According to vets, goats can eat horse feed when properly prepared. But they should be fed this sparingly and it should never be a substitute for their main diet. In small amounts fed moderately, horse feed is safe for your goats.
Many years ago, plenty of goat breeders I knew, including me, fed Purina Omaline a horse feed, to our herd. The goats did just fine on it.
We tried it then because the goats preferred it over the bagged goat feed we had available. You can mix some other grains or beet pulp in it to dilute the copper percentage of the horse feed a bit.
What is the best horse feed for goats?
The NUTRENA Triumph horse feed (CHECK ON AMAZON) is suitable for horses and NUTRITIONALLY balanced for goats. You should get the bag that has no corn WITH beet pulp. Its protein content is around 12% and is not saturated with molasses.
Good Luck!
What can My Goats Eat?
Domestic goats can be placed on plenty of diets including hay and grain – staples.
Hay should never be moldy or damp, but hay with some weeds growing in it is actually healthy for goats. Alfalfa cubes soaked in arm water can be fed along with hay – but never in place of hay.
Kitchen scraps are a safe addition, including fruits and veggies like banana peels, and orange. Treats like bread, raisins, and corn chips can be fed in moderation.
With access to a pasture, goats will also eat a variety of browse. Tree bark, shrubs, flowers, saplings, herbs, and weed all make for excellent browsing.
Considerations
Goats require copper in their diet. This is just one factor that makes goat feed unique.
You SHOULD NEVER FEED YOUR GOATS DOG FOOD, CAT FOOD OR FEED FORMULATED FOR SHEEP.
The special anatomy and dietary needs of goats can make these other diets unsafe and unhealthy.
Copper deficiency leads to all sorts of problems like lameness, reproductive issues, skin/coat issues, immune depression, higher parasite burden — the list goes on.
Some places offer “sheep and goat” feed. This may be fine for sheep but can cause a problem for goats. Sheep cannot consume the copper that is necessary for goats, so goats on this diet will need supplemental copper.
ALSO SEE: Can You eat Pot Belly Pigs?
What about Sheep Feeds, are they Safe for my Goats?
No! We do not recommend feeding sheep feed to goats. However, if you must, ensure you add supplemental copper in their diet. Goats need copper.
The Animal Feed is labeled “All Stock” or “All Breed”, Can I Feed It?
This is a tricky one and I generally advise people to stay away from such.
A goat and a sheep aren’t breeds of the same animal – they’re different species of animals. Different goat breeds would be Nubian, Saanen, Nigerian Dwarf, Boer, etc.…. or Arabian, TWH, Quarter Horse, etc., in horses.
If you’ve got some kind of feed that’s labeled “All Breed”, it may very well be for all breeds of a certain species…horses, for instance. Or goats, if there’s a picture of a goat on the bag.
But, no…”All Breed” and “All Stock” shouldn’t be the same thing.
This is precisely the kind of confusion I was talking about, calling something “All Breed” when there’s “All Stock” feed out there is — in my opinion — troublesome, and could be very misleading and dangerous.
So, no… all-stock isn’t for goats.
Can Sheep Eat Horse Feed?
No! horse feed contains high copper elements which is bad for sheep.
I have a goat that doesn’t want to come to me what can I do to make them come to me?
Goats are crazy for treats. First, you need to discover the kind of treats they love.
Most goats will like one or more of the following:
- Cookies (not chocolate-based)
- Animal crackers
- Bread
- Marshmallows
- Some cereals
When you find out what that goat likes, they will be your best friend. My goats really like bread and as soon as they see a bread bag, they come running.
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