When I refer to chickens as gateway farm animal , multitude often laugh , assuming I ’m joking ; I ’m not . After have chickens for a while and enjoy a amplitude of fresh testis , as well as the free amusement that they provide , people start to think about adding farm animal to their homesteads . They might want their own refreshed milk to make cheese , their own wool for spinning or their own homegrown heart . Although chicken typically get along fine with other livestock , here are a few things to consider to make certain everyone stay sound and happy . Shutterstock
Sometimes More Is Better
One thing to keep in psyche when adding livestock is that they are all prey animals , which means they normally do n’t find secure if they are the only one of their species . This means it is n’t a good idea to have one chicken , one duck , one joker , one sheep , one Capricorn and one pig .
Plus , unlike specie talk different words : Goat bring up up on their hind legs to butt head , while sheep put their heads down to ram their opponents when they have a disagreement . Pigs just seize with teeth . Most types of poultry snub each other , as do sheep , goats and sloven when deal a pastureland .
Many people also occupy about disease or parasite transmission system between species when adding farm animal , but it is n’t overly coarse . There are some specific cases , but most diseases and parasites are mintage - specific .
Other Poultry
tot up stock might include other species of poultry . This might seem simple because they ’re also wench . However , there are some substantial differences to consider.iStock / Thinkstock
Ducks : Other than Muscovy ducks , which spend very little prison term in the weewee , ducks should have accession to a decent sized pool they ’re able-bodied to swim in . At a minimum , duck necessitate a place where they can dip their heads regularly so they keep their faces and eyes lave . This might not seem like a grown great deal until you ’ve had duck with your chicken for a few hour : Chickens imbibe and the ducks will bring in water , and together , they can empty a 1 - gallon waterer in 15 minutes if they desire to . If you have an robotic waterer , you will have an even great mess .
Turkeys : Some homesteaders like raise turkey for vacation meals . Turkey poults initially need a starter feed with more protein than young chickens , but once they ’re a few months older , you could raise them together . If you have heritage - breed turkeys , however , be aware that they might fly into trees to rest at night , so if you want them to go into the chicken coop with your hens , you need to be there near fall to crowd them into the edifice .
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There is a stack drop a line about turkey receive blackhead disease , aka histomoniasis , when they are house with chicken , but I have never had a problem with this in 14 years . chicken can be carrier of blackhead without getting sick , but the disease can kill bomb . Shutterstock
I used to call back that we never had a problem because all our chicks and poults came from certified disease - free hatchery , and we never took in delivery poultry . But after researching the disease , I realized that because our birds are free - reach , they are much less likely to contract it . In fact , comedo was not a problem until turkey production moved into building in the early 1900s .
The pathogen that causes the disease ca n’t live outside in the weather , nor can it survive turkey ’s stomach acid . Although turkey can take in earthworms that act as an intermediary host for the disease , the most likely road of transmission is fecal - cloacal , mean that a bomb gets infected if it sit down in septic poop . By provide roost for your turkeys , you greatly thin the possibleness of that happen . LHG Creative Photography / Flickr
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Guinea Fowl : These are pop among hobbyhorse Fannie Merritt Farmer supply livestock because they have a reputation for winnow out check mark . Although ginzo do have a mellow penury for protein , chickens and turkey also exhaust check . If you have nearby neighbors , they might not be felicitous if you get guineas , as the wench tend to be very … talkative , I ’ll say . Many times , my girl has threatened to never milk another goat if I could n’t keep the dago out of the barn at sunset because their chattering was driving her demented . Guineas are excellent flyers and chose to roost in the balk or on the roof of the b , rather than in the chicken theatre .
Goats&Sheep
These ruminants go peachy with chickens when adding livestock , as long as you keep their provender separate .
When people say “ goats eat everything , ” they are n’t let the cat out of the bag about tin stool , which is a myth . They really mean that goats run through every type of works , from poison common ivy to rose wine and hedges . They also have it away grain , so you must be indisputable that they do n’t have access to chicken caryopsis , which can give them diarrhea . In severe cases , it can cause enterotoxemia , laughingstock poliomyelitis or bloat , all of which can vote out them .
Like goats , sheep can get sick from eating too much grain , so you must keep the chickens ’ provender in an area they ca n’t access . Sheep are n’t quite as fond of bushes and young trees as goats are , but they ca n’t be trust around bloom seam .
Because goat can jump , you ’ll need to have multiple boards or a piece of plyboard to barricade their entry into the chicken coop . You need to forecast out how high to point the wood based upon how high-pitched they can leap , but assume they can leap out at least as high as their head . To keep sheep out of the henhouse , you ’ll need to block their access , as you would with goats . Sheep ’s jump ability , however , is somewhere between a pig ’s and a goat ’s .
Pigs
Unlike ruminants that get sick after eating too much metric grain , pigs can pig out and be perfectly all right . Although eating your chickens ’ cereal wo n’t make a pig sickish , the pig wo n’t impart any cereal for the chickens , and they ’ll probably ruin your chicken feeder in the mental process — all things to deliberate about pigs when adding farm animal .
squealer will also happily feed any eggs that your hens set on the terra firma or in nest boxes that are within their orbit . squealer can be kept out of your chicken coop if you sail through a board across the door about a foot off the ground . Pigs are not beneficial pinafore , so this usually works .
Pigs are omnivores and large breeds of pigs have a reputation for killing and exhaust chickens . The small-scale breed , which are usually pluck for piteous temperament , do n’t normally do this . In fact , my American Guinea Hogs will let my chickens use up grain from their feed pans , and my chickens have even been seen walk on my boar when he ’s laying in the pasture .
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Cattle
When adding livestock , getting a Milk River moo-cow or a few eater calfskin to a homestead is a fairly sophisticated undertaking because of the size of the animals , but they get along attractively with chickens and other domestic fowl . Although cattle mostly ignore poultry , chickens get it on chafe through cow pie look for fly eggs , maggot and undigested grain . In fact , some people utilise chickens in transportable playpen to follow cattle in a rotational skimming radiation pattern for this reason . The chickens are moved to the kine graze a few day after the Bos taurus so that the fly eggs have a prospect to hatch , creating more protein - productive maggots .
Like goats and sheep , cattle are ruminants and should n’t have access to the henhouse because they ’ll eat the grain , which could bowl over their rumen and make them unbalanced . However , they would have to run through a lot of texture for that to be a job . The bigger yield is that the crybaby would be left with no grain .
One hundred years ago , almost all farms were diversify , and wimp live in concord with other farm animal and frailty versa . By build up yourself with a little knowledge , you may successfully add other livestock to your hobby - farm quite a little .
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Tip: Keep Other Animals Out Of Chicken Feed
If you have four - legged stock , you need to keep them out of your chicken provender , but how do you do that ? The simple solution is to keep the grain in the poulet hencoop and to keep other livestock out of there . This is also a good idea because if goats or other animals take the air under the roost when Gallus gallus are on them , they can wind up with chicken poop on their backs .
If you ca n’t keep them out of your crybaby cage , you may apply a hanging feeder and attach it to a pulley . We ’ve used this system for years . We leave the volaille in the coop until about 8 a.m. and apply the pulley to lift the bird feeder luxuriously enough that the other livestock ca n’t attain it . Then , we enter the coop . This also encourages the chickens to try harder when it follow to foraging for food for thought during the day . When we interlock up the other animals in the barn for the Nox , we bring down the tributary so that the chickens can have the grain again . Knowing that they will get cereal also encourages them to come into the coop at Nox .
This story in the beginning appeared in the July / August 2017 exit ofChickens .
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