Will Goats protect chickens from Hawks?

[centrarchid]

That rooster was brave!!! So was the goat!

The question is, will goats be reliable?

 

[Jenessa_096]

The question is, will goats be reliable?

Exactly

 

[TheFatBlueCat]

Goats will do whatever they're in the mood to do. Sometimes that might be protecting the chickens but probably more often it will be sitting on the roof or attempting to open the gates or being out of the pen sitting on top of your car roof. What about a guard goose?

 

[cmom]

Sucks and chickens should not be together. A male duck can kill your hens if it tries to mate with is. Their penis will pull their insides out!

 

[McChooky]

Chickens will pick and pull feathers out when crowded.Ducks need to be able to dunk their heads in water to clean their bills.They can't use the same type of feeders or waterers. Ducks are more resistant to diseases and have water proof feathers.Chickens don't have waterproof feathers and will get sick from damp bedding .Its a nightmare sorry! They need different coops to avoid issues.

 

[Sunshine_Amy]

My neighbor keeps chickens and goats in a Premier 1 fence, no net over it, and claims the goats keep the hawks away.

 

[McChooky]

The last thing I need is another mouth to feed .Goats can eat 7-9 lbs of feed a day (thats equivalent to about 2 whole chickens)

 

[U_Stormcrow]

My flock is in my Sig, below. I have goats, chickens, ducks. All in the same space. I have no reason to disbelieve the claims about male ducks attempting to mate chickens, but that has not been my experience.

NO, goats will NOT protect chickens from aerial predation. Goats are largely unaware of / oblivious to anything more than a handful of feet above their heads. They **may** help with ground predators, depending on the predator in question, if only by warning others.

The species operate largely independent of one another, except that when one "flock" alerts on a predator and spreads the alarm, all of animals follow suit, regardless of species.