# A goat with chickens AND rabbits???



## daniel-delarosa (Sep 20, 2011)

I have found a few posts about keeping chickens and goats together on this forum and I have found a few posts on keeping rabbits with chickens over on the BYC.  But anyone keep goats, chickens AND rabbits together?  I built a 12x15 rabbit shed next to my chicken coop.  I put up a fence around both of them and let the chickens run around.  Im getting one pygmy buck this week and was wondering if I could just put him in the fenced area too.  The area is about 30x20.  The chickens eat what the rabbits drop and are fine, but can the goat it it too?  Can the goat eat chicken feed and can the chickens eat the goat feed?  I really dont want to build another pen and shelter.


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## ksj0225 (Sep 20, 2011)

I do...

I have ducks, rabbits, chickens, boer goats, and a lgd...  I feed the free range ones while I feed the goats so they eat the feed before the goats get done...


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## ksalvagno (Sep 21, 2011)

Goats should not eat chicken feed. Sure a little bit is ok but not as their regular diet. A 30x20 area is not much if that is the only place that the buck will have to be in. Is the buck just a temporary resident or will he be staying? That really would make a difference. Also, I would be worrying about parasites for the buck in that small of an area.


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## that's*satyrical (Sep 21, 2011)

My goats stayed temporarily with the chickens while we were finishing their pen. It was a pain in the butt to keep them away from the chicken food.  Other than that it was fine. If you have a way the chickens can get to the feed and the goats can't it would probably be ok. Also, our bucks' area is going to be around 20x30, but he is a mini and there won't be a chicken coop & rabbit hutch taking up any of that space. I guess that size might be alright for a mini I have read the smaller breeds like I have (nigerian dwarf) can and do quite well in limited space. But yeah, my goats are very picky eaters but they LOVVVEEEE the chicken food so that was a royal pain keeping them out of the chickens' food. The chickens like to be able to eat freestyle not have feeding times like they were having with the goats in there (I had to put the food down on the ground for the chickens 3-4 times a day and chase the goats away) lol. Good luck!


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## ksj0225 (Sep 21, 2011)

Sorry I didn't look at the size of the area... Ours is a large area about 2 acres.


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## ChickenPotPie (Sep 22, 2011)

It might *look* nice - like a petting zoo, but it's not practical for the reasons stated above.  Also, I'd be worried that, after all the work on the rabbit shed that the goat might damage the rabbit cages/hutches.  Goats, even small ones, are amazingly adept at destroying EVERYTHING that wasn't built especially for goats.

Here is how we keep our rabbits, chickens, and goats (maybe it will help?)....  

Rabbits are in their own rabbitry.  Each rabbit is in their own private "bedroom" - a cage for each one.  I keep the poultry out of the rabbitry because ours are great flyers.  Rabbits and chicken poop don't mix if you want to keep them healthy and parasite free.  The only time I LIKE chickens in the rabbitry is if I'm using hanging cages (poop drops to the ground) and the chickens are non-flyers like Silkies.  That works out very well.  So, anyway, I keep chickens and rabbits separate because I have flyers that WILL roost on the rabbit cages and drop poop in their cage, food, and water bowls.

Goats and chickens - now I really like the arrangement we have here....We used cattle panels on t-posts to build our goat enclosure - if you have help and one of those t-post drivers, it goes up real fast and is strong enough to hold our big, very strong, Togg buck.  Anyway, the openings in the panels allow the chickens to go in and out of the goat pen to clean it up while, it keeps the goats out of the chicken area.  I've been told goats should not eat chicken food, too.  But, they'll reeeeally go for it.  It is a MAJOR headache to try to get them out of or away from it once they find a way to it.  (argh)  

Perhaps you could check the minimum space requirements for your goat breed and simply add panels to your enclosure to keep your goat from getting to your chicken feed?  In other words, let your chickens and goat run together but add the cattle panels to keep your goat away from your chicken feeding area.  Make sense?


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## manybirds (Sep 22, 2011)

poultry should not be kept with goats because they spoil the hay water and grazing area. also if a goat decides it dosn't like one it might (accidently or on purpose) kill it. baby birds may get stepped on.


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## manybirds (Sep 22, 2011)

ChickenPotPie said:
			
		

> It might *look* nice - like a petting zoo, but it's not practical for the reasons stated above.  Also, I'd be worried that, after all the work on the rabbit shed that the goat might damage the rabbit cages/hutches.  Goats, even small ones, are amazingly adept at destroying EVERYTHING that wasn't built especially for goats.
> 
> Here is how we keep our rabbits, chickens, and goats (maybe it will help?)....
> 
> ...


are you sure we don't live in the same house???


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## ksj0225 (Sep 22, 2011)

manybirds said:
			
		

> poultry should not be kept with goats because they spoil the hay water and grazing area. also if a goat decides it dosn't like one it might (accidently or on purpose) kill it. baby birds may get stepped on.


Not always true, and that is a very general statement....  


Wish I had video of my goat cuddling with one of my guineas...


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## ChickenPotPie (Sep 22, 2011)

manybirds said:
			
		

> are you sure we don't live in the same house???




@ ksj0225 - I agree that the statement that the chickens might get hurt or spoil water is general.  It is good to point that out.  Generalizations are abundant when it comes to animal care.  It doesn't mean they are not true.  We just need to understand what are the possibilities, the precautions, and the steadfast rules.  

I think our chickens work well in the goat pens because the goats have plenty of room, the chickens have their own feeding/watering area outside the goat pen where food and water is constantly available to them (which makes the goat water tubs seem unattractive), and our chickens are Sumatras - "wild-like" chickens that we've found have excellent survival skills for free roaming.  However, the chickens in our _other_ pen (RIR, Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte), they're much further removed from their jungle fowl ancestors and are dumb as posts in comparison to the Sumatras.  LOL  It might be feasible that those birds might get into trouble if a goat had it out for them.


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## manybirds (Sep 22, 2011)

ChickenPotPie said:
			
		

> manybirds said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


u still havn't convinced me we don't live in the same house. I keep sumatra's and wyandotte's too.


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## elevan (Sep 22, 2011)

Space that you have matters.  Individual animals that you have matters.

Generalizing that you cannot do it is something that I am against.  Anything is possible under the right set of circumstances.

You do need to keep the goats out of the chicken and rabbit feed.  You also need to keep the chickens out of the goat's hay racks.  There are ways to accomplish those things.


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## Ms. Research (Sep 22, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Space that you have matters.  Individual animals that you have matters.
> 
> Generalizing that you cannot do it is something that I am against.  Anything is possible under the right set of circumstances.


X2


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## kstaven (Sep 23, 2011)

x3


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