So, while the occasional cookie wouldn’t be a problem, regularly giving them cookies not a good idea.
There are many other, better ways you can get the same nutrients into their diet without the extra sugar and other processed ingredients in most cookies.
If you bake them yourself and keep them away from processed ingredients, you could have a great snack for them.
Are cookies good for goats?
The first thing to say is that it depends on the kind of cookie.
There are certainly some varieties that, in good moderation, would be an okay treat for your goats to enjoy.
I will get into varieties shortly, and for now, do my best to provide the best general view on the question.
Firstly, anything highly processed and store-bought is just a no-go.
All of those ingredients have been formulated for human consumption, and while it might take a lot to do your goat any outright harm, there’s still no real benefit to it either.
Whatever kind of cookie you fed them; it would have to be in very strict moderation.
Once a week, at most, in very small amounts.
There is some need for sugar and other such ingredients in a goat’s diet, but you are much better off getting them into the diet through fresh fruit.
Fruit is much richer in sugar content than we often realize, so this is really the best way.
Let’s look at how they might be bad, then.
Are cookies bad for goats?
In my view, yes, cookies are bad for goats.
This is simply because there is no benefit to any kind of cookie that your goat could not have extracted from something overall healthier and more palatable to them.
The big problem you’re going to have is with high-sugar cookies.
Any and all of these should be avoided—your goat should be getting the small amounts of sugar it needs from fresh fruit.
Beyond that, though, even if they aren’t too high in sugar, they also lack many other things that your goat should really get out of the food it eats.
Then, filled up on cookies, it won’t eat as much of its regular fed.
Over time, this will lead to nutrient deficiencies.
And in the short term, it’s very likely that your goat will have trouble fully digesting the content of the cookie.
This undigested matter sitting in its gut will cause pain and discomfort, and even diarrhea.
Now, we come to the question of the kind of cookie.
As I said, the answer to this question is fundamentally dependent on which kind of cookie we’re talking about—so let’s look at which ones are best.
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Can goats eat chocolate cookies?
Anything with chocolate in it is a no go, I’m afraid.
It’s simply too high in sugar and will almost certainly lead to nutrient deficiencies.
Not to mention that a cookie with chocolate in it is likely to have higher concentrations of sugar in the rest of the ingredients, too.
So, no, you should not feed your goats chocolate cookies.
While, again, a few may not be a problem, I don’t think it’s a good idea to get into the habit.
Oat cookies are a much better choice.
Can goats eat oat cookies?
For best results when giving your goats cookies, I would advise coming up with a recipe for sugar-free oat cookies.
These can actually be a great and healthy snack if made in the right way.
All you really need are rolled oats and some overripe bananas.
You can form them into cookies and bake them, and these are pretty much perfectly healthy.
Even then, strict moderation—they should still only be an occasional treat.
But this is certainly the healthy way to do it.
Can goats eat gingerbread cookies?
Gingerbread cookies are another favorite, and while, again, in very small amounts they may be fine, overall, there is simply too much sugar in them.
Gingerbread always involves a deal of sugar in the process of making, so it’s just not worth it.
Rolled oat cookies is the way to go, then—anything else just isn’t worth it.
So, the trouble with this question is that cookie really encompasses a great many different things.
Highly processed, store-bought, chocolate chip cookies are best avoided entirely.
They provide virtually no benefit beyond the goat enjoying the treat for a moment and pose a number of potential problems.
On the other hand, if you bake them yourself and use things that goats eat anyway, like oats, then you’ll have no problem—but moderation is still always key.
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