Goats are really fun animals to raise and have around the homestead, though they tend to be very good escape artists.
If you have the space to allow your goats to roam around as well as precautions measures against predators and against them leaving the perimeter, do give goats a try.
We’ll tell you what breed is best for you, how to raise them, and how to take care of any issues they may run into.
Goats are browsers, and that means they eat many different kinds of plant matter besides grass and hay. Goats eat all kinds of leaves, twigs, berries, shoots, buds, and more. Most kinds of plants are actually on the menu for goats, but not quite all. What about something like ivy? Can goats eat ivy and …
Goats are herbivores, but they are animals that eat all sorts of different plants. And as browsers, goats typically nibble a little bit here and there on lots of different foods if left to their own devices. It turns out they can be surprisingly picky, even towards vegetables that you’d think they would be sure …
If you live on a busy farm or homestead with lots of different livestock, I’ll bet you probably noticed that your animals are more than happy to swipe a little bit of extra food from one another given half a chance. Goats, especially, love to break out of their pen or enclosure to go looking …
It rarely fails that most folks who own animals give in to the temptation to share some of their food with their furry friends from time to time. A little bite of bread or maybe some fresh-cut veggies aren’t a problem, of course, but goats can’t have everything that we eat no matter how good …
For the people that have never owned goats before, they probably think of goats as eating machines: Tin cans, tires, old boots- anything is on the menu! But for those of us that have owned and cared for them for any length of time, we know that the opposite is usually true: goats can be …
Goats are browsers, and that means they eat a huge assortment of plants, and specifically they nibble the choicest bits from a lot of different plants. Leaves are a popular food for goats in the wild, and for domestic goats that are allowed to forage. But not all plants are good or safe for goats, …
Goats are fairly infamous for developing a sweet tooth if you let them. Giving them too much fruit or other sweet treats will lead to them showing a preference for sweet things above most other foods, and that’s sure to cause a problem with their diet. And goats can have a little bit of fruit, …
Part of a goat’s diet will usually be made up of vegetables. They will occasionally find a few out in the wild, and many domestic goats will be given veggies periodically as a treat or supplement. Most kinds of veggies that are good for people to eat are also safe for goats, as it turns …
There is hardly any kind of plant matter that goats won’t eat. They eat leaves, grass, hay, twigs, stems, bark, blooms, buds and more. If it’s green or brown and it grows, it’s on the menu. But how about things like seeds that goats might not necessarily find or see? Can you give your goats …
If you haven’t spent much time around goats, you probably think they eat absolutely anything and everything. Goats supposedly have indestructible stomachs, and will eat leather, metal and other indigestibles. But all goat owners know this just isn’t true generally. Because goats are browsers, they’re actually pretty picky, delicate eaters, and might even avoid produce …
