I was in a bit of a fix recently—as I was about to head out to the store to pick up more feed for my goats, my car broke down and wouldn’t start.
It was really dire—I’m no mechanic but even I could see it wasn’t going anywhere any time soon.
I wasn’t sure what to do as I had left the food shopping until the last minute, I was totally out, and they were getting hungry.
The mechanic I called wouldn’t be able to come for a good few hours.
I was stuck.
Until my son had an idea—could they share the feed that his rabbits ate?
I decided to look into it.
So, can goats eat rabbit feed?
In general, yes, rabbit feed is perfectly fine for goats. It typically is made mostly of alfalfa or pellets, and this is totally safe for goats. That said, you should always make sure of everything that is in it before giving it. On most occasions, though, it will be perfectly safe.
So, while giving your goats rabbit feed in a pinch is safe and perfectly fine, there’s no reason to get into the habit of doing so.
Rabbits and goats have very different nutritional needs, and though you might say they need the same just in different quantities, this does make a big difference to how their feed is formulated.
Let’s look further into this.
Is rabbit feed safe for goats?
Yes, in general, rabbit feed is safe for goats and is not going to cause them any major problems.
There’s unlikely to be anything in there that will do them specific harm—that said, rabbit feed does come in many forms.
Always check everything that’s in it, first.
In general, though, as I mentioned, rabbit feed is most commonly just made up of alfalfa and comes in the form of pellets.
Goats often eat alfalfa pellets of their own, though they are likely to be formulated differently.
Fundamentally, though, they are basically the same thing.
So, yes, rabbit feed is perfectly safe for goats and you don’t need to worry about it doing them immediate harm.
That said, it would still be my advice not to get into the habit of feeding them rabbit feed—only do so in a pinch.
Is rabbit feed good for goats?
The simplest answer is not exactly.
While, as I said, it’s unlikely to be fundamentally very different from goat feed, over time the slight differences in formulation will potentially cause a big problem.
The main issue you’re going to face is the protein content.
While goats don’t need massive amounts of protein, they do need considerably more than rabbits.
When we talk about rabbit feed, we mean some kind of specifically formulated product designed for rabbits to eat.
Feed formulated for goats would have a very different nutrient character.
It wouldn’t simply be that goats would eat more than rabbits, proportionally speaking—although this is true as well.
So, again, while you won’t have an issue with rabbit feed in a pinch, over time it will start to cause nutrient deficiencies.
There’s no real advantage to giving them rabbit feed where you could give them other foods instead.
Is rabbit feed bad for goats?
Depending on how exactly the feed is formulated, there could well be things in there that are actively harmful to your goat.
This is very unlikely, but it’s always worth considering.
Overall, a goat and a rabbit aren’t all that different—but they’re different enough that you should always be cautious.
There are, for example, a number of leafy greens safe for rabbits but potentially toxic to goats.
Kale, spinach, Swiss chard, and similar leafy greens are a vital staple of a rabbit’s diet, but the oxalic acid content in them is very harmful to goats.
Just be very careful and aware of what is in the feed you are giving them, then, and you shouldn’t have a problem.
Don’t assume that anything your rabbits can eat, your goat can eat as well.
There is less overlap than you might think.
Can goats eat rabbit pellets?
Usually, pellets are the safest option.
As I said, typically, rabbit pellets are made with alfalfa.
Alfalfa is a really popular option for goats, too, since it is really nutrient and protein rich.
Alfalfa feed comes in many forms for goats—they too have their own pellets, or you can feed alfalfa hay, as well as a number of other options.
So, yes, goats can safely eat rabbit pellets in most cases—but you should still be very aware of what’s in the pellets you’re giving them.
Can goats eat rabbit mix?
Mix is a much more broad and ambiguous term, but one nonetheless used by many pet stores.
For my money, I think it’s just best avoided. Again, in a pinch, it may be fine just to keep them going.
However, in some sort of mix you’re much more likely to find some kind of leafy green, even it’s only traces added.
The oxalic acid still stands a chance of doing them harm, and however small the risk, I still never think it’s worth it.
My only advice, then, is that you can feed goats rabbit food in a pinch, but there’s no real reason to do beyond being stuck for anything else.
It’s easy to see when looking at them both that rabbits and goats are very different physiologically, and thus they need a quite different diet.
They are both herbivores, and voracious ones at that—but they need vastly different quantities of nutrients.
When it comes to formulated feed, then, the content is going to be different.