# How do you keep goats out of the chicken coop?



## Egg_Newton (Jun 22, 2010)

They ate all of the food!  P.S. they are Nigerian Dwarf and one is still a kid.


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## Hollywood Goats (Jun 22, 2010)

I have the exact same quantities and breeds, I have not found a way to keep them away from the food yet, but I am not trying. 

ETA: I mix my own feed so I try to have it so that goats can eat it as well, but they really don't like the chicken food only the baby tastes EVERYTHING!


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## glenolam (Jun 22, 2010)

Our chickens are in a shed with a regular human door that we shut whenever the goats are out.  The chicken pen has a gate that also stays shut and we keep the food inside the chicken house in big barrels.

Be careful - if your goats ate enough of the chicken food they might get sick.  You may want to drench them with baking soda just in case.  Search this forum for that to see what else is recommended.


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## mossyStone (Jun 22, 2010)

Yes chicken food is a no no here.. I keep my coop done up like fort knox to keep the goats out.. They are smart!!!!

Mossy Stone Farm


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## Egg_Newton (Jun 23, 2010)

I just hung the feeder up higher and put in another roost. Seems to be working just fine. If I made the gap small enough to keep the kid out it was too small for the chickens to get in. Goats can't fly so putting it higher seemed like the thing to do.


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## Ariel301 (Jun 23, 2010)

I can't. Actually, I have two goats living in the chicken run right now, awaiting their date with the barbecue grill. 

My goats and chickens eat the same feed (spent grains from the local brewery) so it's not a problem. When I feed the chickens their layer pellets, I scatter them out on the ground during free-ranging time. The goats are generally too lazy to hunt for very many, and the chickens clean them up quick. 

The issue I really have though, is the goats eating eggs. Yes, eating eggs. Weird. I notice every so often I'll have a day where there are no eggs in the coop, and that's not normal. It turns out the goats get in there and have a snack!


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## savingdogs (Jun 27, 2010)

We have this issue too. We have three seperate enclosures for our barnyard animals (goats, chickens and ducks) but our problem is when we free range them, the chickens need to have access to their nests in the coop. Since I have mini-nubians, they fit through the chicken door. 

Is there a way to make a door goats cannot go through that chickens can't? I would need ducks to be able to go through it too.


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## imtc (Jun 30, 2010)

I have 2 nigerians also and had the same problem.  What I did was make a cat sized door within the regular door of the chicken run that the goats can't fit thru.  That way I can open up the run so the chickens can come in and out at will without the goats getting in.  Don't know how well that would work for little baby goats since they can fit thru such a small opening.  The picture doesn't show the little door since I hadn't made it yet but you can get the idea.  I just cut out the chain link on the bottom foot or so of the door and attached another fencing panel to it with a smaller chicken size door I can open and close daily.  I can try to get a better pic in the daytime.


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## savingdogs (Jun 30, 2010)

Part of my problem is the door into the chicken coop has already been cut, nice and large for my large breed chickens, so I can't really make it smaller again.


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## glenolam (Jul 1, 2010)

My goats still fit through the 1 1/2 ft x 1ft chicken door some how.....


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## Chirpy (Jul 1, 2010)

I also have Nigerian Dwarfs and it was a huge challenge figuring out how to keep them out of the chicken house since they live in the chicken run that is attached to the chicken house.     Here's a couple of pictures of what my husband finally figured out to keep them out.     In the last two years.... they've never been able to get into the chicken house.    The chickens can easily get into the pophole with these boards but the goats (even the babies) can't twist their bodies to get through.  The chickens can easily duck down and then get over the inside boards:


Here's from the outside:







Here's from the inside:






I did have to take the ramp off (you can see it in the second picture) but the chickens still have no problem jumping up into the pophole and getting inside.

Obviously, if you have a larger pophole this won't work either.


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## glenolam (Jul 1, 2010)

I wonder if it would work if you just moved the chicken door higher and provided a log or tree to walk up as opposed to a ramp.  Do you think the goats would be able to walk up the log or would they loose their balance?

BTW - that's a great idea your husband had, Chirpy!


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## warthog (Jul 1, 2010)

I used to keep my chickens in the same pen as the goats, and no matter how I tried the goats always managed to find a way in to get the food.

I tried always with altering the entrance to the coop and nothing worked.

I then made them another pen and separated them.

That was my only solution.

Also I didn't like the chicks pooping in the goats water and feed.


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## Chirpy (Jul 2, 2010)

glenolam - yes, goats can climb everything and anything.   They particularly love a challenge and will see that log as a great play thing and be all over and on it.

I haven't had a problem with the chickens pooing in the goat feed as they only get hay (in a horse feeder with a cover on top) inside the chicken run.   Other feed is given to them on the milk stand only.    I use a large horse size bucket for the goats water... it's securely attached to the fence and, thus far, I haven't had the chickens ever poop in it.   The chickens get two smaller waterers (the typical chicken waterers) and they use them instead of trying to get into the goat water.


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## Egg_Newton (Jul 31, 2010)

I used Chirpy's idea. It works great and was so easy to make! I have three coops and built one for each. Sgt. Pepper (my whether turd) can't get in there. I thought hanging my feeder higher was working until I walked into the coop one day and saw my doe standing on the roost  My feed bill has gone way down.


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## Chirpy (Aug 6, 2010)

Egg_Newton said:  "saw my doe standing on the roost" 

  Ha, ha, ha.... my girls did the exact same thing... that was what drove us to find a permanent way to keep them out!


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## Hollywood Goats (Aug 9, 2010)

can they eat Flock raiser? not as a main feed but if they get into the food will they be okay.


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## cmjust0 (Aug 9, 2010)

Ugh..

On this site in particular -- given so many people find their way over here from BYH -- the whole "MY GOAT ATE CHICKEN FEED!" thing needs to be a sticky thread.  

Folks, listen...ASSUME YOUR CHICKEN FEED TO BE POISONOUS TO EVERYTHING BUT CHICKENS.

K?

Your chickens are fed grain on a free-choice basis, which means you're setting out a lot at a time.  If a goat gets in and eats a whole big bunch of it, it's DEAD.  

Got that?

*DEAD.*

So don't shoot for "just a little bit, every now and then" -- SHOOT FOR ZERO.  If they end up getting a little, figure out how/why they got it and PUT AN END TO IT.

Period.

My goats don't get chicken feed.  Yeah, it's a PITA to keep them out of it, and it took a couple of tries and a few sneaky goats to show me all the gaps in my little security system...but now THEY DON'T GET ANY CHICKEN FEED.

It can be done.  

Go do it.




Sorry...just get tired of seeing the same thing over and over and over and over..  

</  >


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## savingdogs (Aug 10, 2010)

cmjusto, thanks for making that so nicely clear for everyone.

While I was aware chicken food can kill goats, my little favorite doeling managed to open a gate herself the other day and get into the chicken coop. Luckily the chickens had eaten all of the food.

I was left wondering however, what should you do if she HAD eaten it? Can you make a goat vomit or give it anything to counteract the effects of eating chicken feed on accident? Or are they just gonna die?  

We are latching the gate differently now so that she cannot do this again but she is very very persistent about wanting to get back into that coop! I can't understand why when she has so many other good things to eat. I wish I could train all three to be afraid of the coop or think something nasty was in there to eat instead of a treat they continually want to get to.


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## Bumpergoat (Aug 24, 2010)

I had the same problem for a couple years and I have found a solution that has worked for me. I have a pop door to the chicken coop that is about 2' x 2' and my pygmy and nigerians could easily get through and chow down. I took a piece of 6" x 6" Hog Panel and cut two of the sections out to make in 12" high X 6" wide and stapled it to the inside of the coop. Looking at it you would not think large breed chickens could get through it but they are a lot of fluff and squeeze through just fine. I keep a few Jersey Giant hens and if they can get through ok all other breed should be fine. I made sure there were no sharp edges on the panels. It has worked great for me!  And kept my goats safe and healthy too...


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