Starting somewhere...

momof2 · #1 08/03/11, 12:52 PM

I really want to get goats now and I have been doing research for years. I don't have a pen nor the money to invest in a nice pen BUT I do have a VERY nice and large chicken yard. With a shelter on the side of the chickens house, could 2 small breed goats co-exist with my chickens? Their fencing is good and the yard is very big. If food and water were kept clean and away from the chicken's dirty mess would that be doable?

Alice In TX/MO · #2 08/03/11, 12:54 PM

The problem is the chicken feed. Goats should NOT eat chicken feed, which is often medicated.

Can you divide the area so that the goats can have their own space?

momof2 · #3 08/03/11, 12:58 PM

What if the chickens had their feed in their house that the goats couldn't get into? Also, I don't want the goats eating my chicken feed but would it be AWFUL if they got any layer crumbles by accident?

Alice In TX/MO · #4 08/03/11, 01:00 PM

Yes. It would be awful. They can bloat and die. Also, chicken feed contains meat/bone products that goats are not supposed to eat.

You might want to read here:
http://www.lifestyleblock.co.nz/vfor...ad.php?t=12940

Goats are VERY intelligent and clever and determined. They will go through a chicken door into the chicken house to get to the feed. MANY folks on this list have had goat health emergencies for just this reason.

momof2 · #5 08/03/11, 01:11 PM

So... IF there were a way to be sure that the goats were not going to eat the food... would it work?

I have a chain link very large backyard that they could spend time in during the day. Right now we toss chicken food on the ground of the chicken yard. It could be tossed into their house with a tiny little back door for the chickens that opens & closes while the goats are in a different yard.

I am just thinking. I really want to get them now but I have to find a way without spending $100's on fencing... that just won't happen. I have several nice shelters but not the fence... except the chicken's yard.

Thank you for your help too!

Oat Bucket Farm · #6 08/03/11, 01:39 PM

It will work fine if you can keep the goats away from the chicken food. Your chickens might lay some of their eggs in the goat hay if they can get to it. Our bucks used to share a pen with the chickens. They bucks had their house and the chickens had theirs.

suzyhomemaker09 · #7 08/03/11, 01:58 PM

If you don't have fencing to keep goats in then you shouldn't even consider bringing them home. Sorry if that sounds harsh...most of us have learned the hard way about keeping goats in an area...we all have different ways to do so.
It is said and is very true..that if it won't hold water it won't hold a goat.

Alice In TX/MO · #8 08/03/11, 02:03 PM

The only way I'd do it is if you can use cattle panels (which cost about $20 each) and T posts to SECURELY create a separate pen for the goats. That means they'd have to have a separate shelter, too.

Most goat disasters are from trying to cut corners, either on fencing, housing, feeding, or preventive health care.

Don't go into it cutting corners on purpose. It's not fair to the animals.

April · #9 08/03/11, 02:15 PM

On the other hand, you can get pretty creative. I'm building this kind of fence in little segments at a time to give my girls access to more of the woods that I don't yet have fenced properly. It's working pretty well.

Shelter can be as easy as cattle panels and a tarp. But they do need shelter.

momof2 · #10 08/03/11, 02:32 PM

Thank you all very much. I have a lot to still think about and consider. The cattle panels are a great idea! I can do that!

Catalytic · #11 08/04/11, 01:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by momof2

So... IF there were a way to be sure that the goats were not going to eat the food... would it work?

I have a chain link very large backyard that they could spend time in during the day. Right now we toss chicken food on the ground of the chicken yard. It could be tossed into their house with a tiny little back door for the chickens that opens & closes while the goats are in a different yard.

I am just thinking. I really want to get them now but I have to find a way without spending $100's on fencing... that just won't happen. I have several nice shelters but not the fence... except the chicken's yard.

Thank you for your help too!

Is the chain link yard also the chicken yard? Where in Alabama are you? Me personally, I'm considering sharing the coop with cows, but I wouldn't dream of it with goats. (Yes, I know cows can get bloat too, but I am on the verge of saying to heck with chickens, starting to think they are useless...) I'm confident if I build a stall for a cow in there that it isn't going to get into chicken feed, whereas I'm positive a goat will find a way.

mammabooh · #12 08/04/11, 07:08 AM

My chickens and goats share the same pasture, but they each have their own housing. The goat pen is in the barn and the chickens have a coop. I had to make the chicken door a LOT smaller (I think it is now about 5 1/2 inches by 5 1/2 inches) because the nigerian dwarf AND the lamancha/toggenburg cross could get in there.

During the heat of the day, all of the chickens and the goats hang out together in the cool barn. They all get along just fine.

momof2 · #13 08/04/11, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catalytic

Is the chain link yard also the chicken yard? Where in Alabama are you? Me personally, I'm considering sharing the coop with cows, but I wouldn't dream of it with goats. (Yes, I know cows can get bloat too, but I am on the verge of saying to heck with chickens, starting to think they are useless...) I'm confident if I build a stall for a cow in there that it isn't going to get into chicken feed, whereas I'm positive a goat will find a way.

Hey there. I am just north of Montgomery.

The chain link is just a fenced part of our backyard. It is huge and we don't use it as a "backyard". I thought the goats might be able to use that during the day some as a "pasture" area. The chicken yard is gigantic and goes back into the woods... goat heaven. I was thinking that maybe I could just feed the chickens their chicken feed when they are put up at night inside their house. The rest of the day they gets LOTS of veggie scraps and such... they are the compost pile. I was thinking of building a 3 sided shelter coming off of the side of the chicken house for the goats with their hay and water. I was thinking of feeding them outside of the chicken yard... like in the chainlink backyard or when they get milked.

I can do the cattle panels but I was just thinking that I have the space in that chicken yard and I could be using it better.

prairiedog · #14 08/04/11, 10:25 AM

The perimeter fencing of our goat pens and chicken pen is chain link. We have some cattle panels that make up the interior of the fencing as well as some dog kennel panels. We have full size Lamancha goats and use to have full size nubians. Never had a problem with them getting out at all. The bucks shared the chicken pen with their own shelter. The chicken food was fed in the chickens house so the goats could not get to it. The chickens did like to lay their eggs in the hay for the bucks but that was not a big problem.

Tallabred · #15 08/04/11, 10:30 AM

I have a friend who got the pallets that are twice as long as wide. I think that he put posts in and then painted it. It looks great. Uses it for horses.

motdaugrnds · #16 08/04/11, 12:18 PM

Good fencing for goats is a must "before" bringing them onto the place. Since you understand the need to keep the goats from getting access to your chicken's feed, then fencing is what needs to be concentrated on. It can be expensive depending on the size you want fenced. Using cow panels for a very large area is quite a bit more costly than using "woven" regular field fencing. Just make sure you keep the fending off the soil (about 6" above it); that your posts are solid in the ground (preferable below any freeze line) and are close enough to each other to keep the fencing from bending. (Goats are great climbers as well as good jumpers.)

Oat Bucket Farm · #17 08/04/11, 12:26 PM

Since you are going to put up a separate shelter for the goats, you can use two or three cattle panels to fence off a little chicken yard for the chickens to eat in. They will be able to walk through the squares of the panels out into the rest of the yard, but it will keep your goats from getting into the chicken food. It sounds like you would have room to do this.