# Goats and Chickens living together



## Leena (Aug 3, 2013)

I'm keeping goats and chickens. So far everyone is getting along well. They're housed separately right now and all free range outside together.

This issue: the goats (2 nigerian dwarf does 5 months old) are constantly trying to get into the chicken coop to get their feed. I've had to close off the coop while everyone is outside. 

For the winter I wanted to combine the two goats with half of the chickens as I thought it would be warmer for all involved. Also I thought it would help with keeping the goat house clean as the chickens are a lot more tidy than the goats. How do I do this in terms of feed? Right now I buy goat feed, chicken feed, and some chicken scratch grains for the yard.

Does anyone have experience housing goats and chickens together?

Thanks in advance


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Your last concern would be keeping them together for warmth. As you know chickens pretty much maintain their temps.
Can you cut a small flap in the coop door barely large enough for them ?
I had to raise water buckets & clip wings so they wouldn't poop in the goat water.
Then I got tired of chickens fertilizing goat coats. They got separated.


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

Been there done that not good. Chickens gave the goats mites. Pooped in there water. Drowned in the water. Every body had cocidia. Too much mess to clean up all the time while trying to milk. Nooooo, dont do it. Chickens will be fine.


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## Leena (Aug 3, 2013)

Thank you guys so much. I hadn't thought about mites, drowning and cocidia. I guess I just need to find a better way of cleaning out the goat house. My chickens are in a deep litter method and it's so easy to manage. That's one of the major reasons I wanted to house them together.

Does anyone deep litter their goats?


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## enchantedgoats (Jun 2, 2013)

we use pine shavings.


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## TSanders (Jun 6, 2011)

I also have heard that goats can get worms from chickens. Pine chips make great bedding for both goats and chickens. Great advantages over straw: no mold, no caking of guano on floor of coop. Soaks up moisture better than straw. Decomposes into well drained soil. Really solves standing water problems.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

You can deep bed the goats.


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## peggy (Aug 11, 2010)

At present my chickens are free ranging and they go into the goat barn a lot. I will be keeping them in their own pen soon cause they really make a mess in the goat barn. I provide deep hay for flooring for the goats and the chickens in the winter.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

Does it make a difference if theres no food in the coop-- ours its a double coop (that Purina one from their website built end to end so its pretty long and there is a corner free of the roosts-- its wooden flooring with a good layer of DE, straw and cedar chips... 
No mites on the hens (they go out to free range first thing).... our nigerians seem pretty comfy in that corner at night (they are trying to adjust to a new home and they seem so comfy in with the chickens)... they have their own water bucket, hens have their own waterer... nobody is pooping in either one.... the chickens like to drink from the old horse waterer in the front yard actually ...
I am getting cattle panels in tomorrow to contain the chicken feeders in, in the chicken yard (I have it fenced off with welded wire and have been feeding the hens out front- the goats cant fly over the chicken yard fence to free range like they do)....
Thats my plan so far.
I am actually alittle concerned the goats will mess up my nice coop -- its stays pretty dry and clean and easy to sweep out I mainly just do under the roosts once a week...


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I am not a fan of chickens and goats living together. They really should each have their own living quarters. If you have a large enough pasture area, then sharing a pasture should be ok.

Chickens are very dusty and I think you are just asking for problems.


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## TSanders (Jun 6, 2011)

One can worry too much and it spoils the fun. I think it sounds like a good setup. If you use a lot of pine chips, it will make the coop easier to clean, and soak up any goat pee better than straw. Chicken guano is so acidic, it rotted out the floor of my coop in less than 10 years. Most of the problem was caking and freezing. I think the new floor will do better now that I am using pine chips. I need to do something before winter to make a better shelter for my animals. They wrecked the old doghouse they were using. The sheep kept scratching themselves against the door opening until they pulled the whole frame off. I need to get some posts and wood, and add onto their 3 sided shelter to make a more cozy spot with more of a wind break.


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## WarPony (Jan 31, 2010)

My chickens roost in the goat barn now, since the day that fox raided their coop at 4pm and they decided the barn was safer. They poo on everything. HUGE mess. I just keep chipping off the mess, dumping and cleaning buckets, etc. I have figured out places to put my water buckets where they don't get chicken-pooed in. I have had no issue with mites or cocci *knock on wood* in the two years they have been cohabiting. The chickens turn the straw and waste hay in the stalls keeping it light and fluffy even when I deep litter bed, they clean up any feed the goats miss, and they keep me company when I milk. 

My next flock of birds will have a new improved secure coop and chicken tractors rather than free range but I will always keep a handful of truly free rangers to roost in my barn to keep the goats and I company.


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## CAjerseychick (Sep 21, 2013)

TSanders said:


> One can worry too much and it spoils the fun. I think it sounds like a good setup. If you use a lot of pine chips, it will make the coop easier to clean, and soak up any goat pee better than straw. Chicken guano is so acidic, it rotted out the floor of my coop in less than 10 years. Most of the problem was caking and freezing. I think the new floor will do better now that I am using pine chips. I need to do something before winter to make a better shelter for my animals. They wrecked the old doghouse they were using. The sheep kept scratching themselves against the door opening until they pulled the whole frame off. I need to get some posts and wood, and add onto their 3 sided shelter to make a more cozy spot with more of a wind break.


Maybe try a tarp over your structure to catch any drafts? I have 2 over the exposed side of the coop (it gets pretty wet out here before the snow sets in) and that does the trick. Its really that the little goats seem to feel snug and secure in with the chickens, I will put extra woodchips in their little corner-- I am more worried about the goats staying warm without their herd....


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