Egg Eating Goat ???

[stano40]

No the egg is not eating the goat I suspect a pregnant pygmy goat of eating duck eggs.

For the past 2 weeks I've noticed whenever my duck was laying an egg it would disappear. I figured I have another animal, possibly an opossum getting into the pen during the daytime and stealing the duck eggs. The ducks are locked up at night which is where their nests are.

The ducks are housed with my pair of geese which are laying on a nest well away from the duck nest. My 4 goats also share the pen area during the daylight hours and are locked up separately elsewhere.

I did find out in my yard area a shell that was flattened like the liquid was sucked right out of it or regurgitated.

My suspicions have been falling on a pregnant goat that whenever she is around that area I find an egg missing. Yesterday it rained so the goats did not share the outside pen with the ducks and geese. No eggs missing. Today the goats were out in the pen with 2 duck eggs in the nest and when I took them back to their overnight housing I noticed an egg missing.

The question is would a pregnant goat eat a duck egg?

bob

 

[chandasue]

I don't have an answer but it's funny because today I practically fed an egg to my goats. Apparently a hen laid an egg in my feed bucket which is up on a shelf that I didn't even think the chickens could get to. Scooped it out with the feed and dumped it in their feeding bucket. Nearly broke to the point of making a big ol' mess but I was able to carefully retrieve it before it burst.

 

[Ranch Girl]

I wouldn't worry goats can eat anything!!

 

[freemotion]

I wouldn't put it past her. I have one goat that I have to watch closely when I feed any scraps to the hens....like whey or sour milk, etc. She will chase them off and suck it down! Which can't be good for an adult ruminant.

I'd test her by placing an egg near her and watching to see what she does.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Earlier in the year one of my hens laid an egg in the bedding on the stall floor. It had been partially buried so of course I stepped on it. I went to get the pitch fork to clean up the mess and when I came back it was gone, shell and all! Nobody had access except the goats so I suppose one of them enjoyed a snack...

 

[warthog]

Every morning at about 5.30/6am, I watch one of my hens (just started laying) get out of their pen, 8 foot fence, walk across the yard to the back of the goats pen, fly onto the roof of the goat shed across the goat pen to the other goat shed where she lays her egg.

Yet the goats have never touched it, not trodden on it, broken it, or tried to eat it.

 

[stano40]

I guess my thoughts went to why she was eating the eggs. Did she need extra protein or calcium during her pregnancy.

 

[cmjust0]

Or perhaps late bred/recently freshened does are just hormonally compelled to eat things that come out of a...yanno.

I recall reading that the only recent cases of goats testing positive for scrapie were ones that had eaten sheep placentas..


Goats don't normally eat eggs...this much I can tell you. They will eat dog food, though, which is how we came to learn that they won't eat eggs. Toss a fresh egg into the dog's dish with his food and the goats give one sniff and go "...uh, that's gross..." and walk away.

A handy trick, if you've got dogfood snarfing goats around.