Food
Goats like a regular and predictable feeding routine. You should give them feed that's suitable for their age and breed, including the following.
- Long, fibrous food, such as high-quality hay and long grass – they need this so their rumen (one of their four stomach chambers) can digest food efficiently. Hay should form around half their diet each day.
- ‘Browsings’, such as roots, twigs and leaves.
- Supplementary foods – goats need a mineral salt lick to supplement their diet.
Concentrates – for growing or milking goats, or when additional forage is in short supply. These are ‘goat mixes’ which include additional vitamins and minerals. Only give them small amounts. The long, fibrous food (see above) helps them digest this.
Here are a few things to remember about feeding your goats.
- Don't change foods suddenly – goats don't cope well with sudden changes to their diet.
- Goats are browsing, not grazing, animals – they prefer not to eat anything that's been on the floor. You can use hayracks with a lid, positioned at a height where the goats can’t foul the hay. Never use hay nets, as goats can get tangled up in them.
- Give them enough space for all the goats to feed at the same time without having to compete.
Clean their food dispensers regularly.
Watch out for poisonous plants
Goats love eating wild plants and hedgerow cuttings. Unfortunately, many plants – including common garden plants – are poisonous to them and could even kill them. The golden rule is ‘when in doubt, don’t feed’. Check any pasture to make sure the plants aren’t growing there.
Plants to avoid include: alder, yew, rhododendron, laurel, privet, laburnum, honeysuckle, walnut, evergreen shrubs, green stuff from flowers including delphiniums, hellebores or any bulbous plants such as tulips and daffodils, hemlock, buttercup, bryony, ‘dog’s mercury’, ragwort, mayweed, foxglove, celandine, the nightshade plants, and ‘old man’s beard’.
There are lists of additional poisonous plants.
Water
You'll need to give your goats a constant supply of clean, fresh drinking water. Remember to clean and refill their drinkers or bowls regularly and remove ice during the winter (but don’t use chemicals to do this). They often prefer water that’s a little warm or at least has had the chill taken off.
Secure the drinking containers, so the goats can’t knock them over.
