# Goats vs. Bamboo



## Lawdog

I know this is an unusual question but I have bamboo growing on my land. How do goats do around bamboo forests. Do they eat the canes or just foliage. What about the new shoots. I know the deer love it as it keeps it cool in the Texas heat.


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## cute kids

my goats eat the 'wild' or weed bamboo that grows here in northern penna.. i have never seen it before, but moved here last summer and there is a LOT of it-----and NOTHING kills it, i am told. this is not what i consider the 'typical' bamboo with the super strong canes that are used in the far east for EVERYTHING. this dies back in the winter leaving stalks that can easily be snapped and knocked down; in spring the shoots reappear and grow like crazy with leaves that are sort of heart shaped--not the slender leaves that i associate with bamboo. the stalks/canes are tall--six-nine feet--and hollow. these spread by rhysomes, as bamboo does.

after all of that: i gave this to my goats and they love it--and no ill effects. i am planning this spring to let them be where the new shoots are to see if some of the unwanted growth here can be slowed. if your bamboo is like mine, you have your answer. since you said 'canes', however, i wonder if you have the warmer climate 'typical' bamboo, slender leaves, strong stalks/canes? i would think that since the deer love the shoots, you will find that the goats eat them, too. good if you want to control the growth, not if you don't. i don't think the canes would be eaten--even these less sturdy canes here are not eaten--but the reachable leaves probably would be.

let me know what kind you have--i am curious now.


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## Lawdog

The bamboo I have is Phylostachis Henon. sp? I know this b/c I planted it years ago. It is the typical asian runner bamboo with 3-5 inch canes. Very beautiful if kept thinned out.


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## Lawdog

Sorry...this was a tough question. I did some research and it appears bamboo is excellent food for livestock and is very high in protien. Additionally...unlike most scrub brush like youpons in Texas...bamboo is renewable and will sen up new shoots and canes every year.


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