One significant benefit of having a farm is being able to toss our animal friends our leftover food items.
Sometimes we end up with a plethora of fruits and vegetables and want to give them to our farm animals.
However, some food items are very toxic to animals, so it’s crucial to know what we should be giving our animals.
Not all farm animals have the same tolerance for human foods.
Goats have their own special set of rules when it comes to fruit.
We’ll let you know what healthy fruits goats can and can’t eat and include a quick access table with a food list for you to look at.
Fruits For Goats Table
| Fruit | Good | Bad |
|---|---|---|
| Oranges | ❌ | |
| Grapes | ✅ | |
| Plums | ✅ | |
| Cherries | ❌ | |
| Apples | ✅ | |
| Blueberries | ✅ | |
| Grapefruit | ❌ | |
| Mangoes | ✅ | |
| Avocado | ❌ | |
| Pineapple | ✅ | |
| Watermelon | ✅ | |
| Apricots | ✅ | |
| Bananas | ✅ | |
| Strawberries | ✅ | |
| Raspberries | ✅ | |
| Honeydew Melon | ✅ | |
| Peaches | ✅ | |
| Pumpkins | ✅ |
Oranges
Oranges are bad for goats. ❌
Oranges are a delicious snack for us humans.
Vitamin C is very good for goats and us.
Oranges also provide excellent levels of folate, thiamin, and potassium.
While they are healthy, citrus fruits tend to be too acidic and negatively impact the goat digestive system.
Some goats love the taste of oranges and orange peels.
If this is the case, give goats oranges sparingly to ensure they don’t upset their stomachs.
Grapes
Grapes are good for goats. ✅
They are delicious and healthy snack options for your goats.
The fruit is easy to chew, and goats easily take them whole.
Even grapes with seeds are good for goats. We are sure your goats will appreciate getting the tasty and healthy snack.
Grapes have healthy carbohydrates and dietary fiber, and other vitamins and minerals.
Plums
Plums are good. ✅
Plums are delicious and nutritious snacks for goats.
Make sure to take the pit and the dark leaves from the plum before giving them to your goats.
These parts of the plum may be unsafe, but the rest of the fruit is a very healthy treat for your goat at snack time.
Cherries
Cherries are bad. ❌
The leaves and seeds of cherries are toxic to goats.
They may cause cyanide poisoning if ingested by goats.
If you have a cherry tree on your property, keep your goats away from them.
The wilted leaves of the cherries are even more toxic to goats than the fresh leaves, so make sure there are no rotting cherries around the property.
Apples
Apples are good. ✅
Apples are an excellent snack for goats.
All parts of the apple are edible for goats. It is essential to cut the apples into smaller pieces before giving them to your goats.
If goats eat the whole apple, it increases the chances of the fruit fermenting in their stomach and causing unpleasant bloating.
Cutting the apple into pieces is essential.
Doing this before giving apples to goats up helps prevent negative impacts on the goat digestion system.
Blueberries
Blueberries are good. ✅
Blueberries are a safe and nutritious fruit for your goats.
Goats love to snack on the little tasty blueberries.
Doing so gives them all the nutritional benefits of the fruit.
Blueberries are packed with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
Some goat owners only give blueberries in small amounts as eating too much in one sitting causes slow digestion.
Grapefruit
Grapefruit is bad. ❌
Like other citrus fruits, grapefruits tend to be too acidic for goats.
If goats eat too much grapefruit, they may experience upset stomachs.
Given sparingly, grapefruit is okay for goats; we recommend opting for one of the many other fruits more suitable for their digestion.
Like oranges and other citrus fruits, goats will also enjoy the peel.
Just remember to only give grapefruits to goats as an occasional treat and in small amounts when you do to be as safe as possible.
Mangoes
Mangoes are good. ✅
It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like mangos, even goats.
Goats love the peel and flesh of mangoes.
The pit should be removed to keep your goats safe.
Make sure the mangoes have ripened and are not too sour, as this may upset the stomachs of your goats.
Mangoes are filled with vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber, making them a very healthy snack for goat owners to provide.
Avocado
Avocados are bad. ❌
Giving your goats avocados is a big no-no.
They contain persin, which is a fungicidal toxin.
Humans digest this toxin, but goats do not.
The person toxin may kill goats if consumed.
Ensure there is no way for your goats to eat the leaves, seeds, or flesh of the avocado fruit.
Pineapple
Pineapple is good. ✅
Goats enjoy the fruit and peels of the pineapple fruit.
This is great if you are a pineapple lover as you may give the peels to them instead of throwing them into the garbage or compost pile.
They are delicious and nutritious fruits with plenty of Vitamin C, minerals, and dietary fiber.
Watermelon
Watermelon is good. ✅
The entirety of the watermelon, including the rind and seeds, is suitable for goats to eat.
Watermelon is an excellent fruit to give most of your farm animals.
It is especially beneficial to give them during the hot summer months as the high water content is great for hydrating goats.
While seeded varieties are okay to give to goats, seedless tend to be better as your goats may have a hard time digesting many seeds.
Apricots
Apricots are good. ✅
The flesh and fruit of the apricot fruit are edible for goats.
Make sure to take the seeds out as they are not edible.
The tasty and flavorful fruit provides an ample supply of iron and vitamins A, C, and E.
Goats are sure to appreciate the special treat of apricots to munch on.
Bananas
Bananas are good. ✅
Goats enjoy the peels and fruit of bananas.
Bananas are an excellent source of potassium.
They are also packed with vitamins B and C as well as fiber.
If you have bananas nearing the end of their prime, feel free to toss both banana peels and the fruit to your goats as a special treat.
We’re sure they will love it.
Strawberries
Strawberries are good. ✅
Strawberries are a delicious and healthy snack to give your goats.
They are rich in phytonutrients.
They also have significant levels of Vitamin K and C and manganese and folic acids.
We recommend cutting up the strawberries before giving them to your goats to prevent them from choking.
This is especially important for very large strawberries.
Raspberries
Raspberries are good. ✅
Goats love raspberries.
They are a great way to add extra vitamins and minerals to your goat’s diet.
Goats digest the berries and the leaves well.
Raspberries pack vitamins A and C as well as manganese and dietary fibers.
Honeydew Melon
Honeydew melon is good. ✅
Giving honeydew melon to your goats is a great choice.
Like other melons, honeydew has high water content making it an excellent snack for the hot heat of summers.
Melons help to hydrate goats while also providing other vitamins and nutrients.
They also provide carbohydrates which help to give goats energy.
Peaches
Peaches are good. ✅
Goats enjoy peaches immensely.
Peaches are a tasty and nutritious snack.
The peel and flesh of the fruit are both suitable for goats.
However, it is crucial to remove seeds before giving peaches to goats to prevent the possibility of choking.
Pumpkins
Pumpkins are good for goats. ✅
They are a little choosy about how much of the pumpkin they’ll eat, even though it is safe and healthy.
It’s packed with Vitamins A and E, folates, and fiber for a healthier overall pet.
What Vegetables Are Toxic To Goats?
Most of us who keep goats also tend to have a small garden going.
At the end of the season or during harvest, we may find ourselves with excess vegetables.
Ideally, we’d be able to give these to our goats to prevent them from going to waste.
However, as with any food item, it is vital to make sure the vegetable is safe before offering it to our goats.
Most vegetables provide a healthy and nutritious snack with low calories.
Unfortunately, there are also some toxic vegetables to keep away from goats.
Here are some vegetables to avoid giving to your goats:
- Potatoes
- Onion
- Garlic
- Kale
- Nightshade vegetables
What Should I Feed My Goats?
If you are a first-time goat owner or are thinking of adding on to your farm, you may wonder what type of food they eat.
In addition to fresh water, a daily diet is vital.
Check out these ideas for helping give your goat more water.
Snacks are a great way to supplement food, supply energy, and provide a tasty treat, but they should never be your goats’ main source of nutrients.
We’ll let you know what to expect when providing a balanced diet for your goats.
Main Food
The main food source for goats should be hay.
Sometimes it is referred to as roughage.
Roughage is a high-fiber food source.
It usually consists of hay and straw and is typically low in calories.
This should consist of the bulk of your goats’ diet.
While it is tempting to spoil our animals with special treats, it’s crucial to consider their biological needs and ensure they are being met.
As goat owners, it is essential to always provide access to grass or hay as their main food source.
Another popular healthy food for goats is pellets.
These pellets are designed to meet the unique needs of your goat.
Make sure you purchase high-quality pellet food from a reputable brand.
Goats also love to graze, which makes up a large portion of their diet.
Allowing your goats to graze is a great way for them to socialize, get exercise, and get some more carbohydrates and energy all at the same time.
Snacks
As goat owners, we love to see our buddies happy and healthy.
It’s a treat for us to watch our goats enjoy a tasty and special snack.
It’s essential to make sure most of the goat’s food is either pellets or grass, but snacks are a great way to get added vitamins and minerals into their diets.
There are many different types of fruits for healthy goats to eat.
Since fruits are high in vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and other nutrients, they are a great way to boost your goat’s diet.
In addition to fruits, there are many other food items suitable as snacks for your goat.
These should be given in moderation, and you need to encourage your goats to eat their main food source to keep a balanced and healthy diet.
Here is a list of foods and some other snacks to treat your goat to:
- Carrots
- Lettuce
- Squash
- Spinach
- Celery
- Corn
- Oats
- Soybeans
Toxic Plants To Keep Away From Goats
While there are plenty of safe treats to give your goats daily, there are many toxic things to keep away from your goats.
Most of us keep our goats on farms near gardens.
For this reason, it is imperative to know what plants are toxic for goats.
While some people will eat just about anything, this isn’t necessarily true.
They have a decent instinct for what they should and shouldn’t eat.
It’s still good to keep toxic plants away from where your goats hang out and graze to keep them as safe as possible.
The last thing any goat owner wants is for their beloved animals to ingest something they shouldn’t.
This is unpleasant for the goats, but it may also rack up a hefty bill from the vet.
In dire cases, it will even lead to death.
Here is a list of plants to keep away from goats:
- Nightshade
- Onion
- Cherry Tree
- Milk Thistle
- Milkweed
- Ponderosa Pine
- Poison Hemlock
- Laurel
- Flax Plant
- Black Locust
