What animals are the best range buddies for your chickens?

By Liz Greene

You’ve had your chickens for a while, you’re comfortable with their care and upkeep, and you’re thinking about expanding your little to farm to include some more critters — but you’re a tad short on ranging space. The solution, of course, is to range your new animals with the chickens. However, some creatures share space with chickens better than others, so it’s important to pick the right range mates for your flock.

Horses

Horses and chickens are a match made in heaven. Chickens provide a number of horsekeeping benefits. They pick up fallen kernels and pellets, keeping your horse from mouthing the ground to find bits of feed — a practice that can lead to ingestion of dirt and sand. Chickens also eat undigested feed and seeds that pass through manure, thus saving money by reducing feed waste.

Chickens eat flies, worms, grubs, bees, and all other manner of bugs. If they can catch it, they’ll eat it — which means it won’t be aggravating you or your horse. Furthermore, chickens love digging through manure to find worms and other tasties. Give them a pile of horse droppings and they’ll have the manure broken down and spread around in no time.

Chickens are surprisingly good for mellowing out a spooky horse. A horse with exposure to poultry won’t be startled by sudden movements, loud noises, or the occasional appearance of an egg.

It’s important not to let chickens graze with horses that have been given chemical de-wormers or any medication. It’s also necessary to keep chickens out of the horses’ hay due to salmonella concerns.

Goats and sheep

Goats and sheep are a popular choice for small farms and homesteads. You can allow goats, sheep, and chickens to range together with few problems. Just as with horses, chickens will pick up grain the goats and sheep drop, cutting down on food waste. They’ll be just as happy to eat the bugs that plague your hooved beasties. As an added benefit, chickens will provide companionship to the sheep and goats — and vice versa!

Guinea Fowl

Guinea fowl are the most compatible birds to keep with chickens, but they can be bullies. Most of the time it’s little things, like pushing hens off roosts and scattering the flock; however, if they pick a favorite mark, they can be relentless in their pursuit of a victim.

If you plan to keep both chickens and guineas on your farm, make sure to give them extra space to range. While some people house the birds together, it’s probably better to give the guineas their own quarters to avoid problems.

Fencing

No matter what animals you decide to keep with your chickens, it’s important to install proper fencing. The right kind of fence will keep your critters from making a run for it, and thwart the plans of stealthy predators.

If your horses and chickens are ranging together, wire mesh fencing is perfect for restraining everyone. If you’re keeping chickens and goats together, goat panels with four inch openings should work well to keep everyone contained.

However, one of the best ways to stop predators is electric fencing. To deter wolves and coyotes, fences should have seven wires, spaced equally six to eight inches apart to a height of 54 inches.

The most important wire will be the ground wire, which should be placed four to six inches from the ground to keep predators from digging under — and to keep chickens from simply waltzing out.

A Note on Chicken Feed

Chicken feed contains a high level of protein and carbohydrates that can be dangerous to most large animals. Horses and goats are particularly sensitive to chicken feed as eating too much of it can cause bloating and death.

Arrange for your chickens to be fed inside the coop and make sure there is absolutely no way the other animals can get inside. Remember that goats are very clever and persistent at getting to what they want. They may climb through coop windows and will try to squeeze through any door.

Adding more animals to your farm will require more work, but you’ll find that you love them just as much as you love your feathered friends. And besides, watching them interact with each other will be almost as much a reward as the other benefits of animal husbandry.

Liz Greene hails from the beautiful city of trees, Boise, Idaho. She’s a lover of all things geek and is happiest when cuddling with her dogs and catching up on the latest Marvel movies. You can follow her on Twitter @LizVGreene or delve deeper into her internal musings at InstantLo

My fair, Matey

We love to go the county fair every year. This year, after our long hunt for a parking spot led us into a bit of a no-man's land, we entered the fairgrounds from a different vantage point. My 7-year-old son piped up as soon as he realized the livestock pens were first in our path.

"Oh, good! This is the place we go to see the goats eat their blue ribbons!" he exclaimed, running ahead.

Yes, yes, County Fair 2013, I remember thee well. That was the year we rounded a bend just in time to see a goat stand on its hind feet, crane its neck and with stick-his-tongue-out concentration snag in its teeth the blue ribbon hanging from the top of the pen's gate.

What a sight! We were thrilled, but I was a bit blue myself that I didn't have a camera to capture the scene -- for I knew it could have been quite the photo. (My camera was broken and I didn't have a quality cell phone.) It still makes me sad thinking about this lost photo opportunity. Kind of like when my husband and I, in college, were driving around town and I spied a bride and groom in their fancy clothes using the car wash to remove the whipped cream "Just Married" from their vehicle. "Stop the car!" I urged my husband. Nah, he said, and drove on. Here's the stickler: he was a photography intern at the newspaper at the time. (Has he ever liked my ideas?)

Anyway, I guess I've recited the story of the blue ribbon munching-goat enough that my kids know I'm on the prowl for the quirky. That's part of the fun.

Sleepy black bunny that nibbled its ribbon some time ago? Ho-hum. Not the same as catching in the act!

I'm not sure what to make of the curling iron and combs and brushes in the vacant animal pen. Was it to doll up the sheep or the sheep's owner before the show?

If you look at the railing in front of my husband (on the left) you can see a blue ribbon detached from its yellow cord. Must not have tasted as good.

I like how intently goats return your gaze.

Goats! I love them.

One thing I adore about our fair is the petting area, and the chance for my children to approach and feed the animals. My son has struggled with anxiety -- it touches this momma's heart to see his unbridled happiness (and pixelated smile) at interacting with the animals.















The fair helps us learn about unusual livestock breeds, such as the Watusi, native to Africa:

and a B.W. Whiskers, a big-horned alpine goat:

The sign next to his pen says he thinks he is better than the rest of the goats in the herd. No kidding!

Our county fair made my daughter's elephant-riding dream come true.

There are chickens of course:

and fun facts:

and also huckster-style sideshows, like a touted tiny horse and gigantic pig, both behind curtains (we didn't see):

If you haven't gone to a fair before, give it a look. Check here for a website that will help you find one. I hope you will have as much fun as we do each year.

 Carnival ride (light rings) photo specs: ISO 100, f/9, bulb setting with shutter held open for 1.3 seconds.

Buttermilk Drank Too Many Energy Drinks

Buttermilk the goat has taken the internet by storm. Took a Leap Farm posted a video on their blog showing their 5 week old Nigerian Dwarf goat named Buttermilk. He has too much energy and seems to enjoy jumping over and off of his fellow goats. If this doesn't make you want a goat, I don't know what will.

~Michael~

Goaty Goat Goat Goat

I'm SO ready for spring, to work in the yard, and to work the ground. I'm excited to get more baby chicks.  I'm hopeful that we will be building a new beautiful coop. I can't wait to get a couple of goats. Is it strange that I think goats are cute? 

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What are you excited about?

~marisa~

Goats vs. Cows

(Purchase here)

Winter is our favorite time to think about the plans for our backyard farm for the upcoming year. As Michael and I talk, we just can't decide if we want a couple goats or if it would be better to have a cow.  We are on an acre, so a cow is actually feasible on our property.

Let's let the great cow vs. goat debate begin!

Leave a comment to weigh in on the debate.

(Purchase here)

Baby Buttercup

Our sweet neighbor, Jane,  knows that we want to get some goats. She bought a little baby goat this week and invited us to come over and play with her. We had so much fun, and we just can't wait to get our own goats!

Her goat house is immaculate, and Jane is organized and efficient. I know when the time comes, I will have  a lot to learn from her. 

She has two baby goats, so the milk is all going to them. She put the milk right into the bottles she was going to feed them with. 

And Cosmo, licking his lips, anxiously awaits. 

And then guzzles two bottles down in less than a minute.

Then it was the baby's turn to feed the baby.

Madelyn just couldn't get enough of Buttercup.

Isn't she just the cutest little thing?

Thank you Jane!

Fieldtrip to a Goat Farm

Close your eyes, take a deep breath and imagine your own personal paradise. What do you see? Do you see a white sand beach in Roatan Bay Honduras, a pristine ski slope with virgin powder in the high mountains of Utah? Do any of you imagine the Teton’s while standing on Table Rock at 11,000 feet, the wild wind blowing you around with civilization 4000 feet below? Many of you might not visualize these specific places like I do but I bet many of you imagine similar places. My wife Marisa and I are weird in that we see paradise in other places that many of our friends and associates would think are strange. A few months ago we had the opportunity to visit one of these areas. Megan, Marisa and I visited Megan’s friends Marsh and Alisa and their small farm south of Spanish Fork, Utah. It is a place I consider to be a small piece of Paradise.

In speaking to Alisa she conveyed her families desire to be as self sustaining as possible. They have a huge garden, chickens, and goats on their family farm. They live on a country road and many of their neighbors have similar goals. They all helped each other dig root cellars last year so they can store their produce. The main reason we visited was for the goats. Our goal is to have goats once we have a bigger property.

Alisa’s husband Marsh and their son care for the goats. They feed them and water them every day. They also have to milk them twice a day. Alisa spent time giving us a goat-milking lesson while the kids fed them to keep them calm. The goats seemed OK with all of the people around and didn’t have a problem with so many hands on their teats. All of us took turns, and it turns out that I am a natural goat milker. I am not good at most things I try for the first time so I think farming runs in my genes.

After the tour of the farm we went inside and watched Alisa filter the milk. She then puts the milk in the freezer for two hours, which is supposed to reduce the bacteria and the goat flavor. Then we had some of the milk they had milked previously with cookies. We loved it and couldn’t tell a difference between the milk they had and cow’s milk.

Alisa and Marsh work hard to be self sustaining and it would be much easier to buy milk at the local mega store. I know that being self-sustaining is not all fun and games. This version of paradise has early mornings, manure, dirty clothes, and long days of weeding but I think real paradise should contain some form of work. They are an example and an inspiration to all of us who want to be more self-sustaining. Whether it’s growing plants on our apartment patio, or raising broilers in our pasture, we can all have a piece of paradise right where we live.

Go out and plant a seed, raise a chicken, support a local CSA, or whatever you do to make this world a better place and find paradise in your backyard.

~Michael