Although the goat's digestive system is similar to that of other ruminants such as cattle and sheep who are "grazers" and eat grass , goats are more related to deer who are "browsers". Goats prefer brush , trees and weeds more than grass. It is natural for them to nibble a little here and a little there.
Never make big changes in the way you feed a goat all at once , or feed large quantities of a new food the goat has never had before. To do this is to throw off the bacteria in the goat's rumen, which can cause the goat to bloat , or worse the rumen to shut down . When changing a goat's diet , do so slowly to give the bacteria in the rumen time to adjust.
Too much of anything is not a good thing.
Edible
Please note, too much of anything can be bad, so ALL plants, even if in this Edible listing, should be fed only in moderation.
POISONOUS
Never make big changes in the way you feed a goat all at once , or feed large quantities of a new food the goat has never had before. To do this is to throw off the bacteria in the goat's rumen, which can cause the goat to bloat , or worse the rumen to shut down . When changing a goat's diet , do so slowly to give the bacteria in the rumen time to adjust.
Too much of anything is not a good thing.
Edible
Please note, too much of anything can be bad, so ALL plants, even if in this Edible listing, should be fed only in moderation.
- Catnip
- Cedar Needles (leaves) & Bark
- Celery
- Citrus
- Clover
- Corn husks & silk
- Cottonwood
- Coyote Bush (Baccharis)
- Dandelion
- Douglas Fir
- DogwoodElm
- English Ivy (we feed lvy trimming all the time; they love it)
- Fava Bean pods
- Fern
- Fescue grass
- Ficus
- Garlic
- Ginger Root
- Grape, entire plants
- Grape Vine
- Grapefruit, fruit & peel
- Greenbrier
- Hay Plant
- Heavenly Bamboo
- Hemlock Trees (which are not the same as the poisonous hemlock, an herbaceous species of plant which is in the carrot family that bears the scientific name “Conium maculatum")
- Hibiscus
- Honeysuckle, entire plant (goats love honeysuckle)
- Hyssop
- Ivy
- Jackfruit leaves
- Jade
- Jambolan leaves
- Japanese Elm
- Japanese Knotweed aka: polygonum cuspidatum aka: fallopia japonica.
- Japanese Magnolias (blooms/leaves)
- Johoba
- Kudzu
- Lilac bark /branches
- Lupine - appears on both lists: Seeds are the part of the plant that are the greatest problem.
- Magnolia Leaves green and dried
- Mango leaves
- Manzanita (Arctostaphylos)
- Maple
Trees, leaves & bark - (goats will
readily strip the bark and kill the tree)
NOT Red Maples (Red Maples can be toxic) - Marijuana-in moderation
- Mesquite
- Mint
- Mock Orange
- Monkeyflower (Mimulus)
- Mountain Ash (excellent goat forage tree)
- Morning Glory
- Moss
- Mulberry (entire plant)
- Mullein
- Mustard
- Nettle
- Lemon Grass
- Oak Tree Leaves
- Okara- pulp left over after making Soymilk
- Onion
- Orange, fruit & peel
- Paloverde - needles & seed pods
- Patterson's Curse
- Pea Pods
- Peanuts, including the shells
- Pear
- Pencil cactus
- Peppers
- Pepper plants
- Photinia
- Pine Trees (we had hundreds of small trees until our goats ate them all)
- Plum, all
- Pumpkin
- Poison Oak
- Poison Sumac, the vine
- Pomegranates
- Poplar Trees
- Potatoes
- Raisins
- Raspberry, entire plant (goats loves raspberry)
- Red-tips
- Rose, all, entire plant (goats loves roses)
- Salvation Jane
- Sassafras
- Southern Bayberry (myrica cerifera)
- Spruce trees
- Sumac, the tree
- Sunflowers
- St. John's Wort (can cause sun sensitivity in light skinned goats)
- Strawberry
- Sweet Gum Trees
- Sweet potato leaves
- Tomatoes (cherry tomatoes make wonderful treats)
- Tomato plants- in moderation (mine eat them with no problems)
- Tree of Heaven
- Turnips
- Yaupon Holly (Ilex vomitoria)
- Yarrow
- Yellow Locus
- Yucca
- Vetch
- Virginia Creeper
- Wandering Jew
- Watermelon
- Wax Myrtle (myrica cerifera)
- Weeping Willow-great as a natural wormer and natural pain killer
- Wild Rose, entire plant (goats loves roses)
- Wild Tobacco
POISONOUS
- African Rue
- Andromeda (related to foxglove)
- Avocado- South American Avocado leaves/tree such as Haas or crosses with Haas
- Avocado- Fuarte (definitely)
- Azalea
- Brouwer's Beauty Andromeda
- Boxwood
- Burning Bush berries
- Calotropis
- Cassava (manioc)
- China Berry Trees, all parts
- Choke Cherries, wilting especially
- Choke Cherry Leaves in abundance
- Datura
- Dog Hobble
- Dumb Cane (diffenbachia) (Houseplant)
- Euonymus Bush berries
- False Tansy Foxglove
- "Fiddleneck"- know by this common name in CA. It is a fuzzy looking, 12" to 15" plant, with small yellow blossoms, shaped on a stem shaped like the neck of a fiddle.
- Flixweed
- Fusha
- Holly Trees/Bushes
- Ilysanthes floribunda
- Japanese pieris (extremely toxic)
- Japanese Yew
- Lantana
- Larkspur- a ferny, flowering plant in shades of blue, pink and white.
- Lasiandra
- Lilacs
- Lily of the Valley (Pieris Japonica)
- Lupine - appears on both lists: Seeds are the part of the plant that are the greatest problem.
- Madreselva (Spain) patologia renal
- Maya-Maya
- Monkhood
- Milkweed
- Mountain Laurel
- Nightshade
- Oleander
- Pieris Japonica (extreamly toxic) 'Privet
- Red Maples
- Rhododendron
- Rhubarb leaves
- Tu Tu (the Maori name for Coriaria arborea)
- Wild Cherry, -wilted- leaves (fresh and fully dried are not poisonous)
- Yew
