Goat Treats!

The old myth that goats will eat just about everything, isn’t totally true; but if it were, it certainly doesn’t mean that they should! Animals are fairly smart creatures. Left to their own devices, they are pretty good about figuring out what’s good for them to eat and what’s not, and what their bodies need and what they don’t. Goats are ruminant herbivores. Their digestive systems are built for things like grasses, weeds, leaves, small branches and bark. As animal owners, it is our responsibility to take care of our animals and ensure that they are fed a healthy diet. We should feed our goats a good quality hay, not try to pawn off on them the sun-bleached or moldy horse hay. They should enjoy pasture time to browse if available. They should get a quality goat feed or grain mix, and limited treats are a bonus.

Goats love to browse for food. Mine get some pasture time almost everyday where they look for new grasses, fallen leaves, weeds, and branches. Seems like even in the winter they can find something worthy of eating. Browsing gives them something to do. It gets them up and out, moving around, getting some exercise. I like to believe that it stimulates their brain cells. They have to think and look around, forage, not just fill up on a bowl full of whatever we leave lying around for them…which brings me to goat treats. In the wild, goats would be hard pressed to find teddy gram trees, or bushels of fruit loops.

Goat treats are fun, and add variety to their diet. It’s fun to spoil our animals and we often use treats to reward them for good behavior or for training purposes. Treats should make-up only about 5% of their total diet. Too much of a good thing is…well, too much! I prefer to offer my goats fresh produce as snacks as opposed to chips, crackers and cookies. Although I don’t think that these products, if given in moderation, will hurt goats, I prefer to give my herd healthier options. Some of my goats’ favorites include fresh green beans, cucumbers, carrots, green leafy lettuce, zucchini, apples, watermelon, berries, and fresh herbs. I stay away from avocados, dried beans, and iceberg lettuce. Of course, it’s kind of hard to carry around some cucumber or zucchini in your pocket while you have a goat in the show ring. Raisins and sunflower seeds make good training tools and don’t ruin your pockets. My point is, when giving our animals treats, we should always opt for healthy treats, not treats that are void of much nutritional value. “Treats” mean something special, out of the ordinary. Just because they like it, doesn’t mean it’s good for them.

Be careful when changing your goat’s diet or adding new treats. Make the transition slowly so that you don’t cause upset tummies or diarrhea. I supplement my goat’s diets with mineral blocks, free choice, and I give them a small amount of sweet feed with their daily grain ration to satisfy their sweet tooth. Vitamins and minerals are essential for the good health and well-being of our animals. Mineral concentration is not as high in harvested forage (hay) as it is in grazed forage. I make sure that I give my goats a salt/mineral block, (loose minerals work great too), which contains some trace elements like selenium, manganese, copper, iron and zinc, that will help to keep my goats healthy.

Sometimes it’s necessary to give your goat medication, and people food can work as a good delivery system. I will mix powdered medications in with a little applesauce in order to dispense them without too much grief.

Because goats are browsers, they rely heavily on their sense of smell to find food and determine if it’s good for them or not. They have a highly developed sense of smell. If you are trying to hand feed your goat a treat such as a carrot or green bean and they don’t seem to want it, it could be because of the scent of your hand, not the food. Try putting the food in a feed pan and see if they eat it. Your goat just might be sensitive to the smell of your hand soap or lotion.

There is not a lot on the goats ‘Do Not Eat’ list, but like with people, we need to be careful with what and how many treats we feed our animals. It is more cost effective to feed your goats a healthy, well-balanced diet than it is to pay a vet bill. If you plan on showing or breeding your goat, you want them to be in excellent health and a healthy diet…treats included…will help to ensure your animal’s health is optimal.