Goats and cattle together?

HillRunner · #1 01/30/12, 12:38 PM

I was wondering if you could run goats and cattle together? Is there needs that would make it not worth running them together?

Alice In TX/MO · #2 01/30/12, 12:50 PM

Not a problem, but make sure the fences will keep the goats in. They are more likely to escape.

6e · #3 01/30/12, 12:53 PM

We run our goats and cows together. Not usually a problem, but we did have a problem this year. Our one calf is a little skittish about things around her back feet. Well, when our doe had babies, when I tried to turn her and her babies out to pasture, they weren't wise enough to stay out from under the cows feet and one baby got rolled across the ground after she got under the calves feet and she freaked out. So mama goat and babies are now in a pen by themselves. So, I guess in some instances, it doesn't work so well.

ozark_jewels · #4 01/30/12, 01:16 PM

Cows and goats in the same pasture works great, just watch to start with to be sure you don't have any goat-hating cows(only ever met one myself). Our cows and goats share the same pasture and have for years. Do not let them share the same barn though. The size difference is just too big to take a chance. We had a neighbors bull get into our goat barn one day and he stepped on and crushed a three day old doeling. Cows are bigger and stronger than they know. All we do to keep cows out of the goat barn is to nail a board chest high on a cow across the door. Goats go under, cows do not. Cows usually do not need a barn.

KnowOneSpecial · #5 01/30/12, 01:34 PM

I have our cow in with our 5 goats. They act fine together, but I have a feeling that once my back is turned they're dope slapping each other and trying to act like siblings.....

Hollowdweller · #6 01/30/12, 04:47 PM

Just watch out for Johnes disease.

My friend took on a bunch of holstein bull babies to feed milk to and sell and wound up infecting his sheep and beef cattle.

jcgoldie · #7 01/30/12, 06:41 PM

Cows and goats are really ideal to pasture together because cows are grazers and goats are browsers. The cows keep the grass mowed and the goats keep the fencelines cleared and the ditches clean and the trees trimmed.

I do agree with ozark jewels about the barn however. Cows can crush a goat against a fence or stall wall in close quarters without even trying to. My goats and cow have separate stalls. I like the idea about the chest high board.

boiledfrog · #8 01/30/12, 07:07 PM

We rent the pasture out to a neighbor who runs wild beef cattle. Half the time they are out on the desert. One time my goats went hunting me. I was all the way across the property. The whole herd decided to trample my goats. It did not bother the goats at all. I watched them walk across the property, basically ignoring all the cattle's efforts. After a while it was just funny.

wintrrwolf · #9 01/30/12, 07:42 PM

I moved to this place and landlord has cows here. My goats wanted nothing to do with the cows and freaked out when one came close to them. So guess it depends if the goats are used to cows. Now the cows seemed interested in my goats, but I personally would never feel comfortable leaving even my largest goats in with these huge bovines.

jcgoldie · #10 01/31/12, 11:18 AM

My goatees love my cow Weezy. They follow her all around the pasture like she's the biggest goat. They try to sneak closer and closer to her while she's grazing. Sometimes she gets fed up with them though and chases them off. They are quicker than her though, but as I said I wouldnt trust them in closed quarters together.

saanengirl · #11 02/01/12, 08:57 AM

Cows and goats do fine together, but the goats need a place to escape from the cows (chest high board idea). This place is where you will give the goats any supplemental feed.

**mygoat** · #12 02/01/12, 09:24 AM

The only issue I think would make a difference is mainly in the barn. Not only can goats get stepped on by accident, but goats wouldn't appreciate a barn 'soiled' by cows. Goats have nice clean berry poops, but cows have 'plops'.

Another issue is that goats are more susceptible to problems using fermented feeds. High moisture corn, baleage, silage, and any fermented feeds likely should NOT be fed to goats. Just learned that the hard way myself with my own herd, having fed bales of sweet hay (lightly fermented hay - higher moisture than hay but lower than baleage) to my herd of 20 goats. Lost one 2 weeks ago to brain-stem form listeria and had one abort (suspicious of listeria) this past weekend. Goats are simply more sensitive to listeria than cows, and the main source is fermented feeds.