Can Goats Eat Alfalfa?

Can Goats Eat Alfalfa? (Answered!)

by

Yes, goats can definitely eat alfalfa! It is an ideal fibrous, low-calorie meal which provides a number of essential nutrients for goats. The best bet with your goat is always to try and give it as much variety as it needs while providing all its essential nutrition, and alfalfa is a great addition to your goat’s diet. 

 

There are always caveats when it comes to dietary questions, and alfalfa is no exception.

Since dried plant matter of some kind should make up as much as three-quarters of your goat’s diet, you may be wondering if alfalfa alone is suitable for this purpose.

However, alfalfa hay contains much higher levels of protein than grass hay, and therefore should not be given on a free choice basis.

Alfalfa should be portioned carefully when giving it to your goats, and should be fed alongside grass hay.

Can Goats Eat Alfalfa?

 

How do you feed alfalfa to goats?

Depending on your circumstances, you may or may not have access to storage for dried alfalfa.

Hay and alfalfa have to be stored carefully in order to keep them edible, and this can present problems for those not living on a large farm.

If you do have storage for alfalfa, then you will have a great source of food available at all times for your goats.

Again, though, you must carefully portion it and feed it to them alongside regular hay.

If you don’t have access to large storage space for dried alfalfa, then you can instead buy alfalfa in pellet form.

This makes weighing and portioning it easier, and it also means less will get wasted.

Inevitably, nutrition can be lost through processing, and your goats will likely enjoy dried alfalfa more.

That said, pellets are a perfectly good way to get alfalfa into your goat’s diet.

Just portion it up and you can even mix it in with regular hay.

 

What are the benefits of alfalfa for goats?

Alfalfa is an excellent source of many healthy vitamins and nutrients.

As I said, alfalfa is a great source of protein for your goats.

Protein requirements are likely to be greater in farm goats than pet goats, so, again, you must still ration it carefully for this reason.

Alfalfa is also extremely high in protein, which boosts milk production and strengthens bones.

If your goats are eating cereal grains, there may be a build up of acidity in their digestive systems.

Alfalfa is believed to act as a buffer to this acidity, due to the high levels of proteins and minerals.

So, it is great alongside a cereal grain diet.

It is commonly advised against feeding grains or processed goat feed because it can cause urinary stones.

Alfalfa is said to help with this, but can in the quantities required cause other problems like zinc deficiency.

It is best not to feed grains to male goats, then, and just skip straight to the small amounts of alfalfa.

Goats need high amounts of fiber in their diets like a lot of ruminants.

Naturally, they get a lot of this from hay and grass, but alfalfa is also an excellent source of fiber.

So, there are no shortage of health benefits to alfalfa. Just do be mindful of the high protein content.

 

Can goats eat too much alfalfa?

If you’ve owned a goat for some time, you probably know that their eyes are often bigger than their stomachs.

Sometimes they will try to eat everything.

A large part of their diet should come from their own foraging and browsing, and it’s important to keep that in mind when planning their diet.

Too much grain or pellets can cause a number of problems, and alfalfa is no exception to this rule.

First of all, excess protein in your goat’s diet can lead, counterintuitively, to a reduction in weight gain.

The excess energy gained from the protein needs to go somewhere and is often simply used to remove the excess protein.

In other words, energy is being directed away from useful bodily tasks.

Many report that their goat’s diet is mainly alfalfa hay, and that they are healthy if a little on the heavy side.

But this is where the importance of portioning comes in.

If you simply give your goat a trough filled with alfalfa (pellets especially), it may overeat, and this can cause diarrhea among other issues.

Generally speaking, though, goats can take care of themselves as far as sensible eating.

However, though, any animal that gets a lot of its nutrients from something like hay has to spend a lot of time during the day eating it.

So, goats unfamiliar with alfalfa pellets might overeat, since the nutrient density is much higher than they might realize.

So, with reasonably careful portioning, your goat will not overeat.

To wrap up, then, alfalfa is an excellent addition to your goat’s diet and something many goat owners feed to their goats.

It’s a great source of fiber, calcium, protein and, most importantly, variety.

Goats need a few different things to supplement their diet of mostly hay, and alfalfa is a great option for this, whether in pellet form or in hay form.

Just be aware of the different protein levels between alfalfa and regular hay, make careful use of portioning, and you’ll have a great addition to your goat’s diet.

 

More in Plants

Was this helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

Leave a Comment