# Finally! An easy way to make goats eat garlic cloves!



## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

I'm sure I'm not the first person to have figured this one out. After trying many ways to get my goats to eat garlic cloves and failing to find an easy way, I tried using a balling gun. Instead of the copper bolus, I popped in a small clove. Voila! Woohoo!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Great that it works for you!


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

Glad that worked. With mine I just kept putting in food bowl. They finally quit ignoring it. Lol


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## MellonFriend (Aug 8, 2017)

I chop them up real fine and mixed it in with their grain being sure the pieces got some good food crumbs on them and they now eat 'um right from my hands if I offer them.


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## CCCSAW (Jul 11, 2019)

May I ask what the garlic is for?


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

CCCSAW said:


> May I ask what the garlic is for?


It's a great way to support a goats immune system. It's also a natural antibiotic and some say it helps keep creepy crawlies and biting bugs away.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

GoofyGoat said:


> It's a great way to support a goats immune system. It's also a natural antibiotic and some say it helps keep creepy crawlies and biting bugs away.


Works for people, too.


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

Dwarf Dad said:


> Works for people, too.


ill agree to the immune support and antibiotic properties...as far as bugs go...I don't know I eat tons of garlic and I don't know what the blasted things eat when they're not eating me...this year I look like I have chicken pox no matter what chemical or natural bug spray I use ....errrrr


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

GoofyGoat said:


> ill agree to the immune support and antibiotic properties...as far as bugs go...I don't know I eat tons of garlic and I don't know what the blasted things eat when they're not eating me...this year I look like I have chicken pox no matter what chemical or natural bug spray I use ....errrrr


Don't know what it is, bugs used to love biting me. They just don't like my flavor anymore, I thought it was the garlic.


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## mariarose (Oct 23, 2014)

GoofyGoat said:


> I eat tons of garlic and I don't know what the blasted things eat when they're not eating me...


They are immigrant Italian bugs! You should have brought over some Scandinavian bugs!


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## GoofyGoat (Sep 21, 2018)

mariarose said:


> They are immigrant Italian bugs! You should have brought over some Scandinavian bugs!


You're absolutely right


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

I hate to discount your method, but I will say why I disagree, and why it wouldn't work for me personally (as a garlic aficionado).

I don't like giving things forcefully if I can avoid it, I feed garlic daily -- I don't want to bolus my goats daily. Not even for multiple days in a row for a treatment, it's a hassle. Garlic isn't something to feed one clove every so often, it is similar to herbal dewormers, it is cumulative for most ailments. You won't treat worms or pneumonia by giving a single garlic clove and nothing again. Garlic for treatment purposes of (i.e.) a cough or respiratory illness would be 2-3 cloves daily for 3 days, then 1-2 cloves daily for 5 (on average). Maintenance is one clove daily. I could not imagine using a baling gun this often on my goats.

Now, the most important problem. Garlic does best when it is chewed or crushed. Crushed garlic releases more enzymes and one particularly important one called allicin. When garlic is whole, it is not as potent and does not provide nearly any of the same healing benefits. Well chewed garlic works, but crushing it is always a better way to ensure all medicinal properties are released.

I know I've posted this list before, but I like to put it on any garlic thread so whoever visits can see it, options for (mostly) non-forceful ways to give garlic:

1. Whole cloves (goats take them as treats)
2. Whole cloves coated in molasses or honey
3. Suggestion #1 but tossed with feed
4. Suggestion #2 but tossed with feed
5. Crushed or chopped garlic in feed
6. Suggestion #2 but crushed or chopped in feed
7. Crushed garlic mixed with a teaspoon of applesauce
8. Crushed garlic mixed with a teaspoon of mashed bananas
9. Crushed garlic mixed with a teaspoon of pumpkin puree
10. Suggestion #7, #8, or #9 with Slippery Elm Powder added
11. Crushed garlic mixed with a bit of flaxseed meal and molasses to form a ball
12. Suggestion #11 can be shoved into the mouth of a goat a few times forcefully if they don't like it at first
13. Suggestion #11 can also be tossed into feed, or broken up slightly, then mixed with feed.
14. Garlic can be put into a peanut hull
15. Take a banana slice about an inch thick, scoop out the middle leaving a bit on the bottom, stick the clove in (or crushed garlic) cover the top, and offer to the goat or forcefully put into the goats mouth until they realize it is tasty.

In emergency (non-regular) situations

16. Crushed finely and mixed with water to drench carefully
17. Crushed finely and mixed with juice (carrot, fruit) to drench carefully
18. Crushed finely and mixed with olive oil to drench carefully or feed from a spoon

https://thegivinggoat.home.blog/2019/03/05/why-we-plate-train-our-goats/


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

CCCSAW said:


> May I ask what the garlic is for?


Garlic supports the immune system, has anti parasitic properties (dewormer), helps treat and prevent respiratory issues (coughs, pneumonia); overall, I like to say it just helps the body get rid of all those nasties, from sickness, from parasites, bacteria, infections, fungus, immune issues, and more.


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## NicoleV (Dec 12, 2015)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> I hate to discount your method, but I will say why I disagree, and why it wouldn't work for me personally (as a garlic aficionado).
> 
> I don't like giving things forcefully if I can avoid it, I feed garlic daily -- I don't want to bolus my goats daily. Not even for multiple days in a row for a treatment, it's a hassle. Garlic isn't something to feed one clove every so often, it is similar to herbal dewormers, it is cumulative for most ailments. You won't treat worms or pneumonia by giving a single garlic clove and nothing again. Garlic for treatment purposes of (i.e.) a cough or respiratory illness would be 2-3 cloves daily for 3 days, then 1-2 cloves daily for 5 (on average). Maintenance is one clove daily. I could not imagine using a baling gun this often on my goats.
> 
> ...


Baling guns being forceful or not can be argued over for hours and hours, probably even days. There are cheaply made ones out there with sharp parts, and yes, I agree with you on that aspect that you wouldn't want anything sharp being put in a goat's mouth.

However, rest assured, mine is a quality item with rounded edges on it and no sharp parts. It's no worse for them than putting my fingers in their mouth trying to shove the garlic deep enough (my finger nails are sharper than anything on my baling gun). Plus, I've had my fingers nearly sliced off enough times to quit trying that method!

I did follow your advice to crush the garlic before feeding it though, since they won't chew and eat it. They definitely don't like it, even disguised with all kinds of goodies. They just move it around in their mouth to suck the good part off, then spit the garlic out. I've also tried the chopping and drenching method, but every time they would cough during drenching, I felt like the risk of inhalation pneumonia was not worth the effort, let alone the time it takes to prepare the drench.

So, in short, been there, done that, and everyone finds the best way for themselves and their herds.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Cool beans,ops2: I mean garlic.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

NicoleV said:


> Baling guns being forceful or not can be argued over for hours and hours, probably even days. There are cheaply made ones out there with sharp parts, and yes, I agree with you on that aspect that you wouldn't want anything sharp being put in a goat's mouth.
> 
> However, rest assured, mine is a quality item with rounded edges on it and no sharp parts. It's no worse for them than putting my fingers in their mouth trying to shove the garlic deep enough (my finger nails are sharper than anything on my baling gun). Plus, I've had my fingers nearly sliced off enough times to quit trying that method!
> 
> ...


Did you crush the garlic when you used the baling gun?

If not, my point rests - it's not about method, when the garlic clove is simply popped into the stomach it does not provide the same effects and benefits.


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## Dwarf Dad (Aug 27, 2017)

NigerianDwarfOwner707 said:


> Did you crush the garlic when you used the baling gun?
> 
> If not, my point rests - it's not about method, when the garlic clove is simply popped into the stomach it does not provide the same effects and benefits.





NicoleV said:


> I did follow your advice to crush the garlic before feeding it though, since they won't chew and eat it.


She said it right there. All you have to do is read it!


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

Dwarf Dad said:


> She said it right there. All you have to do is read it!


I did read it but wanted to confirm,



NicoleV said:


> I did follow your advice to crush the garlic before feeding it though, since they won't chew and eat it. They definitely don't like it, even disguised with all kinds of goodies. They just move it around in their mouth to suck the good part off, then spit the garlic out.


I think she meant that she followed my advice to crush it and it didn't work (not including any attempts with a baling gun). If she crushed it and bolused it that's fantastic, but that's not the sense I got from the rest of the sentence.


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## smlovig (Apr 19, 2017)

I get dried garlic powder from Springtime and sprinkle it on their food every morning. You start with just a dusting of garlic mixed in with their grain, and gradually increase it. Mine got so used to it that when I ran out, they refused their grain because it didn’t taste right!

Since I’ve been using it, I have a fraction of the fly problems, and my girls’ coats actually thickened up and began shining like never before. The barn does smell a bit like an Italian restaurant, though...


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## Trollmor (Aug 19, 2011)

Dried garlic is not at all as effective as fresh crushed. But I guess you know that.


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## NigerianDwarfOwner707 (May 17, 2018)

Trollmor said:


> Dried garlic is not at all as effective as fresh crushed. But I guess you know that.


Yes, that is true. Garlic uses most of it's beneficial aspects about 15 minutes after opening. Dried garlic has almost no benefits, at all.


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