Goats in the chicken coop?!?

[Nathan may]

hello all, im very new to owning goats so please bear with me.

The problem: i let my chickens out every morning to run around and free range for food. i leave their coop and roost open so they can go back in when they are ready to lay. the thing is, my goats just refuse to stay out of there!! they get in the coop and then take the ladder up to the roost where the chickens lay. they just get in there and hang out. i have plenty of toys and climbing spots for them to cliumb, hide, play, jump etc. at first i thought they just liked the chicken feed. (i later read that chicken feed is bad for them.) so i removed the chicken food thinking that would detour them.... it didnt.

So, any suggestions on how to keep my goats out and also still give my chickens a way to get in and out??

 

[babsbag]

Stock panels. I put them around my coop and then I put hot wire on them too. Kept the goats our but the chickens could go through the panel and they were below the height of the hot wire. DO NOT let your goats have chicken feed. They love it, and if they get greedy it can kill them.

 

[Nathan may]

Stock panels. I put them around my coop and then I put hot wire on them too. Kept the goats our but the chickens could go through the panel and they were below the height of the hot wire. DO NOT let your goats have chicken feed. They love it, and if they get greedy it can kill them.

are hot wires electrically charged wires? like an electrical fence?

 

[babsbag]

Yes Depending on your goats and how stubborn they are the hot wire will just give them a reminder to not climb or rub on the fence. I have big goats, Alpines, and they can be rough on fences. You might not need the hot wire, but just keep it in mind as a back up plan.

 

[Bruce]

are hot wires electrically charged wires? like an electrical fence?

Yes, "hot wire" is generically electric fencing. It can be anything from a single strand in front of a wire fence to keep animals from rubbing on the fence, to a wire at the top to keep them from climbing to being the entire fence with horizontal wires at appropriate heights for what you want to keep in/out.