can i feed bread to goats ?

miron28

Overrun with beasties
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
178
Reaction score
1
Points
79
Location
Lenoir, North Carolina
i buy grabage bags full of day old bread for my pigs and i want to know if goats can have some or is it a bad idea?
 

mully

Loving the herd life
Joined
Jun 10, 2009
Messages
610
Reaction score
36
Points
173
Location
Mt Ulla, NC
Not a great idea... too much starch and yeast. Yes as a treat but not every day
 

warthog

Overrun with beasties
Joined
Jul 29, 2009
Messages
839
Reaction score
1
Points
94
Location
Belize
I don't sup[pose a little would hurt. But personally I wouldn't.
 

freemotion

Self Sufficient Queen
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
3,271
Reaction score
22
Points
236
Location
Western MA
A neighbor threw some into my field a couple of weeks ago and my herd queen...who likely ate it ALL....got quite sick, had a big worm bloom, and dropped her milk production dramatically. And I was planning on milking her through. :he

I give free bread to my pigs and they won't eat it. I throw it out there anyways, figure it will be good compost. :p
 

aggieterpkatie

The Shepherd
Joined
Oct 23, 2009
Messages
3,696
Reaction score
11
Points
156
Every now and then I'll feed some bread to the sheep and goats when I'm giving it to the chickens. They do fine, but they don't get very much...maybe one slice per animal.
 

mistee

Ridin' The Range
Joined
Aug 23, 2010
Messages
256
Reaction score
0
Points
69
knowone here eats the heels of the bread so the goats are chickens end up w/ it.. Not much,, maybe 4 or 5 pieces a week between all!
 

Emmetts Dairy

Loving the herd life
Joined
Jul 25, 2010
Messages
1,645
Reaction score
2
Points
104
Location
New Hampshire
I wouldnt. No need to and its not good for them. It can make them sick as "Freemotion" stated. Not worth it to me... I save it for pigs and chickens they love it and can handle it well!
 

TheSheepGirl

Loving the herd life
Joined
Sep 1, 2010
Messages
334
Reaction score
0
Points
154
The previous owners of my goats always fed their animals bred. She had horses and chickens in the same field as well as goats.

She fed several pounds of it every day to her animals and supposedly had no problems. Our doe absolutely loves it, but we giver a considerably smaller amount. A little bread will not hurt them, like less than a quarter of a loaf at a time.

As for your doe getting sick from the bread. Getting to much or any food the goats are not used to can make them sick.
 

()relics

Overrun with beasties
Joined
May 23, 2009
Messages
607
Reaction score
2
Points
94
Location
indiana
any whole grain bread is fine for goats. you wouldn't want to over feed any item in your ration but in moderation its OK...White bread, the cheap stuff that is horrible even for us, should be saved for the pigs. Actually the starch and yeast is good for the active rumen, the extra carbohhydrate load needs to be adjusted by removing other ingredients from your ration...several producers that I know, add bread to rations as a cost saving, I tried it it but only had a limited supply so the trial didn't last long but I found that they weren't really that interested in eating much of it...again don't dump a whole truck load in the pasture and let them have at it....
 

miron28

Overrun with beasties
Joined
Oct 13, 2008
Messages
178
Reaction score
1
Points
79
Location
Lenoir, North Carolina
i have 5 goats and i started to giving them a loaf a day . so you think 1 loaf per 5 goat is too much ? they seem to love and it haven't notice anything wrong with them ?
 

Latest posts

Top