# Anyone have pet goats?



## KaitlynRyder (Nov 17, 2012)

I have 4 pet goats and I was looking for ideas for treats I can give them?


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

OUr grocery store sells HUGE bags of unsalted roasted peanuts in the shell. My goats LOVE them. We also buy them cereal - Cheerios, HoneyComb or whatever (low sugar, high fiber is best) and use a small handful of those. Our discount store often sells the cereal - both name brand and knock-offs - at greatly reduced prices. And we only give a very small handfull as treats so as not to mess up their nutrtion.


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## erisfae (Sep 4, 2012)

Bananas, Apples, Apple Wafers, Oat Wafers, Peppermints, Corn, Watermelon, Pumpkins, Oranges, Marshmallows, Wheat Thins, Chex Mix.... yeah, my goats aren't very picky. :laugh:


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## milkmaid (Sep 15, 2010)

Mine love Cheerios and dried fruit. One of them likes corn chips. As Groovyoldlady mentioned, don't give them too much at one time.


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## KaitlynRyder (Nov 17, 2012)

Thank you!


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## HamiltonAcresBoers (May 9, 2012)

My best friend and breeding partner raised a bottle wether this year for show that ended up becoming a permanent member of their suburban household. He's favorite treats are butterscotch chips and packets of sugar


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

All of my goats double as pets 

They get all the fruit and veggie scraps! They also love pine trees, yum! Banana peels too.


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## BlueEyedFainters (Aug 18, 2012)

Mine get shredded mini-wheats as treats.. and boy do they follow me around and bolt from across the yard when they see my hand reach into the bag!
I give them all the veggie scraps too.. leftover pumpkins.. if they don't like it, they won't eat it. finicky little boogers.


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## mmiller (Apr 3, 2012)

I have a 6 year old wether that thinks everything you give him is a treat lol. I give him everything from banana peels to cucumbers. I feed my breeding herd baby carrots an they love em.


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## fezz09 (Oct 30, 2012)

My little wether will literally move mountains for dill pickle spitz(found out by accident) he LIVES them! I can't even pack them in my pocket for myself to eat... Once he catches wind of them he turns into a crazed lunatic! He doesn't even act like that for oats!! Lol


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## geonjenn (Oct 3, 2012)

Cheetos. Some of mine like the cheap version cheese balls that come in a huge plastic barrel from the discount store. And we have a ton of pecan trees that are dropping pecans like crazy right now. Some of them love the pecans as long as I pick up the pecan and give it to them. They won't pick them up themselves. Divas. 

Also, apples and craisins are a big hit.


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## fezz09 (Oct 30, 2012)

My alpine buck loves rockets! The wee little candies you get for Halloween! He thinks their great! Haha


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

My doe gets Cheetos and Fritos and those yogurt things made by Gerber for babies. She's not much of a sweet eater, but she loves anything salty. Especially french fries.


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## WillowGem (Aug 3, 2011)

Mine love dried cranberries and animal crackers. 
They also love the licorice flavored goat treats from Tractor Supply.


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## Jodi_berg (Oct 29, 2012)

I'm so afraid to give my little wether any treats because they may not be 2:1 ratio, I'm kind of sucking some of they joy out of it with my worrying


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Jodi_berg said:


> I'm so afraid to give my little wether any treats because they may not be 2:1 ratio, I'm kind of sucking some of they joy out of it with my worrying


Some fruit and veggie bits really shouldn't be a problem, especially just a little treat at a time  And if you wanted, you could look up the Calcium/phosphorus ratio for a particular fruit/veggie you wanted to feed.


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## Jodi_berg (Oct 29, 2012)

http://www.sugar-gliders.com/glidervet-60.htm

This is helpful!


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## ASTONs Dairy (Aug 14, 2012)

geonjenn said:


> Cheetos. Some of mine like the cheap version cheese balls that come in a huge plastic barrel from the discount store. And we have a ton of pecan trees that are dropping pecans like crazy right now. Some of them love the pecans as long as I pick up the pecan and give it to them. They won't pick them up themselves. Divas.
> 
> Also, apples and craisins are a big hit.


That's funny to hear you say that. I have pecan trees also and my goats will not pick the up off the ground. They take them out of my bucket when I am picking them up. My doe, if she thinks I am not watching will go over pick through the bucket, get what she wants and then turn it over, look at me and bahbahbah. I get after her and she runs. Its one of the funniest things I have seen her do. It's like she is teasing me. Their treats are pecans, black oil sunflower seeds, and any fruits and some veggies if they like them.


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## HamiltonAcresBoers (May 9, 2012)

I have a doe that would move mountains for the occasional onion ring


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

one of does loves bourban and coke!


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

My dad gave our doe a treat of wine once, just a little. She loved it


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## WillowGem (Aug 3, 2011)

That's funny, keren...my husband drinks whiskey and coke...and the boys are constantly trying to drink out of his cup. 
They don't seem to be big fans of my wine though.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Too funny  Great stories , especially the doe knocking over the bucket of pecans and running away , lolol I laughed so hard just imagining that one 

I need to try some of these treats for my guys , minus a few of them , lolol.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Woodhavenfarm said:


> All of my goats double as pets
> 
> They get all the fruit and veggie scraps! They also love pine trees, yum! Banana peels too.


Does your goats get the sap from the pine trees all over them 
Mine look like they got into a dirt fight !! :lol:
All I can do is wait till it wears off itself i guess...


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

I give my goats banana peels. watermelon rinds, squash, etc. They also love crackers with peanut butter. I had purchased a huge box of them last year that went stale. So I removed all the crackers from their wrappers and tossed them out for the birds, who never got even one as the goats found them and gobbled them all up. This morning while my ranch partner was helping an elderly friend fix a toilet, I was out sweeping up all the acorns on the porch. Brought home an entire grocery bag of acorns for our spoiled goats, who are now happily munching away.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Texas.girl said:


> I was out sweeping up all the acorns on the porch. Brought home an entire grocery bag of acorns for our spoiled goats, who are now happily munching away.


A few acorns are fine, but keep an eye on them because too many acorns are considered toxic.


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## HaleyD (Sep 12, 2012)

Woodhavenfarm said:


> A few acorns are fine, but keep an eye on them because too many acorns are considered toxic.


Really?! Yikes! Mine just discovered acorns today, I better keep an eye on them


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## Mandara Farm (Sep 12, 2010)

We rake up our yard in Fall, and then store our cottonwood leaves in big bags over the winter. That way, when it's freezing and snowy outside, the girls can still have yummy, crispy "goat chips" They love 'em!


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## erisfae (Sep 4, 2012)

I also discovered, just this morning, that the leaves on my apple trees are a much loved treat. 
They got out of the gate and found my dwarf apple saplings. Poor little trees didn't stand a chance.


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## adriHart (Nov 1, 2012)

Woodhavenfarm said:


> All of my goats double as pets
> 
> They get all the fruit and veggie scraps! They also love pine trees, yum! Banana peels too.


I had heard ingesting pine can cause abortions. is this true because my goats love to stand on back legs and climb on me or the fence to get at it all the time. this will be my first breeding season so I am afraid to hurt my does chances of having healthy pregnancies.

They also love to clean up under the apple trees. I load up boxes of leaves and fallen apples this time of year to give them through winter.


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## Texas.girl (Dec 20, 2011)

So far I have not seen any issues with them eating acorns but then no one gets the entire bag because the others insist on sharing.

No idea about pine but I have Mountain Cedar trees in my area. Goats all over the area go to great lenghs to eat the needles off the trees (but the wild animals avoid them). The needles are hard to digest but I think if they caused abortions or any other problems the ranchers would go to a lot more effort to get rid of these trees, especially since they cause major winter allergies. No one likes Mountain Cedar trees.


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## pop5 (Oct 20, 2011)

KaitlynRyder said:


> I have 4 pet goats and I was looking for ideas for treats I can give them?


Hello, I have 6 pet goats and i give them a carob bean as a treat, also i save the onion ends, garlic ends and skin, tomato core, orange peel and apple....but not the pips! ...i was told the pips were really bad for goats, not sure why. They also like raisins but you must'nt give them more than 2 or 3 at a time as it can upset their rumens, i never give too much of a treat at once. Mine have hay all the time, a little grain in the morning and again in the evenings and i take them to a neighbouring field to browse once a day :lovey:


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Apple seeds have arsenic in them .


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Texas.girl said:


> So far I have not seen any issues with them eating acorns but then no one gets the entire bag because the others insist on sharing.
> 
> No idea about pine but I have Mountain Cedar trees in my area. Goats all over the area go to great lenghs to eat the needles off the trees (but the wild animals avoid them). The needles are hard to digest but I think if they caused abortions or any other problems the ranchers would go to a lot more effort to get rid of these trees, especially since they cause major winter allergies. No one likes Mountain Cedar trees.


I thought the pine needles in moderation is good for them because they are loaded with vitamin C.


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## HamiltonAcresBoers (May 9, 2012)

Tomatoes are toxic to goats, and I'd never give apple seeds either.. And we give handfuls of raisins all the time, and weve never had a problem in the 6 years that we've done it.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Jeez , I read the paert with the raisins being no good for them and i almost passed out !! 
I give my guys raisins all the time , never saw a bad reaction , but when you are looking for one , you will certainly see something that doesnt seem right and it will snowball....but thats me , I worry too much. But after seeing my Tricky sick , that was enough for me.

I have such a nice list of good treats for them now. This is a great post for us newbies 
I love going up to the barn carrying their treat bowl and seeing their little faces light up 
Especially Trick's , she REALLY smiles , lololol.


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## zubbycat (Oct 14, 2012)

Herbie will do ANYTHING for pieces of carrot - even give me kisses ... Lol, he is turning into a trick-goat.


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

We give raisins, they love them. They also eat a TON of pine. No abortions -- pine is super, super good for them.


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## LaZyAcres (Aug 25, 2010)

My girls get all the kitchen scraps, like lettuce, carrots, onions, broccoli, kohlrabi etc. "Somehow" we found out they don't mind beer either..? Moderation, of course, with everything


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## pop5 (Oct 20, 2011)

Had no idea apple pips contained arsenic! and that tomatoes were toxic to goats! I was told by a breeder that tomatoes were ok to give and that apple pips were bad....so now i know the reason i dont give the pips, the tomato cores were only given in small doses and they didnt cause them any harm but i certainly wont be giving them anymore. You learn so much from being on here :lovey:


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## animalfamily (Nov 23, 2012)

Our goats eat pine needles all the time and have ever since we got them. We've never had any problems with them aborting. Another favorite of our goats are Walnut leaves. We have hundreds of Walnut trees and our goats eat them up!!! Walnut leaves, nuts etc. are also good for worms, I think that is why our goats rarely get wormy.


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## pop5 (Oct 20, 2011)

mine dont get wormy either, dont have walnut trees but have fig trees and they love the leaves from them plus almond and olive leaves too, i was also told to be careful of them eating the fallen figs as too many would kill them, anyone know if this is true? i have to watch them like a hawk around them, also we collect the almonds and fill up bags which the goats like to rip open going mad for the almonds...but they're all in the shell still and if i dont watch them they eat the shell too! is it bad for them to do this?


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## AJfunnyfarm (Nov 30, 2012)

adriHart said:


> I had heard ingesting pine can cause abortions. is this true because my goats love to stand on back legs and climb on me or the fence to get at it all the time. this will be my first breeding season so I am afraid to hurt my does chances of having healthy pregnancies.
> 
> They also love to clean up under the apple trees. I load up boxes of leaves and fallen apples this time of year to give them through winter.


Yes, pine can cause abortions


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## AJfunnyfarm (Nov 30, 2012)

KaitlynRyder said:


> I have 4 pet goats and I was looking for ideas for treats I can give them?


Pumpkins are a loved treat especially the seeds.
Also mine love potato peelings.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

Can anybody else comment on ingesting pine needles can cause abortions ?


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## AJfunnyfarm (Nov 30, 2012)

Neighbor also raises goats, they have pine trees along driveway, their goats were out and that is the only thing they seem them get into. Vet also said it is possible


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