So, overall, you probably don’t need to worry that your goat is going to eat dog poop it finds and do itself harm.
Goats like to eat nice things like plants, fruits, seeds, and hay.
But you should always be as cautious as possible—don’t just let it sit there.
Clean It up, and even better try and get your dogs out of the habit of pooping on the pasture, if possible.
Let’s look further into this.
Can goats eat dog poop?
No, in the sense that they absolutely should not eat it.
It’s incredibly dangerous for many reasons, even more so than the feces of many other species.
This is, in part, due to their carnivorous nature.
Dogs are not obligate carnivores, but a healthy dog should have meat as the backbone of its diet.
In creatures who eat mostly or exclusively meat, their feces can be very dangerous for a few reasons.
I will get into the specifics later, but rest assured that dog poop is incredibly dangerous and potentially toxic to your goat.
You should not let them eat dog poop.
Often, though, the bigger question is whether they will eat dog poop if given the chance.
This is what you need to be careful of.
Do goats try to eat dog poop?
For the most part, the simple answer is no.
Goats are smart and discerning, and they know that you should not eat such things like that.
Their eyes draw them to particular things, especially colorful things.
Though we might think of them as colorblind, they actually identify many foods by color.
Furthermore, is the problem of smell.
Dog poop smells, and so this is another reason your goats will most likely stay away from it.
That said, I would still advise being as cautious as you possibly can.
If possible, avoid letting your dogs poop on the goat’s pasture, or anywhere they can find it.
If you can’t stop it, be sure to go with your dog whenever it uses the bathroom, and clean up its business after.
While your goats are smart, you still should exercise caution.
So, why is it so dangerous?
Why is dog poop dangerous?
The main problem is the roundworm eggs that are deposited in dog feces, often coming from the food they eat.
These eggs are highly infectious and toxic and can cause blindness and all sorts of other debilitating problems.
Again, the fact that dogs are mostly meat-eaters means they end up with a number of microbes in their gut which would be highly dangerous for other animals.
Dog poop is dangerous not only to goats and livestock but to us, too.
There is no overstating how potentially dangerous it can be—even to the point that it could kill your goat.
Can goats die from eating dog poop?
I don’t want to be alarmist, and as I said, for the most part, your goats would not eat dog poop—and certainly not enough to kill themselves.
That said, it is far from impossible.
Some goats, especially young goats, may not know what to identify in foods as well.
It would have to eat more than a bit to actually die, and it doing so is very, very unlikely—but not impossible.
So, what should I do if my goat eats dog poop?
What to do if my goat eats dog poop
The simple, and perhaps only, answer, is to call a vet immediately.
Once your goat has eaten it, it may be able to bring it back up and spit it out, but it may not, too.
There’s really not a whole lot you can to do treat it yourself.
Just call the vet and stay with your goat while you wait.
So, the sensible answer is that you should not downplay the potential dangers of your goats eating dog poop.
While you can, for the most part, rest assured that they will not eat things that do them harm, at the same time, it’s always better to be as cautious as possible.
Goats are smarter than we give them credit for, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make sure they’re as safe as possible.
Keep your goats away from dog poop where ever you can.