Ducks with goats? Ok? or BAD?

[chickenbuttsowhat]

i sold all my chickens and just kept my ducks and turkey pair. but me and my husband been working on turning out BIG chicken coop into a goat shed type thing and get goats i have another pen that i have my ducks in now for the summer but during the winter i would put EVERYONE together so they can keep eachother warm just incase power would go out and wont have the heating lamp. So now that the chickens are gone, when winter comes can i put my ducks with my goats so they can keep eachother warm?? i dont know if it matters what breed of goats i get but i want small dairy goats like Mininubian or Nigerian Dwarf.

 

[Amiga]

I know people often have different kinds of animals together in a barn to keep them all warm enough, but I don't have goats right now. Just an idea, have you posted to the goat forum?

Ducks are ground nesters as you know, would they get stepped on?

I would think you would need a little effort to introduce everyone so no one gets nervous.

 

[Raven Lane Farm]

I have goats and chickens, but just recently acquired some ducks. The chickens are fine with the goats (two nubian, three pygmy), but they do get stepped on if they don't pay attention. If you have larger ducks, you should be fine. I would not put call ducks in with the goats. I am not sure what kind of system you have for watering your goats, but the ducks will probably make a mess of the goat water. Also, if you put minerals out for your goats, the salt content could be bad for your ducks. My chickens are out during the day and share a paddock with the goats, but at night they stay in their coop and the goats sleep in their pen. Just some things to think about I guess. Hope it helps.

 

[chickenbuttsowhat]

kool thx they will be with muscovy ducks and i'll have my husband thing of something to put the salt black and stuff like that up where the goats can get it and the ducks can just making sure ducks wouldnt harm the goats health or soemthing like that

 

[LydiaB]

I have goats. I housed ducks with 2 of them for a while with no problems. I always hang my minerals on the wall. The main concern with housing ducks with goats is to make sure you have a waterer the ducks will not use for the goats. Otherwise the goats will not drink the water. I am planning on housing ducks with the goats again in the future, but right now they are in portable duck houses for the summer to save on bedding costs and labor. I am planning to have a pen for all the extra boys in with the bucks.
About the goats: Make sure you get TESTED goats, especialy since you are getting milk goats. They should be tested negative for Johnes, Brucellosis, CL and CAE. All but CAE can pass to humans through the milk, and the do not always pasteurize out. Johnes causes Crohns in humans. CAE is a pain to deal with, you have to bottle feed the kids and the positve goats can have arthritis symptoms. Our positive does not milk well, has a bad udder and won't get on a milk stand. If you socialize the kids properly, dam raised kids are a better friendly than bottle raised. Bottle babies see you as a source of food and treat you accordingly. landofhavilahfarm.com has good information on goats.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

seperate stalls are a MUST so the goats dont have free run of the duck feed as it wont be good for them at all. Also keeps goats from stepping on and laying on the ducks. We have ducks, goats, geese, chickens and guinea. They share pasture just fine, but no feeding one type of feed, and no letting the goats get to the others feed ever.

 

[chickenbuttsowhat]

i fig was planning to pull them out during feeding to cuz as soon as i throw the ducks feed down they have it gone with in a few mins lol and i'll hang up the goats water to make sure the ducks dont mess with it im going to make sure that i have everything right before i even think about getting the goats might not even get the goats until winter. ty for all the info

 

[veronicasmom]

I have two Nigerians. I would never let them live with my ducks or vice versa. Even my muscovies could get hurt by them when they get playing and roughhousing. The goats can get very rambunctious and don't watch where they are going. You could end up with a very badly hurt duck.
If you have enough room for them to roam around and the ducks can stay out of the way that is one thing, but to house them together is not a good idea at all. JMO

 

[LydiaB]

I have an Alpine and several Nubians. We have not had any problems with the goats hurting poultry. I forgot about the feeding part, but I had a very small opening for the ducks to get through to their food. With mini goats, if you have kids then it will be very hard to keep the kids out of the duck food. I would have a set time for them when the kids are busy doing something else (like after being locked up all night and then let out to nurse off their mom) or locked in a kid pen. The duck door would have to be as small as possible, but large enough for the ducks to get through.
My goats always look where they are going, they always stop before they hit anything, I trust them enough to let my 18 month old brother in with them, although he is always supervised closely.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

We feed all poultry and waterfowl first each morning. While they eat rounds to pools and water buckets and raised pens are made. By then they are all done, feeders are picked up and goats let out. it works well, keep everyone eating what they are suppose to as well.