our goat and his new obsession with dog food

[camurphy11]

our goat has been living in same area with dogs now for over a month, but just today he tried to eat their food. Now every morning at feeding time he is acting nuts trying to get to their food. I am now feeding dogs in separate area. Is there anything else I can do to deter him from his new obsession?

 

[ksalvagno]

Just keep him away from it. Now that he has had it, he will always be interested in getting to the dog food.

 

[Queen Mum]

Nothing you can do to deter him. Goats love the taste. It's not good for them. AND if they eat too much it can cause a VERY bad tummy ache.

 

[elevan]

Problem is that most dog foods have the number one ingredient being CORN. Corn is the yummy yummy candy for goats. But that dog food is very bad for the goats. Best thing you can do is just as you're doing and make sure that any food that doesn't get eaten gets picked up.

 

[mek]

Its tempting to see the expression of the goats when you put in goat food in the dog bowl...

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Kind of like the Doe Code, there needs to be a feeding code. if they should not have it they definately want it.

Chicken feed. If mine get into the entry way of the barn, that is the first thing they go for is chicken feeders. Empty or not, they have to make 100% sure there is not one drop. And as we all know Chicken feed is bad, especially if they eat a lot of it. I lost a Doe because she got into a bag of Chicken feed, blotted and died in a very short period of time. By the time I got home, she was pretty much gone.

 

[mkeawsh]

My Great Pyrenees is in the enclosure with the goats but my Buddy will growl and snap at them if they try to eat his food.
Also, you can mix - real well - a little canned dog food (not the chunky - the ground kind) in the dry food and that really turns the goats off from wanting to eat it. I used to have to do that when the dog was a puppy and he was more focused on just playing than eating at meal time, so the goats would come to eat his when they were done with theirs and would turn away with the smell of the canned on it.

 

[2seth2]

 

[treeclimber233]

I found that mixing an egg in the dry food really turns my goat off. If she even sees me "mixing" his food she turns and goes the other way. Pretty funny the first time I mixed egg in and she dove in to eat. She had to try several "tastes" before she gave up.

 

[mkeawsh]

I found that mixing an egg in the dry food really turns my goat off. If she even sees me "mixing" his food she turns and goes the other way. Pretty funny the first time I mixed egg in and she dove in to eat. She had to try several "tastes" before she gave up.

As a matter of fact, Buddy gets an egg straight from the chicken coop in his morning and night food. You are right, the girls can't stand the smell of eggs. My issue is going to be when we go camping this year. I have to use the auto feeder and I can't put egg or canned food in it. I guess Buddy is just going to have to be diligent protecting his food or eat it all at one time. Those darn does are such pigs. LOL