Chickens and Goats

I have had chickens for 17 years and every year we have our replacement heifers and other calves running around up here also. We also have had goats. We never have a problem. Are you referring to coccidiosis problems? If your chickens are in a confined area where there is a concentration of chicken poop and the goats get into that it would be a prime area for coccidiosis, but if you have free ranging chickens they should be fine unless you have signs of sick chickens. If your chickens are healthy and keep things clean and keep chicken poop away from your feed and feeders it should be fine.

 

Cocci is species specific, goats have goat cocci, chickens have chicken cocci and cows have cow cocci Now chickens can carry cocci on their feet from one pen to another, they can roost above hay and mineral feeders and soil them, but chickens in the barn are wonderful for scratching up everything and keep it fresh, for eating larve (worms and flies) just train them to go home at night to roost in the chicken house! We do this by keeping them in the coop until they lay their first eggs, this works really well, I only have one hen that insists on living in the dairy barn, the others go home for the night. Vicki

 

This is true but most cocci enjoy the same living conditions -- warm and wet. If you have all your animals in the same area, and it is prime conditions for growing cocci, then everyone runs the risk of having an outbreak.
The key is controlling cocci -- everyone has it anyway. You just notice it when everyone has too much and their bodies can't deal with the overpopulation of the little buggers.
If you keep things clean then goats, chickens, cows -- everyone should be happy. Unless you have chickens who insist on laying their eggs in the hay manger.
:haha:

 

Yep Mo, and of course in the haybarn is where you are going to find a chicken snake! My one hen who insists on staying in the barn, she is a 1999 model, so there isn't any changing her mind, lays every 2 or 3 days in the hay feeder. The Nubians do their best to discourage her, but she pecks them on their nose And yep I see a snake in there at least once a week. Now if my dog would keep those chicken snakes away, I would be happy! I know they aren't poisionous, I don't care if they are or not, they creep me out! Vicki

 

Hey send them to me! They always startle me when I come upon one suddenly but they only eat a egg now and then but they do no damage and they sure do discourage the RATS who do a LOT of damage. I had a big snake under my goat feed shed and not one rat this year till it turned cold enough for the snake to go to sleep. Last year I lost a lot of stuff getting chewed up. I hope the snake is back next spring. I hate killing rats and am scared of poison so I bought a little havaheart trap and just caught one this morning. I wanted to mark him and relocate him as an experiment to see if he comes back. I couldn't find any paint or anything so I used Clairol's loving care and dripped it on his little rat butt. Then I gave him a ride in my car and turned him loose. It will be interesting to see if I catch him again.

 

taerie....that is hilarious, keep us posted, I'm interested to see if he comes back. Now I have "rat tracking" envy.

miller1911....The only animals we have are goats and chickens, well and the cats and dogs, and they do fine. We keep our chickens in the coop at night, but during the day, they find their way to the goats, and we have never had a problem.

vicki....we also "trained" the chickens to come home at night, but we didn't do the first egg, we just kept them cooped up for 2 to 3 weeks. It works like a charm. I do know of one family who cannot get their chickens to go back to their house to roost, and they kept them cooped for 6 months before letting them free range during the day.

Roxy

 

I have three differant age groups in my coop.. all the chicks are reared in a 150gal livestock tank (without the H2O of course) untill they are a couple months old and getting too big, then they are moved to a renovated rabbit hutch for a couple more months and then allowed to free range. they always return to the hutch.. then when it's time to move to the coop, I gather them all up in the evening. after they've gone to bed, and move 'em to the coop.. some groups move quicker than others but after two days, I lock up the hutch and let 'em figure it out on their own...
As for snakes, I don't mind them either, that is untill I had 6 eggs dissappear in one day, and three of them were fake! I later found all three fake eggs in the barn, under the hay pallets, and all along, I was told that eating fake eggs would kill a snake... the next snake I found in the coop with a belly full of eggs had his head removed...
and Taerie, that is about the funniest thing I've heard of in a long timer !!!
I hope the coloring stays on him better than it does me! lol...

 

Must be one of those TX thangs! We don't have those here, and I think I am glad! (although given the choice of snake v. lots of snow...hmmmm.....)

 

all the chicks are reared in a 150gal livestock tank (without the H2O of course)
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Stacy I am soo glad you explained that

I couldn't find any paint or anything so I used Clairol's loving care and dripped it on his little rat butt.
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Taerie, that was histerical! We have a pretty hybird dog living nextdoor, of course they don't have fences, and I don't have, or need or want a gate at the front of my property...he is going home next time he visits with red and blue paintball marks on his pretty silver hair. He is a beautiful dog, and one look at Morgan barking, even though he is as large as her, made him head the other way. I am not looking forward to confronting the new neighbors, but also don't want a dog fight, which is what is going to happen. Maybe I could put some really funky Clariol color like burgandy or auburn in a super soaker! Vicki

 

Straight vinegar (or lemon juice) in a super soaker would be pretty effective to condition the dog to stay away, very effective if you can squirt him in the face. Not as colorful as paint balls or hair dye, but the dog will think twice about coming back after licking the vinegar or lemon out of his coat

Happy "hunting"!
Liz

 

Having used the paintball method before... It was used more as an incentive, as a visual for the owner, hoping that they would take the initiative to control their dog.

 

How about the blue or purple they have out now?!

We started taking 5 roosters a day down to the goat pen to spend the day... my 2 boys take em out in the AM and bring em back at night.... they needed another job. So far all is well...

 

I have my billie running free at my barn. He enjoys spending the day with the horses. The chickens don't bother him much, he doesn't like it when they want to eat his grain if he walks away. The only problem I have is my billie likes to eat the chicken feathers. I just wonder if it will bother him or make him sick. Anyone ever heard of a feather eating goat?

 

Our biggest problem with goats and chickens, is the goats stepping on the chickens, or head butting then to try to steal their food, and some time my goats will eat a feather or two. I have seen them eat plastic too...

 

We keep chickens in our goat pen. Our only problem is during feeding time. We first toss corn on the ground for the chickens and then put the goats feed in the feed trough. Of course the chickens go for the goats feed and then the goats grab them by the tail feathers and fling them out of the way.