# Treat for goats



## OHMYKIDS (May 23, 2009)

Is there any treats for goats that they can have?

I was also wondering if banana peels are okay?


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## freemotion (May 23, 2009)

I wouldn't feed banana peels as they use some pretty powerful insectisides on them so as not to bring tropical spiders and such into the grocery stores.  That would keep me out of the produce section, for sure!

Trimmings from your meal prep veggies, such as carrots, brocolli, salad veggies, etc.  Fruit that you would eat, not so much the tropicals....apples, grapes, pears, etc.

Skins and seeds from winter squash.  I wash the outsides of things that I will give them the skins, like watermelon, etc.

Never too much of a new food that they are not used to.  Cut up chunky veggies into TINY pieces, especially for the little goats.  They can't break them up.

Feed everything clean, goats will try lots of stuff but will only eat dirty food if they are starving.

Leaves and weeds from your yard that you KNOW are not poisonous.  They love dandelions, leaves from maple, apple, pear, birch, willow, poplar.  Cherry, nut trees, red maple, are toxic.  Raspberry, blackberry, rose (unsprayed) are good.  Wilted raspberry, etc are toxic until dry....very fresh or very dry only.

This is a very partial list, but I give only treats that will contribute to the health of my goats.  They love anything they don't have regular access to in their pastures.

Raisins go well in your pockets, too, great for training.


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## Rence (May 23, 2009)

Mine like animal crackers too. But the foods freemotion added were excellent choices because they're healthy.


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## zatsenoughcritters4me (May 23, 2009)

mine love mini carrots! animal crackers in moderation also.


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## Thomas423 (May 23, 2009)

We break branches off of trees that they can't reach.

Oh, and animal crackers too.   $1.88 large bag at Wal-mart.


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## OHMYKIDS (May 24, 2009)

wow, freemotion, very informative, thank you for taking the time to let me know all that info.

Thank you to the others, had no idea they can eat animal crackers.  I didn't think sugar was good for them.


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## alba (May 24, 2009)

grass clippings, branches, twigs,brush blossoms, leaves.  tree bark, human hair,  corn & wheat(chicken scratch/horse feed/dog food), table scraps ANYTHING! If you live in the woods, your goats will think they live at a buffet restaurant, because everything in the woods is food for a goat....INCLUDING poisonous plants. You can give them  a nicely diced fruit and vegetable salad if you'd like but they aren't picky.
Goats will eat ANYTHING at all!


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## OHMYKIDS (May 24, 2009)

would they eat branches without the leaves.  I've got apple tree branches


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## freemotion (May 24, 2009)

OHMYKIDS said:
			
		

> wow, freemotion, very informative, thank you for taking the time to let me know all that info.
> 
> Thank you to the others, had no idea they can eat animal crackers.  I didn't think sugar was good for them.


This is not meant to criticize anyone's suggestion .....just need to put this in perspective lest anyone else reading this start shovelling cookies into their goats! 

The white sugar, white flour, and trans fats are no better for your goat than they are for your children.  That being said, an occcasional cookie is not gonna kill your goat!  The thing to remember is what the cookies are made of, grain.  So keep volume in mind, too, whenever you are tempted to give anything with flour, like bread crusts, etc.  

Be aware of what other family members might feed if goat treats are readily available, the unhealthy treats, that is.  Many people equate treats with love, and overindulge both pets, children, and themselves, at the expense of health.  DH is one of these people, and I have had many conversations about giving stuff to the goats, especially our two pygmies who do nothing all day but look cute and get chunky!  Before I rescued one of them from a neighbor, I would see one of their little girls come out early in the morning and throw gobs of grain at them, or bring a whole loaf of bread out and feed it to them.  No one inside the house knew, and this kid was 4 or 5.  So glad they moved, I could go on for days at the silly stuff that went on next door.

The owner of a local pizza restaurant offered to give us leftover white bread for our animals, I refused it politely.  It is a "displacing food," meaning it has almost no nutritional value and fills us up, which means we don't have room for nutrient-dense foods.  To save on vet bills, feed mostly, if not all, healthy and natural foods.

  Rant over...... you can come out of  now.........


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## FarmerMack (May 25, 2009)

my herd likes carrots, cabbage and their all time favorite is lilac leaves and flowers

Farmer Mack


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## taraann81 (May 25, 2009)

Does anyone know of a site that lists which plants are poisonous to goats and preferably one with pictures?  It terrifies me to think mine could be eating poisonous plants.  Of been trying to do research on it but haven't found a good list with pics as names don't really help if you can't recognize the plant.  Thanks


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## FarmerMack (May 25, 2009)

taraann81 said:
			
		

> Does anyone know of a site that lists which plants are poisonous to goats and preferably one with pictures?  It terrifies me to think mine could be eating poisonous plants.  Of been trying to do research on it but haven't found a good list with pics as names don't really help if you can't recognize the plant.  Thanks


www.goatworld.com is one also www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/goatlist.html

A lot of times goats will not eat what is poisonous to them but it is good to know


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## goat lady (May 26, 2009)

mine love the alfaya cubes that I give to my rabbits. I have to break them up cause the cubes are too big for my momma and her little billy.


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## JerseyXGirl (May 26, 2009)

OHMYKIDS said:
			
		

> would they eat branches without the leaves.  I've got apple tree branches


We trimmed up our apple tree and saved the branches putting one in at a time.  They would strip those babies down.  They loved the bark on them.


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## nightshade (May 29, 2009)

mine love horse treats and lettuce


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## chris09 (Jun 7, 2009)

alba said:
			
		

> grass clippings, branches, twigs,brush blossoms, leaves.  tree bark, human hair,  corn & wheat(chicken scratch/horse feed/dog food), table scraps ANYTHING! If you live in the woods, your goats will think they live at a buffet restaurant, because everything in the woods is food for a goat....INCLUDING poisonous plants. You can give them  a nicely diced fruit and vegetable salad if you'd like but they aren't picky.
> Goats will eat ANYTHING at all!


Dog Food? 
I would never feed dog food to a goat. I give some dog food to poultry but never goats... Sorry... Way to much meat meal in ther for goats.. 
And I have found goats are very picky eaters.. 
Chris


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## FarmerMack (Jun 7, 2009)

your right on the dog food. dog food is for dogs and chickens only because the little canibals will eat most anything. I buy the herd a head of cabbage some carrots or what ever vegetable is on sale that week.


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## chris09 (Jun 7, 2009)

I dont feed treats to much.. Most of the time it is when there at a show then I give them some salted peanuts ( in the shell ) they love them..
Chris


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## norcal (Jun 18, 2009)

What age do/can you start feeding treats?   Two months?


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## mully (Jun 19, 2009)

OHMYKIDS said:
			
		

> would they eat branches without the leaves.  I've got apple tree branches


NO they like the leaves and the soft new branches.  I throw assorted pruning in with them and they eat what they want and then remove the branches. Try not to give them too much junk food, especially things with a lot of sugar. They like animal crackers so once in awhile I will give each a few. They would eat 100's if you let them.


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## FarmerMack (Jun 19, 2009)

OHMYKIDS said:
			
		

> Is there any treats for goats that they can have?


I buy a bag of apples "drops" at the feed store, think it's about 20lbs worth and i cut those up and hand feed the herd, once my apples come in i feed them those. They all line up to watch what i'm doing when I pick up the "loppers" to trim the apple trees they know where I'm headed  
maaaaaah! maaaaaaaaaah!


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## OHMYKIDS (Jun 23, 2009)

Ya know, I think I got really picky goats or I just feed them enough they don't want anything else.   I tried carrots, only the buck eats it, but only a bit.  They smell whatever I have and turn their heads on it.  Picky, picky, picky....wait till they get older and they are done growing.  No more being so picky.


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## norcal (Jun 28, 2009)

At what age can a few treats be given??   And what are good for kids?

6wks & 4.5wks


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## FarmerMack (Jun 28, 2009)

norcal said:
			
		

> At what age can a few treats be given??   And what are good for kids?
> 
> 6wks & 4.5wks


They start eating they also started eating anything i gave the rest of the herd. Within days they will eat grass leaves so they are goats they will eat no matter how old i guess


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## norcal (Jun 29, 2009)

My concern was that treats may cause the runs. ??   We did have problems early on (weeks ago) with Teeny having the runs (treated w/ Sulmet, no problems since).   So, I've been a bit paranoid.


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## Cottage Cheese (Jun 29, 2009)

We have walnut trees in our run with the chickens; the goats are only staying there until their pen is done. Are the walnut trees poisinous to the goats? I do not trim them, so they are only about a foot from the ground.


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## kstaven (Jul 1, 2009)

Yes ... Walnut can be mildly toxic with goats. They would have to consume a lot to really cause an issue.


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## whetzelmomma (Oct 23, 2010)

Really? Walnut can be toxic to goats? Because all my reading has suggested that the tannins in Walnut provide parasite control to goats and pigs?


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## 9byDesign (Oct 23, 2010)

We are picking up our 3 month old KIDS today !!  They will be in a 24x6 penned area w/ shelter that backs up to a drainage ditch/fenced though.  I am VERY concerned about poisonous plants that will grow up to/ through the fence on the backside.  Should I be??  Or would fence growth be minimal enough even if a toxic plant made it that far?  I am not sure if I am fretting over nothing here.  I have been told that Cherry Laurel is poisonous to them (Florida)...but I looked it up online, along with other poisonous to goat plants, and it looks so generic.  I am not sure I could really tell if we have that back there or not???  Ugh.

In brief...Do the Kids/ Goats really seek out these plants?  Or do they generally avoid them?


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## freemotion (Oct 23, 2010)

Know the VERY poisonous plants in your area and patrol for them regularly.  I don't know Florida plants at all, but around here, anything with "laurel" in it's name is pulled out carefully, trying to get all the roots, and safely removed.  Also yew and a few other garden plants that tend to wander into the pasture.  I suspect I lost one goat a few years ago that ate some fast-growing spring laurel that was quite lush after some land clearing attempts.  And this summer, I had a crisis with a doeling that seemed to be plant poisoning....a neighbor had done some trimming along the fence and some trimmings were reachable....also, the goats got into a pasture that I hadn't patrolled recently, and there was laurel creeping into it in one corner.  One of my six threw up all night, a baby I was in the process of weaning (un-weaned her fast!)  

On the other hand, my goats have access to many plants that are mildy toxic and appear on some lists (cherry, walnut, oak, poke, etc) but have proven to be no problem at all, since they have plenty of choices in a big pasture.  I feed hay when the pasture is low to reduce temptation.  But there are some super-toxic plants that they WILL eat, so be alert.


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## MidnightChickenLover (Oct 24, 2010)

I feed mine molassis covered oats and corn sometimes. I also feed them horse treats.


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## savingdogs (Oct 24, 2010)

My goats seem to avoid the poisonous forest plants but will go right for the planted landscape plants including the poisonous ones. We had to erect good fences to keep them out of the flowers but they free-range in the forest. 
But I don't think they like the taste of most poisonous things, mine just leave those plants alone for the most part (I'm in the pacific northwest however). I imagine if they were really starving they would resort to eating the wrong things.
Mine are very picky about treats and only seem to like the ones that are not good for them, with the exception of BOSS and raisins. Those two things are a big hit. Oh, and they do like cut up apples, but I have to cut the slices pretty small. 
They also enjoy branches from alder trees, they strip off the bark and will work on the branches for hours. As we cut down alders to use in the wood stove, it is convenient for them to strip off the leaves and bark off of the smaller branches for us and is after all, free and still available all winter. I imagine there are many local trees whose bark could be enjoyed by goats, it just happens alder are very common here.


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## jross8897 (Oct 25, 2010)

Mine love salted peanuts in shell and salted sunflower seeds< i only give a little.


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## Chicos Mama (Oct 27, 2010)

My 3 spoiled Nubian brats were all hand/bottle raised since birth, so I have litterally had to show them how to be goats! (Ya...Im a goat mama)
I had to bring in a neighbors doe to show them how to eat leaves! 
Before that...they never even gave them a second glance!                 Weirdos! 

They do however know a treat when they see one! 

Raisins, Pecans (their favorites! ) "Nilla Wafers" (easy on those), Cheese puffs & Corn chips... all in moderation of course!

Mine also love the trimmings from my orchard...although picky with those too.
They *WILL* eat the Mulberry leaves and bark, Oak leaves, plum tree branches, Apricot  leaves and Almond tree leaves.
They Will *NOT *eat  BOSS, Peach tree anything, and no Pecan leaves or branches, which is strange because they love the pecans so much, and they wont eat anything apple either.

Oh ya...one more thing they love, love , love to eat...
*ANYTHING THEIR NOT SUPPOSED TO ON MY PORCH!* 

Ya gotta love them Goaties! And I Do!


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## cmjust0 (Oct 27, 2010)

Chicos Mama said:
			
		

> They WILL eat the Mulberry leaves and bark, Oak leaves, plum tree branches, *Apricot  leaves* and Almond tree leaves.


My understanding is that *wilted* apricot leaves are the same as wilted cherry leaves -- deadly!

I'd rethink the apricot, ASAP.


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## jlbpooh (Oct 27, 2010)

I use the bite-sized apple horse treats from TSC. The were a little picky the first few times I offered them, but they love them now and will follow me anywhere I need them to if they smell that I have some in my hand.


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## Chicos Mama (Oct 28, 2010)

Once AGAIN* cmjust0 *you are my Guardian-Goat-God!  
 Apricot leaves are now *OFF-LIMITS!*You have saved my goat babies more times than I can count from this "newbie mama" with all of your knowledgable information ....
Thanks again!


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