Multi-Species Pasturing Discussion

[elevan]

MyKidLuvsGreenEgz - In my personal opinion pasturing pigs with any other species is a very bad idea...just ask my shetland/mini cross horse and my morgan mare who both sustained bad injuries due to a pig.


I just realized that when I started this thread I neglected to include my practices.

My animals are: 1 llama, 54 chickens, 3 ducks, 10 guinea fowl, 2 turkeys, 11 goats, 1 beef calf, 1 pig, 2 horses (these numbers have grown recently but essentially when I started pasturing together you could say I had goats, chickens, horses and pigs).

My field is 4 acres.

My male goats are pastured on 1/2 acre with the turkeys.

My female goats, the horses, llama and poultry are pastured in the rest of the field.

My pig is in a pen by herself.

This has been my practice for 2 years.

Until this spring I never had a problem with coccidia or any heavy worm load. But this spring I had coccidia and tapeworms in abundance. No other problems since getting those taken care of.

I originally ran 3 pigs in the field (not with poultry) with the other animals until the attacks on the horses.

I will say that my shetland/ mini cross horse tries to herd the chickens at times. It took the llama some time to get used to the Morgan mare. And the beef calf thinks that he is a goat. The llama has accidentally stepped on one chicken but didn't cause injury. And I wish I could give away the 2 horses (but I cannot)...I hate big poo and they are only eye candy.

 

[dwbonfire]

I have 5 horses, many chickens, ducks, guineas, that all run together. my previous sheep were also with them, and my current sheep will be once i get them good and tame. I havent had any trouble with this and I have been doing this for a year or so. I just got geese and plan to let them run with everyone also.

I do keep my turkeys and peacocks in their own pens, only for fear of them leaving or else I would love to let them run with everything.

My calf is currently seperate from just the horses, but is exposed to all the poultry. She will eventually be in with the horses providing everyone gets along.

I havent had any troubles with this so far. However I would like to ask if there is a preventative wormer for all the poultry I have so that I can prevent from any outbreaks? Something safe for: chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, turkeys, peacocks? And also what I should use for a preventative for my sheep and calf? I worm my horses twice a year.

 

[elevan]

However I would like to ask if there is a preventative wormer for all the poultry I have so that I can prevent from any outbreaks? Something safe for: chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, turkeys, peacocks? And also what I should use for a preventative for my sheep and calf? I worm my horses twice a year.

I don't know the answer to that :/ Although I don't deworm unless it's needed (don't do preventative).

 

[elevan]

My animals are: 1 llama, 54 chickens, 3 ducks, 10 guinea fowl, 2 turkeys, 11 goats, 1 beef calf, 1 pig, 2 horses (these numbers have grown recently but essentially when I started pasturing together you could say I had goats, chickens, horses and pigs).

My field is 4 acres.

My male goats are pastured on 1/2 acre with the turkeys.

My female goats, the horses, llama and poultry are pastured in the rest of the field.

My pig is in a pen by herself.

Since starting this thread, I've added guineas which range in the main field with the female goats and other poultry. Although if you've had guineas before you know you can't keep them to one field so they've also been in the field with the turkeys and the backyard with the dogs.

Still have not experienced any problems with parasites that are abnormal.

One note I'll make is that any time a guinea or a chicken managed to get into the buck field with the turkeys, the tom turkey tried to kill it.

 

[Tapsmom]

What do you use for fencing? I am building a barn now and I am trying to determine what type of fencing I need for predator protection as well. I will have (at this point lol) 2 Nigerian dwarf goats 5-12 chickens and a horse. Everyone is separate now since the barn and fencing is not in yet.
The goats currently have their own minibarn surrounded by 152 feet of Electroweb fencing. The chickens are in a "Chicken Fort Knox." That inludes a large coop with nesting boxes surrounded by 2 complete dog kennels which has a top on it as well. they have the run of this area during the day. Currently there are 5 chickens in this 14'X14" area. I am researching the proper fencing for them. My plan is to have the chicken area ope into the pasture are for the goats and the goat area able to open in with the horse(s). I am planning for expansion . The barn being built is 36X44. We are planning on clearing about 2 acres to start and clearing bit by bit above that over times (We own 10 acres) Any suggestions would be welcome. I have found this board to be quite helpful!

 

[elevan]

I use 5 foot high horse fencing for my mixed herd / flock. No electric.

Depending on your predators and whether or not you have a guardian, I would probably recommend electric top and bottom lines.

 

[Tapsmom]

Unfortunately we have lots of predators and no livestock guardian. We have coyotes, fox, bobcats, bears and hawks..

 

[elevan]

You definitely want electric and a strong voltage at that then.

 

[blue lotus]

We have our baby goats and piglets running in a 1 acre paddock together, along with a turkey hen (currently sitting on a clutch of eggs) and turkey tom. The piglets chase the tom occasionally, but all seem to get along just fine. The area is large enough they all seem to get along just fine.

Before that, we have had adult pigs with chickens and ducks (who could walk in & out of the electrified area the pigs were in), and not a one was bothered. The birds do an excellent job of getting rid of completely different parasites as their preferred foods are so different. We also have dairy goats that are currently being moved around every few days on grass pasture, and they often are around the ducks/chickens/turkeys.

There are also horses and beef cows on the property, who often have chickens or ducks roaming around. The beef cows are a new introduction and they are confused by the chickens and ducks, who feel the same way about them.

We are looking to get some sheep and rabbits eventually. The sheep can graze with either the goats or cows, and the rabbits will be set up around the chickens.

 

[redtailgal]

As a child, we ran horses, cows and chickens in their own pasture.

We had a separate lot for the pigs, and a couple times a chicken wandered into the pig pen and was killed. A beagle pup fell into the pig pen at feeding one time.......the pigs ate her.

Pigs are great, but they can be very dangerous when grown.

Right now, I have goats and cows in neighboring pastures. We cant let the calves in the goat pasture because the goats chase them.