Can Goats Eat Moldy Hay? (Find Out!)

Mold is dangerous for goats, then, however they get it.

If you find mold on the hay you were planning to feed them, your safest option is to get rid of it completely and start over.

Goats are remarkably hardy, but they aren’t invincible.

Is it okay to feed goats moldy hay?

No, is the short answer.

Goats, as I’ve said, are known for their hardiness when it comes to their diets.

Though their reputation certainly exceeds them in many ways, this is true—they can eat things we wouldn’t even normally consider edible, like tree bark.

But they aren’t invulnerable.

They should never eat anything moldy.

Moldy hay is a very common problem, for similar reasons to mine.

Storing it is much harder than you might think, and so many goat owners often find themselves in the same situation as me.

If you are, and you’re wondering whether your goats can still eat the hay—they can’t.

Mold is deadly to goats in a whole host of ways.

It is not ever okay to feed your goats moldy hay, or moldy anything, for that matter.

Part of the issue with mold is that the term doesn’t really describe a single thing.

It is an umbrella term for an incredibly taxonomically diverse range of fungi.

There are thousands of species, each with its own potentially deadly effects.

So, can mold really hurt goats?

Can moldy hay hurt goats?

Yes, it really can, in extremely serious ways.

The thing about mold is that it carries so many different bacterias that it can cause really any number of associated health problems for your goats.

The fact that the mold is on hay makes no difference—it’s still just as dangerous.

One of the main illnesses associated with ingestion of mold is called listeriosis.

This is a very common bacterial infection in sheep and goats, and the main cause is—you guessed it—moldy hay.

Listeriosis can cause encephalitis, blood infections, even abortions in pregnant does.

And listeriosis is merely the tip of the iceberg.

As I’ve said, mold is a massively taxonomically diverse classification, and there are any number of deadly illnesses associated with any one species.

Moldy hay can hurt and kill goats, so, again, do not ever take any chances.

If you find even a small amount of mold in your hay storage, you are best discarding most of it.

Start again and be safe—don’t cut corners.

What happens if goats eat moldy hay?

In the short term, you may not notice any specific effects.

It won’t necessarily be the case that your goats eat moldy hay and simply collapse and die.

As I said, conditions like listeriosis are some of the most common issues associated, and this will be difficult to spot straight away.

It will upset their digestive system, potentially causing diarrhea and vomiting.

If you notice these symptoms, check the hay they’ve been eating.

If your goats have eaten moldy hay, you should get a vet out to see them as soon as possible.

There’s not much you can do for them, but if you can have their symptoms treated early by a vet, then they stand a much better chance of surviving.

Early, aggressive antibiotic treatment is usually the only thing that will save your goats.

Do not waste any time.

What can I do with moldy hay?

The best thing to do with moldy hay, really, is to compost it. when you give the mold a chance to be broken down, it does convert into a rich layer of nutrients for any plants you want to grow.

If the goats eat any of those plants, then, ultimately, the mold didn’t stop them from getting benefits from the hay.

You can also use a steaming process to break down the mold and dust in hay, making it more palatable to your goats again.

Because this is the other thing about moldy hay—goats probably won’t want to eat it, anyway.

If you can remove most of the mold via steaming, you have some hay your goats can eat again. It can be difficult to get this right, though, so unless you’re experienced, I would advise just composting it.

It’s no joke, then.

Mold is incredibly dangerous for your goats, and you should treat it so.

It has a chance, if small, to kill your goats, and cause a whole host of other, non-fatal issues.

It can be a real bummer to find that months’ worth of stored hay has been compromised by mold—the only way you could make this worse is by harming your goats by feeding it to them anyway.

Don’t take a single chance with moldy hay.

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