Can Goats Eat Ferns? (Are They Safe?)

The truth is that it would probably take eating quite a lot before your goat experienced any major side effects, but either way it is not going to be very good for their health.

Goats will generally avoid anything that is unpalatable to them, but only if they’re getting all the nutrition they need from their diets.

Are ferns poisonous to goats?

There are many types of ferns, and some will be more poisonous than others.

Bracken fern is a very common variety, and does indeed have toxic properties for goats.

This toxicity comes mainly from the spores.

As I mentioned, ferns are not flowering plants.

In fact, when ferns first evolved, there were no flower plants.

During the time of the dinosaurs flowers had not yet evolved, but ferns were everywhere.

Often, when a plant is toxic to goats, it is the flower that is toxic and not the leaves.

In the case of ferns, the opposite is true.

They are toxic because they have no flowers, and must reproduce via spores.

Newer, fruiting plants essentially use animals to move seeds around, and this is how they propagate.

Spores do not rely on being ingested, and in fact cannot survive the process, so it’s not hard to understand how they could be toxic.

The plant actively “wants” to avoid being eaten by animals if it is to reproduce.

So, ferns are indeed poisonous to goats.

As I said, it will take a rather large amount to cause goats short-term problems, but even consuming small amounts will build up over time. It’s best to keep your goats off the ferns.

Do goats like to eat ferns?

Goats, as many will tell you, like to eat pretty much anything.

Ferns are no exception.

They are naturally very curious, and will try ferns at least once if they find them on their pasture.

After all, ferns should look very appetizing to a goat.

A goat’s diet is made up primarily of long, fibrous plant matter like this.

Ferns should fit the bill perfectly.

They’re a remnant of a time before mammals, however, and they haven’t really adapted to the new age.

Goats will, generally, not eat things in excess which causes issues for them.

They know what is palatable and unpalatable to them, in general.

If your goats are eating ferns on their pasture, try increasing the quality of the hay you give them.

There might not be enough dry, fibrous plant matter on your pasture to provide for their needs, which is causing them to turn to poisonous ferns.

If you give them plenty of good-quality hay, they should have no reason to sample the ferns.

What foods will kill goats?

So, ferns are unpalatable to goats and could cause them a number of problems, but they’d have to eat very large quantities of it to cause serious issues.

But there are foods that can, even in small amounts, be fatal to goats that you should be aware of.

Avocado is one commonly known one.

Avocado contains a fungicidal toxin called persin, which even in small quantities can be fatal to goats.

We are more than capable of digesting and breaking down this toxin, but goats are not.

Goats should never eat avocado.

They should also avoid some leafy greens, like kale.

Kale, and most leafy greens, contain a substance called oxalates which in the quantities present in kale can cause fatal problems.

Again, it would take quite a lot, but kale has high enough concentrations that it could be a problem.

Chocolate, also, contains a compound called theobromine.

This is a bitter alkaloid of the cacao plant, which while again palatable to humans can cause a number of problems for goats.

It might seem natural not to feed chocolate to your goats, but it’s always worth mentioning. It’s not just dogs that can’t have chocolate!

So, you should remember that goats are very hardy creatures and in general it takes a lot of a bad thing to do them serious harm.

That said, there’s no reason you should compromise on your goat’s health in this way.

Provide them the safest diet you can, and this means eliminating ferns from their diet.

If they do have access to ferns in their pasture, you’ll need to make sure they aren’t eating them too much.

Again, assuming they have a nutritionally rich diet, they won’t get a taste for the poisonous ferns.

Careful monitoring is always key.

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