# Do goats eat creeping charlie/ground ivy?



## jeepgrrl (Sep 12, 2019)

Hi all! I have been a member of BYH for a while now but this is my first post. We are interested in getting a couple of goats to keep as pets/weed control. We have about 1-3/4 acres fenced in with 5' no-climb fencing. There are a lot of various weeds growing about the property that are driving me nuts and too much for us to deal with. But the biggest weed that is taking over the property is creeping charlie. I have read conflicting information that some goats will eat it, others won't, that it is poisonous and goats shouldn't eat it or it doesn't bother the goats that do eat it. Does anyone here have first-hand information on this topic? Even if they don't/won't eat it, there are so many other weeds and grass that they can forage. I plan on starting a small flock of Southdown Babydolls next spring so there will be other critters to keep them company. Any input would be most appreciated!!!


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## Baymule (Sep 13, 2019)

Can you post a picture of it for identification? Do you have a link for any identification of it? 

Animals typically won't eat plants that are bad for them, unless they run out of everything else to eat. So if they don't eat it, you may be out there scraping it up anyway. If it is close to the last thing they eat, then you know it could be potentially toxic to them.


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## seachick (Sep 18, 2019)

Mine don't, and there's PLENTY of it in my yard  

Then again, they seem to sort of cycle through things and eat stuff they passed by later on. Mine have almost eradicated the Japanese knotweed and are now on to jewelweed. 

I was really worried at first about things I'd read they shouldn't eat (like buttercup, etc.) that are just rampant here. But they seem to avoid that stuff. I DO go around once a week and remove any nightshade I see, but there's just no way I could pull all of the buttercup or creeping charlie.


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