate up on the goats side. I can lock them in there if I need to. Then on the chickens side, he put up 2 x 4 framing and cover that with aviary wire. We then have a people door that I can get in and out of. On the front of the shed, he then made a chicken door with a ramp. The chickens and go in and out, but the goats can't. I do find them sticking their heads in there once in a while to see if they can reach anything, but I keep all the food on the back side of the coop. It is hard to outfox goats, but it can be done.

These aren't the greatest pics but maybe they will give you an idea or two. Here is the coop looking in from the goat's side. The light shining in on the bottom right is the chicken door.




I keep their feeder at the back side of the coop so nosey goats can't get into it.



This is the goat's side. They can go in and out of the front door of the shed and in and out of their pen. We hope to put up plywood walls one day.

HTH!

 

[helaineking]

Thanks, Wise Woman! Very helpful pics! I'm glad I'm not the only one that is doing this. So far, the wire gate on the door to the house seems to be keeping the goats out. Unfortunately, it is also keeping the chickens out (or in, depending on what side of the gate they are on). I will have to tweak it a little more tomorrow. It's hard because I have large fowl (Orpies and Lorps) and they are almost as big as the Nigerians! LOL! They looked at the tiny hole I had cut in that gate for them and shook their tiny heads in dismay. Despite that, my herd queen, Chloe, STILL managed to get her head and one whole front leg through the hole. ARGH! She did give up, but it was obvious the hole could NOT be any larger than that.

Tomorrow, I will try raising the gate a little so that there is room underneath and maybe they will go under it and the goat won't be able to.

 

[mkeawsh]

Have tried everything - screening, small doorways etc. Everything that has been suggested but my little goat can squeeze herself into something as tiny as a bantam can get through. So, we are now making it narrow with a 90 degree tunnel to see if she won't be able to make the turn to get in. It actually has hindered the chickens wanting to even lay with having to keep the openings closed, so they have to fly up to get in the open chicken tractors.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

LOL, my little Pygmy goat can squeeze through anything. We used a bolt to secure the hen house pop door halfway down, so that our big Marans rooster really has to squeeze to make it through, and I STILL found the little beastie goat in there the other day. He's getting so round and fat on chicken feed, you wouldn't believe it. I like to have the goats in the chicken pasture because (knock on wood) we haven't lost a bird to a hawk since we got the goats two years ago. And usually we lose 6-8 chickens a year to hawks.

My current solution is to tie the little offender to a fence post each morning with a dog cable. I'm hoping other people here have some ideas.

 

[helaineking]

Well, one month later, and almost all of the chickens have learned how to manage the gate. I moved the feed as far away as possible from the opening (thanks Wise Woman for this idea) and otherwise, just let them figure it out themselves. Some of them will go through the hole in the gate. The really big ones fly over it.

My concern (although mine aren't laying yet - they're too young) was that they would not want to lay with the goats invading their private place. I think this will fix that problem. I have not had a single goat invasion since doing this. It's not perfect. I would like to put the gate up with hinges and a proper lock, but it is way better than having my goats sick from overeating on goat feed, and my chickens freaked out by having goats in their house.