I am working on plans to build a chicken coop this summer, and want to get a milk goat with friend next summer.
My question is whether it is feasible to build the coop large enough now and divide it into 2 parts so half can shelter goats? There would be a solid wall between the 2 areas, and separate doors and yards, of course. I just wonder if there is any risk of incurring disease or problems with both under one roof? My yard area is limited, and I'd rather not build 2 structures if I can avoid it.
Thanks
Goat and Chicken question
I think it would work fine to have them share a little barn.
I don't see why not. People used to do that sort of thing all the time!
Make sure you have room for a milking area with a milking stand!
I've thought about that... the coop will be up against the old barn (about a foot away), and I think I'll build my milking stand inside the barn... nicer for winter winds and rainy days. The barn is not in good shape or I'd use part of it for the coop. The old coop was in a corner of the barn and I can tell you it's right nasty... multiple layers of disintegrating, moldy particle board over multiple layers of chicken poop. I won't even go in that area without a respirator.
Yes, you definitely want the milking stand to be in an enclosed area. Cold hands and bitter winds don't make milking much fun - for you OR the goat!
We had two old buildings on our farm when we bought it eons ago. We put one out in a pasture for shelter for the sheep when we used to keep them, and I think that's fallen down by now. The other got refurbished and was used as a chicken coop until last summer, when friends helped us demolish it and we got an Amish-built 8x12' shed to replace it. Of course it's full of chicken droppings now, but it is so nice to have such a handy area. We have one side set up so we can close it off for the brooder and the baby chicks, who are happily ensconced in there now, and when they get too big for the chicken tractor that's the next stage after the brooder, we can let them use that part of the coop but keep them separated until the older hens get used to them. We also got a chicken door on a timer so we don't have to go out to open it in the morning and shut it at night. It feels like paradise! As one gets older, creature comforts do become more important!
Hey, the timer on the door sounds like a great idea!
The other and somewhat newer half of my barn (which doesn't leak much... yet) holds a building inside it. Well, it's an 'almost' building! It has no siding nor roof, just stud walls, ceiling joists, and a few windows. It's all sheetrocked, and wired for a workshop. I built that when I moved here 4 years ago, but it's so full of storage boxes I can't use it.
The barn should really be torn down but at least it serves as some shelter. It's well over 50 years old, maybe even 75 or 100, and has saplings supporting the roof. The older part once held a cow and a horse, plus chickens, but it must not have been too nice for the animals as rain runs down the hillside and through the barn on its way to the creek.
We have the water running down hill through everything problem too. It's a pain in the hinder parts. Good luck with your pens. I need new chicken pens something fierce.
Thanks. :)
When we remodeled the cottage that was on the property when we moved here, we discovered that instead of 2x4's or whatever for uprights there were cedar saplings holding up the walls! Plus cedar poles for roof rafters. The boards were probably milled right on our lane, and there were some great planks 14 or more inches wide. DH used them for trim in the refurbished building. There were also some really heavy timbers with notches in them that he thinks might originally have come from a boat. He took those and used them as ceiling joists for a wineroom behind the garage. Sometimes those old structures were really built to last!
I can see that having a river run through things might not be too pleasant.
My only suggestion is make sure the two areas are entirely separated by solid wall. We had a chicken coop at our last place that had been built into a corner of our barn (made by building two interior walls) and the walls didn't go all the way up to the ceiling - just had wire up there. Chickens create and stir up an incredible amount of dust and absolutely everything in the barn was covered with a layer of fine brown dust in very short order. That was when we decided if we ever had a barn again, the chickens would not live in it. They would have their own separate coop.
That makes good sense. I plan to have a solid (and insulated) ceiling to prevent predators, just need to figure ventilation. Screened windows for summer, not sure yet what to do in winter even though the door to the yard will be opened daily.
Darius, use rat wire instead of regular screening. We had a mink tear through the screen in our chicken house and massacre a bunch of hens and our only rooster.
Shutters help just to create pockets of warmth or at least let the birds get out of the wind. We close our coop up at night.
Thanks... I have a roll of 1/4" hardware cloth (aka rat wire) to screen the windows. I plan to use it between the coop and the ground too, burying it several, inches in an "L" shape.
I think that would be perfect!