Keeping Chickens & Goats together

[katlovesaandw]

Yep, goats will have their own house, their own food stations-both in pen with chickens and another out in yard, covered plus water....kept away from the chickens/ducks.

And we are working on a chicken ONLY sized door so the goats stay out of the chicken feed !

I figure it will take us a bit, because no matter how prepared we are for them.....we will have to make adjustments once they are here and living together.

 

[akfarmfamily]

I heard goats aren't supposed to like eating off the ground, but they will suck layer pellets out of the mud. I use it to my advantage and mix a little chick started in with Molly's Herbal and my finicky goat gobbles it up. It may not be good for them, but so far they seem fine even after getting into the house and sticking their nose into the feed bag! It really was the yogurt filled with egg shells that made me cringe when the goat gobbled it up.

 

[emmapal]

I have my goats and chickens together, and curious what is a good size/shape pop hole for the chickens to keep goats out of their space? I have a young Nigerian dwarf, polled, who is surprisingly snake like. I made a smaller door he can't get into, with 2 turns, but the chickens are struggling to fit through now. I have standard size birds, no one is very huge (RIR and black marans are my biggest hens).

Suggestions for other goat deterrents that the chickens can still use?

I hung the chicken feeder up high in their roost, so the goats leave that alone, but I built a new nest box and putting food in it to teach them where it is, but the little pygmy wriggles in and eats it! The chickens are scared to go in now.

 

[emmapal]

I heard goats aren't supposed to like eating off the ground, but they will suck layer pellets out of the mud.

Main reason goats shouldn't eat off the ground is worms (since they are browsers they are not as worm resistant as grazers and foragers who naturally eat nearer the ground), and diseases passed through manure like Johne's. Also, chickens fouling goat water can pass on other certain diseases. Since we house ours together, having raised feeders for the goats that the chickens cannot access (pvc gravity tube feeders for the goats attached to the fence so the birds cannot jump or perch near them, the chickens have the same thing but mounted high in their roost to keep the goats out), plus nipple waterers for the birds and larger nipple for the goats helps keep things more sanitary.

There are definitely pros and cons to keeping them together, but the cons can be minimized.

 

[4 the Birds]

Our goats and chickens get along fine. The goats actually work well to ward off some predators and they are VERY alert. You will for sure want to have a fortified coop and run. The run door will need to be designed with some type of structure to keep the goats out. Our full size Alpine/Nubians can go through any opening that their head and horns will fit through!! The chickens like to hang out in the goat shed and often lay eggs under the goat loafing bench. I cut a hole and flap in the goat house to access eggs since it was not fun crawling under the bench. Our goat/chicken pen is about 1 acre with 4 ft. no-climb horse fence and a strand of barb wire on top. Works great!





The run door structure to keep the goats out of the run!

 

[fat betty]

Putting chickens and grazing animals isn't a good idea the chickens poop is very toxic to them and can give them deadly diseases we had our male Nubian die because of that

 

[OkieMama87]

We are moving to a bigger piece of land soon and will be adding goats. I have been running the same "how to feed chickens and goats separately in the same pen" thing through my head for a couple weeks now. I have really only come up with one decent idea besides what others mentioned here. The small doggy door type option for chickens only works if your goats can't fit through it. We are planning on Nigerian Dwarfs or Pygmies so that option is pretty much out for us too. Here is my un-tested grand idea:


1. Screw a wide, shallow, metal feed pan to a piece of plywood, pallet, or some sort of stand not easily toppled over by goats.
2. Cover the top of the pan with chicken wire.
3. Stretch wire tight and attach to wood surface

This could solve the problem of food waste by chickens scratching and keep the goats out of the feed. I have a sneaking suspicion that goats may be able to easily tear through the chicken wire though. Maybe a heavier gauge wire with small holes like chicken wire, if you could find it. If not, several layers of strategically placed heavier gauge wire fencing with larger holes. I think it could work!

 

[TeaChick]

Hi!
I'm new to keeping chickens (Mar of last year), and we also want to get a goat.
We think we want to get a pregnant female, b/c we want her for milk.
We don't know much about keeping goats, so I thought I would get on some goat threads and see what information I could get from those with experience.
So, is there any advice for me looking for goats, what breed(s), what to look for, what to avoid, what to do before we get her???
Where to get one??? I live in the Deep South, I could go between middle GA and middle FL.
Thanks!

 

[TeaChick]

Our goats and chickens get along fine. The goats actually work well to ward off some predators and they are VERY alert. You will for sure want to have a fortified coop and run. The run door will need to be designed with some type of structure to keep the goats out. Our full size Alpine/Nubians can go through any opening that their head and horns will fit through!! The chickens like to hang out in the goat shed and often lay eggs under the goat loafing bench. I cut a hole and flap in the goat house to access eggs since it was not fun crawling under the bench. Our goat/chicken pen is about 1 acre with 4 ft. no-climb horse fence and a strand of barb wire on top. Works great!





The run door structure to keep the goats out of the run!

Thanks for sharing. This is good information!!!
I have chickens and we're looking to get a goat for milk.
I free range my chickens, so the goat(s) and chickens would have to co-exist, at least a little bit. =)

 

[TeaChick]

Putting chickens and grazing animals isn't a good idea the chickens poop is very toxic to them and can give them deadly diseases we had our male Nubian die because of that

Oh, now!!!
I'm so sorry for your loss!!!

Thank you for sharing this!!! =)