Good job on finding a bale of hay!

Feeding Time

You've probably heard that goats will eat anything - even tin cans! In truth, goats are actually very picky eaters. They can use their prehensile upper lip to take out the tiniest bit of something in front of them if they don't like it.

Unlike other ruminants like cows and sheep, they don't actually prefer soft, lush grass. They prefer to browse instead of grazing. This means their favorite foods are things like trees, shrubs, leaves, some bark, and other things. Goats can even eat invasive or problematic plants that bother us, like thistle, wild parsnip, or poison ivy. After Christmas, many people donate their untreated trees to goat farms for the goats to eat.

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Most goat owners feed their herds hay. This is definitely done in the cold winter months, but can also be year-round as a way to give their goats good fiber forage consistently. Hay can be alfalfa, clover, orchard grass, timothy, or something mixed and many other forages. Many goats also receive grains or supplements like beet pulp and sunflower seeds in their regular diet depending on their use and energy or production needs.