My goats
My wife went and picked up some timothy hay for our goats from a new supplier over the weekend. The goats were having nothing of it and were bleating to beat the band for the last couple of days. I had figured they would just need to try it out and they would love it, but they were having none of that. I almost relented and went and got some of the hay they had been on (which is more expensive only due to source), but this morning I decided to just toss a little bit of grain into their feeder. And now they haven't bleated once since and have had their head in the feeder eating hay all morning.
BTW, it is a myth that goats will eat anything.
-
Mr. P, Randy, After Willie Jr's stay in the Vet Hospital and the med's that followed he refused to eat anything except Little Caesar dog food. So, eventually I mixed the Blue Buffalo Puppy dry food a little at a time and now he is back on it 100%. Sooner or later trickery seems to work or is it hunger?
My Uncle Jack in Virginia who restores Mustangs has a bunch of goats. They sleep in plastic drums with straw. Never has to cut the front yard hardly, just moves the stake.😊
His back lot, about eight acres of Mustang parts cars is excess feeding area for his goats. Nope, never has to do any weeding there. Goats are worth their weight in Gold. Heck they will even eat Poison Ivy. Only problem is finding a clean spot to put your foot when looking for parts.
My next door neighbor in my Kents Store, Virginia home throws all his scrap lumber and brush in a huge pile and about every six months he burns it. Last year it was so much fun to watch the little kids play 'King of the Mountain" on that huge pile pushing each other off the top. -------------------------Ray
0 -
They weren't hungry enough at first Randy, adding the grains got em going and you are correct, not all goats will eat everything. I have had cows that wouldn't eat old hay, but the neighbors cows loved the stuff, turns out they were just hungrier than mine, he rarely fed them, just whatever was growing which he overgrazed so whenever I had older moldy hay I'd just dump it over the fence and they would eat it all... Horses are even pickier, but most hungry animals will eat if they get hungry enough...
6 -
Ruger4me: 29953662004251/comments/-1
They weren't hungry enough at first Randy, adding the grains got em going and you are correct, not all goats will eat everything. I have had cows that wouldn't eat old hay, but the neighbors cows loved the stuff, turns out they were just hungrier than mine, he rarely fed them, just whatever was growing which he overgrazed so whenever I had older moldy hay I'd just dump it over the fence and they would eat it all... Horses are even pickier, but most hungry animals will eat if they get hungry enough...
Likely true. They love alfalfa and will chow down on that without a second thought, but it takes some time for them to want to eat timothy. The alfalfa isn't too easy on their gut though (neither is the grain). I have to give them ACV in their water to prevent stones.
0 -
Well, I just went out to check on them and they are back to bleating their heads off. Oh well.
3 -
My wife use to have and dearly loved several pygmy goat's and one normal size one they became more like dogs bonding with her but with me not so much
I seem to remember that once their hay hit the ground, it was over they would not eat it
But they did keep the weeds down on any area we put them in
That was years ago and over time
became part of our pet cemetery
6 -
Otis Cambell had a goat that ate dynamite.
21 -
They were saying "we fear change" like Garth from "Wayne's World".
0 -
I agree 100% with the 'goats are picky' group. Most aggravating creatures I've ever dealt with. Feed them hay in metal feeders. If it gets wet, they won't eat it. They like to pull a huge mouthful out and chomp it but if any touches the ground, they won't eat it. If another goat has touched the hay, they won't eat it. If there's one stem of something they don't like in the bale, they won't eat any of the bale until that bit is removed. Hay fed on the ground is 90% wasted because if it's stepped on, they won't eat it.
Some folks say these traits are mostly breed related and that other breeds aren't as picky. It's been a common falsehood that goats will clean up brush. Mostly FALSE. What they do is eat all the good bits of the brush which makes it look like the brush is dead but later it grows back with unexpected vigor.
My Grandkids have been in the goat business for about 10 years and I'm nearly insane from the constant string of goat problems-feed/fence/care.
9 -
I have always figured goats to be like our white tail deer around here. They are browsers that like to pick and choose what to eat in the wild. The pair of goats I had favored the huge weeping willow tree that was in our back yard near the creek. They always filled their bellies up on those willow leaves dangling to the ground. During the winter they would eat 2nd cutting hay and every now and then mixed with grain.
6 -
Had goats for 40 years always got good alfalfa
3 -
Picky eaters, maybe they're a little spoiled. Glad they ate the timothy.
3 -
'WHAT THE HEY'🤔
6 -
used to have a pygmy goat named Gomer, the guard goat. only thing he ate was dandilions out of the yard and the wifes flowers off the porch. he stayed in a pen with rabbitt beagles and had horse and mule feed, and a lot of dog food......
3 -
I used to grow roses . Lots of roses, was a test gardener for Jackson and perkins . Had roses not available to the public.
Brother had goats he had bought from a local florist. Goats were fed leftover from the floral shop, developed a taste for , you guessed it ....roses! . Goats got loose , destroyed almost 50 prize winning roses. Not a big fan of Goats
3 -
Maybe the perception is different when the goats are pets vs a commercial operation with some expectation of profit.
3 -
Goats are melodious creatures.
9 -
Greatest of All Time.
6 -
jimdeere: 29953662004251/comments/-1
Goats are melodious creatures.
Melodious or malodorous?
6 -
^^ I vote for the latter.
3 -
You guys throwing those strange words around have me looking for and dusting off my old Websters Dictionary!
I finally found it and it not only gave me the definitions I was looking for but also gave an example of malodorous. The book was moldy and it really smelled bad! Guess I'll toss the book and take advantage of our 21st century electronic age from now on.
3
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
20 comments