Goats in the attic?

[JoyfulGoats]

Hi everyone,

I will be getting goats this summer, and am currently considering my housing options. We have recently built a 10x10 shed for the chickens, and at first the goats will be living in that space too. I will be starting with 2 nigerian dwarves, and our climate allows the animals to go outside all year, so the coop is only to sleep. Basically, in that coop will be about 6 chickens and 2 dwarf goats. Now I was thinking that in order to give them more space and prevent the goats from eating the chickens' food, to use the attic as housing for one or the other. It would be easier in some ways for the chickens to go in the attic since 1) they can fly and easily climb a ladder 2) they are light so won't make a ton of noises for the animals downstairs, however, we would have to crawl in the attic to pick up the eggs, which isn't fun when you're in a hurry in the morning.

I thought about maybe putting the goats there (the attic is high enough for the goats to walk around without bumping their heads), but I have a few concerns and would like to have the opinion of goat owners on whether this could work. I searched for people who have tried this, but didn't find anything. My concerns are these: 1)I'm worried about them falling while climbing. If we put them there, they would have very large stairs, so I'm not worried about them falling by themselves, but more if another goat pushes them. One way to prevent this would maybe be to put sides on the stairs. 2) the noise from the walking upstairs for the chickens who would live below, but this could be remedied by putting some Roxul Safe N' Sound to soundproof it.

Does this seem like a feasable plan? My major worry is them falling. I know goats can climb trees, but...

Thanks!

 

[NH homesteader]

Hi and welcome! Do you have pictures of what you're using for housing? I'm kind of confused. Will you be blocking the goats up there? Because otherwise they'll just come down the stairs and get into the chicken feed. Goats have this awful attraction to chicken feed.

There are other options for keeping the goats from getting into the chicken's food. I keep mine separate but I'm sure someone will chime in with ideas!

 

[CntryBoy777]

Well, if ya are planning on using the 10x10 for all the animals, I would separate it into 2 sections and have both on the bottom floor. I wouldn't keep them in the same open area for a number of reasons....parasites, feed, and some goats don't like chickens and will kill them. If ya only have 6 chickens I'give them about a third of the bldg, and the goats the rest. The one thing ya have to realize is that when it is bad weather, the goats will stay inside. You wouldn't need but a roost and a couple of nest boxes, or a couple of 5gal buckets used as nests....cut the lid to be about 4-5" high so hay, shavings, and eggs aren't pushed out. Something about chickens and goats, both like to get to the Highest point they can get too. So, put roost higher than nests, and close access to the attic. By the time ya sound proof and do all the other you were planning on doing, ya could put up a simple separation wall, they would have plenty of room, and you could get your eggs from the ground. This would allow the feed to be separated too. Some chicken feed will kill goats or make them very sick, so be careful.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Sorry, I just realized you are a new member...Welcome from NW Mississippi!
Glad to have ya with us, and you'll find there are some really Great people here with vast knowledge and experience they are more than willing to share. There is a lot of info in the Forums and Threads so browse around and never hesitate to share pics, questions, and comments. Something that will be very beneficial to ya is to list your general location on your banner. Whenever you need help, advice, or suggestions it will allow the members to have an idea of weather, conditions, and problems that could be of importance in their replies. What is faced here can be very different than say Michigan. Hope things work out for ya, and ya may want to post a "Hello Thread" in the new member section so the members can Welcome ya properly.

 

[JoyfulGoats]

Thanks for the welcome ! I thought of putting a seperation, and it will probably be what I do at first, but at some point I would like to have 10-12 chickens and a rooster, so they will need more space. Eventually we will build another shed, but it might take a while because of the costs (we will be building a house on a 8 acre lot and will have to build fences for the animals, on top of the shed we just built.

For the bad weather, we were thinking of maybe putting up a "tent" using tarp to keep them dry. My chickens hate going out when it's windy or raining, but they can still go out about 90% of the year.

If I put up a seperation, do you think they would have enough space even when they can't go out? That was one of the major reasons for me considering the attic.

I hope that the chickens and the goats will get along. I know that a lot of people keep them together. I will introduce them while my goats are still young, so that it's more of an even playing field at the start.

I live in the south of Ontario, Canada. I'll add it to my profile.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Had to search it out, all I have is a cell phone, and I don't know how to "Link" with it. But, on page 109 of "Devonviolet Acres" you can see the bucket nests that I was referring to. There is also a simple goat shelter pictured a couple of pages forward there also. @Devonviolet has some really good ideas that she shares with us....Good Luck with it again.

 

[NH homesteader]

My goats go outside all winter. They don't like rain or really wet snow, but we have a little roof over an outdoor hay feeder and they hang out there during all but the worst weather.

 

[JoyfulGoats]

Hi and welcome! Do you have pictures of what you're using for housing? I'm kind of confused. Will you be blocking the goats up there? Because otherwise they'll just come down the stairs and get into the chicken feed. Goats have this awful attraction to chicken feed.

There are other options for keeping the goats from getting into the chicken's food. I keep mine separate but I'm sure someone will chime in with ideas!

Hi! Sorry, I didn't see your message before. There is an outside trap to the attic which is very large. We would close it at night so they can only stay in the attic, if we chose to keep them there. I don't have pictures at the moment, but it's just a standard 10x10 wooden shed, with the roof/attic part of about 40sq.ft. in the middle and smaller sections all along beside it, just big enough for a sleeping goat.

 

[CntryBoy777]

Well, my set-up is one house, but it is split into 2 halves, one for the chickens and one for the ducks....we have 9hens&2roos GLW, and 11hens&1drake Khaki Campbells and Rouens. This is the "Dotties" side.... the roosts are on the left and nests on the right. There is a hole in the floor that goes to an enclosed area under the house that is the same size as the inside, 6x8. It is the shorter end of this bldg... The chickens, or "Dotties" as we call them, have the right-hand side of this bldg, and they can go from ground to roost inside. There are 11 of them and they only use half of the available roost room now. There are 2 roost runners that are 63" long. So, if they stay in because of weather and can get out and about most of the time, they wouldn't need as much space as ya might think. It does sound like y'all are going to be quite Busy on those 8acres for a little while any way. Oh, don't forget about the predators ya have up there.

 

[JoyfulGoats]

I'm not worried about the chickens not having enough space, but the goats. I've had chickens for almost 2 years, so I now know their habits, but I've never had goats. Online some people say that you can keep 2 nigerian dwarfs in 20sq.ft., but I find that way too small. I have previous chicken coop that is 4x6 for when I had 4 chickens, but I would find that much too small for goats. I was thinking at least 5x10 for 2.

An idea I had was that if I keep them all together in the 10x10 (assuming they get along - especially since I will be leaving the horns on), to attatch the small 4x6 coop and leave a door too small for a goat, but ok for the chickens, and put their feed their so that the goats can't get it. That would maximize space while keeping the goats safe.