I'm looking into getting some other livestock for our farm in our effort to raise mor of what we eat and wear. Do any of you have experience with pasturing Nigerians with other animals? I'm currently looking at alpacas and may consider sheep at some point in the future. I realize that different species have different nutritional requirements but can they browse the same field? How about horses? Cattle? Chickens? I may get a llama as a guardian animal at some point but don't feel the need to yet. Any input on managing different animals, watching what you spend on fencing etc. and how it works or doesn't to have them together would be much appreciated.
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Thanks for the detailed info Deborah!! I'll remember that with the camelids! If we ever get pigs I want a mild tempered breed.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Goats seem to pretty much ignore other animals, but not all other species will be nice to goats. Our goats have been pastured with sheep, pigs, cattle, chickens, turkeys, llamas, horses, and more. The main potential problems -- some horses are aggressive, a male llama will try to mate the does (they lay on them and will squash them), and some pigs are aggressive. We have American guinea hogs now, and they're fine, but we used to have Tamworths, and some of them are really aggressive. We had a bottle baby get into the pigs pasture one day and wound up losing the tip of her tail. Thank goodness it was chore time, and we heard her screaming, and my son ran in there and saved her. I know people who've lost sheep and goats to male llamas laying on them, so if you get any male camelids, make sure they are gelded. And some horses are just plain mean to smaller animals, so it's very individual.
Can rabbits be with goats in that is there a potential disease issue? I have considered getting two or three rabbits as my fencing (chain link) would contain them but don't want any if they have to be caged.
Goats seem to pretty much ignore other animals, but not all other species will be nice to goats. Our goats have been pastured with sheep, pigs, cattle, chickens, turkeys, llamas, horses, and more. The main potential problems -- some horses are aggressive, a male llama will try to mate the does (they lay on them and will squash them), and some pigs are aggressive. We have American guinea hogs now, and they're fine, but we used to have Tamworths, and some of them are really aggressive. We had a bottle baby get into the pigs pasture one day and wound up losing the tip of her tail. Thank goodness it was chore time, and we heard her screaming, and my son ran in there and saved her. I know people who've lost sheep and goats to male llamas laying on them, so if you get any male camelids, make sure they are gelded. And some horses are just plain mean to smaller animals, so it's very individual.
Oooh, I looked closer. She does have frosted ears, doesn't she! Just like Oreo. And two of Oreo's babies have frosted ears as well. A black frosty and a brown frosty.
Hi Rachael, I'm currently using a large exercise area that had been used for dogs previously but had been unused for some time. The fence is 6' welded wire with 2x4" holes. My two does are in that pen and my bucks are about 50' away. For the bucks I'm using some calf/cow panels that my brother is storing at our place and I have 3 strands of electric fence inside of that. It's worked well so far. However this spring I want to figure out some temporary fencing around the yard so they can help us keep the weeds down. We also have a good sized area in between rows of shelter belt trees that I'd like to fence in for them and maybe get another animal to put out there as well.
Thanks! Hosanna is quite a sweetie! I love her frosted ears!!
Hi Myra! We have kept our Nigerians and Pygmies in the same pasture as our 2 horses for quite a while. They seem to do fine. They can share the same field, since the horses eat the grass and the goats mostly go for the brush. One of my horses at first hated the goats and would bite at them when they tried to steal her grain. But now she's used to them, and we just close them out of the corral while we feed the horses. My other horse is fine. I think it depends on the individual somewhat, if they are compatible. The first time my horses saw goats (not my current Nigerians) they chased them out of curiosity. But they never chased the Nigerians. They just needed to be introduced. We kept an eye on them for a while, but they were fine together.
For a while we had a cow and her calf in with the goats. When we first brought the goats home as babies, the cow took a half hearted swipe at one of them. But after that, never a mean move. However, that cow was exceptionally gentle, as cattle go.
Amazingly, we have only had one instance (that I know of) where a goat got stepped on. The horse was walking, and my 3 week old Pygmy bottle baby ran under her feet. She stepped right on Panda's little back legs with her front hoof AND her back hoof. Panda screamed bloody murder. I thought we had a squashed baby, but she got up and then went back to playing. I still worry about accidents, but the goats seem to be smart enough most of the time to avoid the horses' feet.
Other than that, they coexist peacefully. We have succeeded in making the horse corral adult-goat-proof, but not baby-goat-proof. :P We can use electric fencing, with the bottom wire removed, to keep the horses out of places we still want the goats to get to. Haven't figured out a way to let the horses go places and keep the goats out. :P
Pretty much, though, if we decide to put in a new fence, we go with goat proof made tall enough to be horse proof too, so it can be multi purpose. And my horses aren't too hard on fences, luckily. With our goats, we found it was better in the long run to go ahead and spend the effort and money to make good fences rather than to have to keep fixing them. (Being a goatkeeper, you probably know that already.)
Two or three of my goats have a habit of charging after my poor hapless cat. I'm not sure if it's just a cat thing, or if they would do the same to chickens, who are smaller than they are. Although we did have one little hen for a while who survived the coon raids, who went all over the property, and the goats didn't seem to really notice she existed.
I am curious what kind of fencing you currently use? Always looking for ideas!
P.S...The black goat in your profile picture looks just like Oreo, one of mine. So cute!
Replies
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Can rabbits be with goats in that is there a potential disease issue? I have considered getting two or three rabbits as my fencing (chain link) would contain them but don't want any if they have to be caged.
Goats seem to pretty much ignore other animals, but not all other species will be nice to goats. Our goats have been pastured with sheep, pigs, cattle, chickens, turkeys, llamas, horses, and more. The main potential problems -- some horses are aggressive, a male llama will try to mate the does (they lay on them and will squash them), and some pigs are aggressive. We have American guinea hogs now, and they're fine, but we used to have Tamworths, and some of them are really aggressive. We had a bottle baby get into the pigs pasture one day and wound up losing the tip of her tail. Thank goodness it was chore time, and we heard her screaming, and my son ran in there and saved her. I know people who've lost sheep and goats to male llamas laying on them, so if you get any male camelids, make sure they are gelded. And some horses are just plain mean to smaller animals, so it's very individual.
Oooh, I looked closer. She does have frosted ears, doesn't she! Just like Oreo. And two of Oreo's babies have frosted ears as well. A black frosty and a brown frosty.
Thanks! Hosanna is quite a sweetie! I love her frosted ears!!
Hi Myra! We have kept our Nigerians and Pygmies in the same pasture as our 2 horses for quite a while. They seem to do fine. They can share the same field, since the horses eat the grass and the goats mostly go for the brush. One of my horses at first hated the goats and would bite at them when they tried to steal her grain. But now she's used to them, and we just close them out of the corral while we feed the horses. My other horse is fine. I think it depends on the individual somewhat, if they are compatible. The first time my horses saw goats (not my current Nigerians) they chased them out of curiosity. But they never chased the Nigerians. They just needed to be introduced. We kept an eye on them for a while, but they were fine together.
For a while we had a cow and her calf in with the goats. When we first brought the goats home as babies, the cow took a half hearted swipe at one of them. But after that, never a mean move. However, that cow was exceptionally gentle, as cattle go.
Amazingly, we have only had one instance (that I know of) where a goat got stepped on. The horse was walking, and my 3 week old Pygmy bottle baby ran under her feet. She stepped right on Panda's little back legs with her front hoof AND her back hoof. Panda screamed bloody murder. I thought we had a squashed baby, but she got up and then went back to playing. I still worry about accidents, but the goats seem to be smart enough most of the time to avoid the horses' feet.
Other than that, they coexist peacefully. We have succeeded in making the horse corral adult-goat-proof, but not baby-goat-proof. :P We can use electric fencing, with the bottom wire removed, to keep the horses out of places we still want the goats to get to. Haven't figured out a way to let the horses go places and keep the goats out. :P
Pretty much, though, if we decide to put in a new fence, we go with goat proof made tall enough to be horse proof too, so it can be multi purpose. And my horses aren't too hard on fences, luckily. With our goats, we found it was better in the long run to go ahead and spend the effort and money to make good fences rather than to have to keep fixing them. (Being a goatkeeper, you probably know that already.)
Two or three of my goats have a habit of charging after my poor hapless cat. I'm not sure if it's just a cat thing, or if they would do the same to chickens, who are smaller than they are. Although we did have one little hen for a while who survived the coon raids, who went all over the property, and the goats didn't seem to really notice she existed.
I am curious what kind of fencing you currently use? Always looking for ideas!
P.S...The black goat in your profile picture looks just like Oreo, one of mine. So cute!