Every day, we have leftover food scraps or inedible parts, such as: orange peels, potato, and banana peels, and the ends of tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and zucchini.
Have you ever thought about using these scraps or recycling them instead of throwing them away and creating piles of garbage?
Goats are omnivorous browsers and can eat anything, which makes them great tools for recycling food scraps. They are curious to taste everything, even tree leaves and pasture remains.
But can goats eat food scraps? and what about scraps from human foods, vegetables, fruits, grains, etc.? Let\s learn more in detail about the suitability of food scraps for goats and which scraps are safe and unsafe for them.
Can Goats Eat Scraps?
Yes, goats can eat food scraps, as scraps contain many nutrients that are beneficial for goats, especially scraps left over from foods that have great nutritional value. This is the greatest recycling behavior, instead of wasting much of the food left over from our consumption and throwing it in the trash.
Collecting them fresh and offering them to the goats is an ideal solution. These leftovers are often a wonderful reward for the goats, as they are different from their usual food, in addition to containing many nutritional elements.
The Relationship Between Goat Farming and Scraps
There has been a close connection between raising goats and other small livestock and recycling food and garden scraps. Rural people are accustomed to owning some small animals, especially goats because they are ruminants that eat almost all types of food and scraps that they find in front of them.
Therefore, they are very economical and do not require a specific diet or additional maintenance and attention. So, raising goats has been a practice followed by many to make proper use of your garden and kitchen scraps. By raising goats, they can be used as fodder.
Goats can eat leftovers regardless of their palatability. It is a good time- and cost-saving option. However, the important thing is how good they are for goats, as not all food scraps are the same.
Some food scraps are safe and healthy to feed to goats, while other scraps can be very harmful to goats. So here comes an important question which is what scraps are good for goats? We often receive questions such as: can goats eat pineapple scraps? Can goats eat grass clippings? Let’s explain in the following lines the most important scraps that you can safely provide to your goats.
Some Available Safe Scraps that You Can Feed to Goats
Fruits and Vegetables
Goats can eat vegetable scraps and most fruit scraps, as they are mostly safe for goats. Including tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, carrot tops, celery, lettuce, eggplant, watermelon peels, potato peels, sweet potatoes, yams, squash, apple cores, and banana peels. Even pineapple scraps, which some may think are not suitable for goats. But in fact, it is quite the opposite, as goats can eat pineapple scraps safely.[1]
Pineapple is a very nutritious fruit and its use can be a good addition to the health of your goats. Goats can eat all parts of the pineapple, including the top and the peel. However, it is not preferable to feed pineapple tops to goats.
Although Goats have a very strong digestive system and can digest anything easily. However, the leaves of the pineapple tops are usually very pointed, so they are likely to get stuck in the stomach or intestines and may tear them and may end up killing the goat as well. Therefore, we do not recommend feeding pineapple tops to goats.
Goats obtain many nutrients through vegetables and fruit scrapes, as they contain many important minerals and vitamins that are beneficial to goats, such as:
Vitamin A
It plays a vital role in the development of goat coats and eyesight. It also helps them reduce respiratory infections and increases their reproductive efficiency.
Vitamin E
Goats mainly need vitamin E, as vitamin E acts as an essential antioxidant for them. It is more necessary for young goats than for fully mature goats. A deficiency of vitamin E in young goats leads to muscle diseases in them. While in adult goats, its deficiency can lead to reproductive failure, poor reproductive functions, and a weak immune system.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C, which is found in fruits and vegetables, is very necessary for goats and is the key to fighting disease as it strengthens the immune system. It is an important part of any goat owner’s collection as it helps improve skin, eye, and bone health and reduces many diseases.
Water
Goats need water to hydrate and increase the efficiency of vital processes, especially milking goats. It needs more water than other goats. So the high water content found in vegetables and fruits can serve as a water supplement for them.
Fat
Fruits and vegetables contain a moderate percentage of fat. The amount of fat is the appropriate amount of fat for goats. It helps them get energy without being so big that it hurts them. As is known, more fat harms goats and disturbs the digestion of fiber.
Carbohydrate
Vegetables and fruits contain a moderate percentage of carbohydrates, which provide goats with energy. Therefore, it is considered a complementary part of the goat diet to make it more balanced. When goats do not consume enough carbohydrates, they can show symptoms of weakness and remain lifeless and lethargic.
Calcium
Calcium found in fruits and vegetables is essential for goats, as it plays several important roles in goats, as it works to improve nerve functions, cardiovascular functions, blood clotting, muscle contraction, and enzyme activity.
Pure Zinc
Parasitosis is a disease caused by zinc deficiency in goats. This can be avoided by eating goat food that contains high amounts of zinc, such as pineapple. Zinc plays an important role in improving immune response, protein synthesis, and stress management.
There are many vitamins and other minerals such as potassium, magnesium, iron, and others that vegetable and fruit scraps provide for goats. But since goats devour anything in front of them, especially fruits because of their sweet taste, they should be fed to goats in moderation, since too much sugar is not good for their health.
Cereals
Goats can eat table scraps of grains, whether cooked or uncooked, such as oats, rice, barley, and wheat. It helps goats obtain a variety of protein and minerals.
Garden Scraps
goats can eat garden scraps, they are great at clearing gardens and pastures. Goats Can eat grass clippings and sweep trees and harmful plants to clean the lands during some farming seasons.
Some Tips For Feeding Goat Droppings
These tips can help you ensure your goats get a healthy, balanced diet:
Make Sure It’s Safe
You should check whether these scraps are safe for goats before anything. If you are not sure that they are safe for goats, it is better to avoid them as being careful will be better instead of feeding them to the goats and causing them harm.
Remove Any Unhealthy Part
Remove any moldy or spoiled parts of fruits and vegetables or kitchen scraps from grains and cooked food.
Wash It
You should wash all vegetable and fruit scraps that you will be feeding to your goats well before serving them.
Cut It Off
You should cut large scraps into small pieces so that the goats can eat them safely without the risk of choking.
Removal of Foreign Materials
If you are giving garden clippings to goats, you must remove any harmful objects, as they may contain cigarette butts, some metal pieces, or nails, which are also very harmful to their health.
Do Not Overdo It
Food scraps should be provided in moderation, as even safe scraps can become harmful and lead to health problems if fed to goats in excess.
What Scraps Can Goats Not Eat?
Knowing which foods should not be fed to goats is extremely important, as they are often related to damage and diseases. So, we have collected for you below some scraps that you should avoid feeding to your goats:
Chocolate
Some people may think that he pampers his goats when he offers them pieces of chocolate, but that is not true at all. Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, which are toxic to goats.
Avocado
Although avocado contains many nutrients, it contains a toxic substance that can be harmful to goats.
Milk
Milk is harmful to goats as it contains the sugar lactose, which goats cannot tolerate and their digestive system cannot digest, so goats should not drink milk.
Spicy and fatty foods
Although goats can eat kitchen scraps, they should not be served foods cooked in oil or grease or that contain a lot of baking soda or spices. It is harmful to them and may cause digestive disorders and painful symptoms.
Garlic
Garlic is beneficial for humans, but it is not the same for goats, as it can cause anemia in them.
Onions
It is not recommended to feed onions to goats, as onions can cause problems in their digestive system.
Rhubarb
Pioneers are toxic to goats as their leaves contain a toxin that is harmful to goats.
Some Other Items
While egg shells, fish pieces, chicken scraps, and meat can be fed to chickens and ducks, they should not be fed to goats as they are not suitable for them and could harm them.
