# Weirdest goat cuisine



## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

This is just for fun... we all know about the goat's infamous reputation for eating anything and everything in sight, including tin cans, car tires, pipe wrenches, and shirts off the line.  Of course, those of us who own goats realize that this is not actually true and that goats can, in fact, be very picky eaters. However, I'm sure all of us have seen our goats eat some pretty unusual things. 

What's the weirdest thing your goat has ever eaten?


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

I'll start: When Cuzco was about a year old he got into the D-Con rat poison pellets in a friend's tack room. I didn't even know he was in there, and when I discovered him he was licking bright green lips and appeared very pleased with himself. I think he ate about 4 boxes of the stuff before I found him (at least, that's how many empty cartons were on the shed floor). Fortunately the goat was made of stern stuff because the poison never seemed to bother him one bit. 

Similarly, he managed to snatch a whole piece of bar bait from my horse trailer one time. He was not allowed into the trailer because I stored my tack and feed in there one winter when we didn't have a barn. I didn't want Cuzco mobbing me for grain at feeding time, nor did I want him chewing on my reins and saddle strings, and I especially didn't want him getting into the rat poison I kept there. I hate using poison, but it was the only way to keep my tack from being utterly destroyed by pack rats (the wide array of traps weren't working). Cuzco had to wait outside any time I went into the trailer for anything. I was very strict about this since I couldn't shut the door behind me. I used bar bait because I knew from my earlier experience that Cuzco had a taste for the pelleted poison. I didn't think he would try the bar bait even if he did manage to get at it, let alone swallow the big, awkward mass. 

I was wrong. 

I was dishing up grain one evening with my back to the door and Cuzco was lurking outside as usual. He had been so good about not entering the trailer for so long that I must have let my guard down just a tiny bit, and we all know that a goat can sense these things! He crept up quietly behind me. I sensed a "presence" and glanced over. I saw a multi-colored flash from the corner of my eye as Cuzco snatched wildly at the bar bait and whisked out of the shed with the yellow brick bulging from the side of his mouth. Horrified, I leaped after him in hot pursuit as he bolted out of sight around the far side of the trailer. I turned back and headed him off as he came round the other side, but the bar bait was gone. I pried Cuzco's mouth open and looked for it but there was nothing. I searched frantically all around the trailer, hoping he had dropped it, but I never found any trace of it. Meanwhile, Cuzco was rolling his tongue around like he'd just eaten a large wad of peanut butter. I'm not sure how on earth he could have swallowed that whole waxy mass in the 10 seconds it took for me to grab him, but since I never found any trace of it I am forced to conclude that Mr. Greedy somehow managed it. 

Naturally, I watched him closely for signs of sickness or discomfort, but after a week I decided that Cuzco must be very difficult to poison. Since that time I've thankfully never been in a situation where I've had to use poison. Cuzco may have gotten away with it twice, but I don't care to push my luck for a third try!


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

I am afraid to look. I have a two car shed behind the garage which I gave to the goats. Besides stuff stored in the rafters, I had a wall covered with shelves and stuffed with hardware, such as copper pipe fittings, auto parts, old electrical and electronic devices, etc. 

Well, the only thing left on the shelves are old motors which are fairly heavy. I'm not sure where the rest went.


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

In an effort to keep the flies down I hung fly tape. This is an old fashion really sticky tape that the flies land on and get stuck. It is waxy paper with rubber and mineral oil. The goats do not eat it until it is covered with flies. I think they are carnivors. 
Has anyone known a goat to swallow a key? I'm missing one. 
IdahoNancy


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

I get several goat related phone calls nearly every day. Most of these are about the usual stuff but once in a while I get a strange one. The last post reminded me of one such call I got several years ago from a guy who said his goats were carnivorous. When I asked what he meant he said "They eat Meat!" He said it all started with a road killed deer which died in the pasture. He said the goats ate it and afterward had a taste for meat. He said it appeared to start with his Buck and spread to the rest of the herd. He said he witnessed them chase small animals on several occasions and if they were successful in trampling them to death they would surround the carcass like a pack of wolves and eat the victim. (Kind of gives me chills thinking about it :shock: )

By now I'm thinking, OK... this guy is a nut case. I politely told him I'd never heard of such a thing and tried to get off the phone with him. He obviously read my mind and made it a point to keep me updated over the next few weeks. According to him, he was finally able to reach a ruminant specialist at some College that told him it was a deviant behavior which was not uncommon. According to the guy it was a one in a million occurrence for a ruminant to have a desire to eat meat and that one of his goats probably started it and taught it to the rest of the herd.

I Googled this and found an interesting study which documented the behavior in wild deer. http://www.kpcnews.net/outdoors/index.p ... &Itemid=55

I also found a video of a calf eating a live chick. http://www.jokeroo.com/video/extreme/ca ... birds.html

Heres an article describing horses killing and eating animals. http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=4327

I'm wondering if its some sort of dietary deficiency that causes it? I know John M documented his goats eating ants.


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

Curley ate a hot dog but he didn't have to kill it first. 
My chickens would occasionally lose tail feathers to the goats.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Rex, I read about horses killing and eating meat a few years ago. It's unusual, but from the various experiences people related, it didn't seem to have much to do with dietary deficiencies as far as anyone could tell, and it does appear to be a learned behavior since one horse will start and the others will imitate (although the reason the first horse starts is unclear). Perhaps the only reason "herbivores" don't commonly eat meat is that they have never been taught how? That, and they have not evolved to be efficient hunters, so meat is generally off the menu. We all know from personal experience that developing a taste for many (if not most) foods has to be acquired. Most horses in North America will turn their nose up at a banana if you offer them one, but south of the border the horses crave banana treats and often don't know what to do if you offer them a carrot.

My husband always says "You can learn to like dog food if you eat it long enough!" 

And for what it's worth, Cuzco ate fried chicken once, and he loves pork fried rice.


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## Rodrick (Dec 18, 2009)

Nanno said:


> I'll start: When Cuzco was about a year old he got into the D-Con rat poison pellets in a friend's tack room. I didn't even know he was in there, and when I discovered him he was licking bright green lips and appeared very pleased with himself. I think he ate about 4 boxes of the stuff before I found him (at least, that's how many empty cartons were on the shed floor). Fortunately the goat was made of stern stuff because the poison never seemed to bother him one bit.
> 
> I had the exact same thing happen when Norman was about 10 months. Thought for sure you would bleed internally to death. Amazingly no problem.


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

Wow... Has anyone tried feeding nuclear waste to them? Maybe we are missing an opportunity. :lol:


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## sweetgoatmama (Dec 10, 2008)

Mouse and rat poison are much less toxic than they used to be. I still wouldn't let them get into it though. Hydrogen peroxide drenched with a turkey baster will make them puke it all up. A couple of cups will do it, then stand back! :?


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

Here's proof that goats will eat (or try to eat) anything.


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## ohiogoatgirl (Jan 31, 2010)

wow! my grampa has cacti everywhere at his house, which happens to be nest door. i'm glad our goats never tried THAT!
well, at least i never saw them... :? ...
our dairy goats used to get out and head straight up the hill for there house! we had flowers everywhere and they never came into our yard, only there's! and all those poor little trees they bought, only to end up as goat food... personally i think it's hilarious but gramma and grampa got tired of the wasted money on trees and gave up. they still went over there everytime they got out! 
i correct myself, once the leader of the herd, bell, got out and came up to the porch, walked to the door, and yelled quite angrily in at us. she also showed her displeasure by leaving goat-berries all over the porch... :x mom was very mad as well, by now, and left immediatly to buy feed. which is what bell was so angry about, they disliked being milked while munching on hay instead of feed. i think of all the goats i've met ours were the pickiest!


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## neoaflander (Jul 24, 2010)

Our goat Kippy has a fondness for Keebler Grasshopper cookies. 
When our goats were young and still being bottle fed we thought we'd let them explore sweets of different types because we heard goats like sugar. (We're still on our first run with raising goats, we were sort of thrown into it).

So my mother had a cookie in her hand - that she had intended to eat herself - and she let our goat Kippy sniff it. He snatched it out of her hand immediately. And before we could blink he'd eaten the entire thing.

We thought it was hilarious, but after he got a little older (he's only 6 months now) he decided he didn't like them anymore. But he's still got quite the sweet tooth.


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## ryorkies (May 4, 2010)

I have not noticed them eating anything unusual.
But would like to say. If you are stopping to smell
the flowers. You better smell them quickly because
your goat will eat them, especially if they see you smelling
them.


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## 4-Hgoats (Feb 6, 2010)

My goats have ate trees, dry cement, part of a grocery bag (very little though), paper, bark, they tried to eat a plastic kiddie slide but couldn't get a chunk off, cardboard, and about 2.5 lbs of goat treats I had just bought!! They were pretty bloated after that, and I refused to give them grain for two days untill the bloat went down. Maybe they learned a lesson


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## WhiteMountainWether (Nov 22, 2009)

My only wether, Marshall, doesn't care what goes in his mouth. He will eat entire cucumbers (the really overgrown ones that turn yellow and seedy) and pickles. He eats the seed heads from thistle plants whole, and considers brown paper feed bags a treat. 

Haven't had him eat anything bad yet, thank goodness. :roll:


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

Cuzco absolutely loves thistles too. It makes me cringe every time I see him grab an entire stalk, head, leaves, and all and swallow the entire thorny thing. It makes my mouth hurt just to watch! Recently he got loose and attacked my rose bushes. I was so proud of those roses, and they were doing wonderfully after I planted them last June. But Cuzco got loose and proceeded to attack three of them before he was discovered. My big, beautiful blooming bushes were reduced to a few sad stubs. How a goat manages to eat thorns is beyond me. Luckily, the reason I planted roses was because I knew this might happen (having a goat in one's yard presents certain liabilities), and roses seem to be particularly resilient in the face of aggressive "pruning." Other types of flowers and shrubs have not proved so hardy. So my word of advice to all you goat lovers is: if there is any possibility that your goat will get into your ornamentals, plant roses. They may be tasty, but boy are they tough to kill! They'll come back next year with a vengeance, even if they get taken down to the roots.


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

I forgot to mention that Cuzco's favorite treat is garlic cheese knots. These are deep-fried bread knots swimming in melted garlic butter and smothered in parmesan cheese that we get at our local pizza joint. They are a delightfully sinful food that looks like a heart attack in a box, and an order is pretty big, so there are usually a few left over for Cuzco after Phil and I have had our share. He absolutely attacks the box, devours the knots, and licks out every last drop of garlic butter and cheese, then begs for more.


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