Treat for goats

[FarmerMack]

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!

 

[OHMYKIDS]

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.

 

[norcal]

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

6wks & 4.5wks

 

[FarmerMack]

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

 

[norcal]

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.

 

[Cottage Cheese]

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.

 

[kstaven]

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

 

[whetzelmomma]

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?

 

[9byDesign]

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?

 

[freemotion]

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.