Fencing for goats, yard for chickens

[Imaginethat!]

We are getting to crunch time. If you can help me with these questions , I'd appreciate it.

1. Goats and chickens (ducks and a turkey) can be in the same barn and yard can't they?

2. Can you use chicken wire to fence in goats or will they eat it?

3. What do you think of a 40 X40 yard for about 20 chickens and about 5 pygmy goats ?

4. How high should the fencing be? (Well be covering it with netting.)

5. Any input on better and/or less expensive fencing would be appreicated.

6. Any input would be appreciated.

Imaginethat!

 

[booger]

We have both goats and chickens but have only had them since this year. I'll give you our limited experience, though.

1. Goats and chickens (ducks and a turkey) can be in the same barn and yard can't they?

We have ours in the same pen. The goats do get ornery on occasion, though, and pull out the chickens tail feathers.

2. Can you use chicken wire to fence in goats or will they eat it?

Our combo pen has field fencing and chicken wire. The field fencing is stronger for the goats and the chicken wire is smaller for the chickens. We just laid them both on top of each other. That's what we had laying around at the time so that's what we used.

3. What do you think of a 40 X40 yard for about 20 chickens and about 5 pygmy goats ?

I'm spatially challenged so I don't know.

4. How high should the fencing be? (Well be covering it with netting.)

For the chickens, depends how good at flying they are. For the goats, to the sky! Aren't pygmies known for their incredible jumping ability?

That's all I know and I don't even know that.

 

[Imaginethat!]

I hope this doesn't sound stupid, but what is "field fencing?"

We have NOTHING lying around, everything will have to be bought. I'm a "city" girl, well, a suburban girl now on 5 acres, a lot of it woods. So speak slooowly!

What kind of goats? Where did you get them?

TIA!

Imaginethat!

 

[Sarrah]

If it were me I'd pen the turkeys seperate. There is a desease called black head that turkeys contract from chicken droppings, even old chicken droppings if it is present.
For goats we use page wire and electic with a booster on the electric. Netting on top for goats will just be like a cherry on top. Goats jump even walk straight up walls. They can't help it, they are driven to it. Chicken wire to fence goats isn't too good an idea I don't think. They'll walk up it like a ladder. They won't eat it.
I don't know why you want to pen everyone together. I think in the overall scheme of life it makes your life easier to keep them apart.
Perhaps start with one of the projects at a time? Add as you can afford housing?
It isn't necessary but water or a pool for ducks is nice. A pool for goats is a play area. Animals get bored like people.
These are just my thoughts and of course you can do things however you are able to do them.

Page wire or field fencing is that large square wire fencing. Chicken wire is only good for keeping chickens in. It will not keep anything out. Important to remember that. You must pen and house according to predators. Remember everyone loves chicken.

 

[booger]

There were 3 goats but one got out and "disappeared". Probably coyotes or roaming dogs as we never saw or heard it again and all of our goats are very friendly--will come running right up when you call. Anyway, of the two that are left, one is a nubian and the other is a saanen. We got them from a lady we met on a homesteading board. They're just wethers but we just got them to see if we like having goats, before commiting to milkers. Still haven't decided whether to use goats or cows for milk. Oh, and the two wethers will be in our freezer this fall, although, they would be quite handy to keep around as brush hogs!

The goats were in the pen originally and never escaped. Then we got our chickens. The goat pen was the perfect place for them so the chicks went in there. We made the goats a new place. After they ate their favorite things, they decided they didn't want to be there anymore. So we moved their pen to another new place. They decided they didn't like that place much better. So now they're back in their original pens but, this time, with the chickens. DH has been meaning to get the chickens a new pen put up, along with a good henhouse but hasn't yet. Once it's up, though, the chickens will get the new place and the goats will stay in their beloved place. Strange goats. They've eaten most everything in there to the ground (it's a rather small pen as it was just going to be temporary) but they love it there and never have tried to escape it. When we offered them greener pastures, they turned up their noses. :sb:

What kind of goats and chickens are you getting?

 

[goatlady2]

I have always used 16' x 4-5' cattle panels for my goats, all around my property perimeter and a few cross-fenced pastures. Most of the time the goats free ranged and came back to the barn at night for food, water, and milking and safety for the night. My chickens free range and usually end up in the goat barn with the goats. I have found the chickens keep the goat bedding fluffed and keep the parasites out of the barn and the goats don't mind the chickens. The chickens can wander in and out of the bottom fence openings and get away fro preditors that way. ckicken wire is usless for goats - they will just walk it to the ground in a big pile.

 

[nannygoat]

we also use cattle panels for our goats - a goat or a dog will just break down chicken wire and even a dog will tear a hole in the fence - goats do like familiar places,but our boers like to eat new things so a new pen is wanted by them - cattle panels are also nice because you can move them around to new green pastures - I would not put ducks in with goats because they will foul the goats water and the goats can get sick - we have chickens running around free for bug control but you have to be careful that the chickens do not roost over the goat feed and leave their droppings - many vets will have fits that your chickens are in with the goats but we have such scorpion problems and can keep them off the feed that we think it is working for us - do have to worry alos about the goats getting lice from the chickens

 

[Freeholdfarm]

Cattle panels are by far the best fencing for goats. Anything else will have to be replaced sooner or later -- chicken wire won't work for goats at all. If it is high enough and tight enough it will keep chickens in, but it won't keep very many predators out, so the chickens need a tight secure place to go at night.

I wouldn't keep chickens in with the goats only because they will get in the feed and mess it up.

Turkeys can be kept with chickens in a home situation, especially if it has been a long time since there were other turkeys there. We've kept them together when we raised both (only a few times) and have never had a problem.

Kathleen