What do goats eat?
You may have heard that goats will eat just about anything, including tin cans and even rubber boots. Well, this is not exactly true. While goats will nibble on just about anything they can get their teeth into (they are curious creatures)…they actually prefer leaves, grain, hay and, of course, kudzu. Kudzu contains 20% protein while good hay will contain 12-15% protein. Therefore, we hope they’ll eat as much kudzu as they can (as we’ve got plenty of it!).
Goats are natural browsers. This means they like to pick and choose through a variety of foods, primarily trees and shrubs. They will eat some grass and most domestic goats are actually fed hay as their principle diet, but they will not mow your lawn like a sheep may. Domestic goats cannot normally forage enough on their own to meet their nutritional needs, especially for goats that are breeding, carrying kids in utero, or producing milk. In addition to hand-cut browse, unless overweight, we feed our goats free choice, high-quality hay of at least two varieties; typically timothy and brome to all the goats and alfalfa (a legume that is normally high in protein and calcium) to growing and lactating goats or goats in need of weight gain. The amount each goat eats depends on the goat’s life stage, health, genetics, and energy demands, as well as the weather (time of year). Additionally, we offer various supplements to our goats based on their needs and health.
