So, don’t be afraid to share spinach with your goat.
Of course, the most important thing is always that any fresh food that humans might eat should make up only a small part of your goat’s diet.
So, let’s get into how to incorporate spinach as a healthy treat for your goats.
What should goats eat?
For any goat, the vast majority of its diet should be made up of some form of hay.
This could be grass hay, alfalfa hay, or even legume hay depending on your goat’s breed.
There are differing levels of protein across these items, and smaller goats will need less, so just keep that in mind.
Generally speaking, grass hay will be fine for the majority of your goat’s diet.
Goats, being ruminants and browsers, also like to roam around and find different foods to eat.
This is primarily where they get their reputation for eating anything.
They’ll sample pretty much anything they can find that they aren’t distinctly put off by.
So, ideally, your goats should have pasture to roam from day to day to look for roots, and leaves, even flowers, twigs and branches.
This is really important to a goat’s wellbeing, not just the actual food itself, but the activity of foraging.
Things like spinach, then, constitute primarily a treat, a very small part of their diet.
They come under essentially the same heading as any fresh fruit or vegetables which will also make a great treat.
Some greens do pose specific health problems for goats, like kale.
Spinach is fine, but again only in small quantities.
These greens contain a compound called oxalate, which in excessive quantities can cause a whole host of problems for goats.
Kale, generally, is specifically advised against, due to its high oxalate content.
Spinach is much lower in oxalates, and is therefore safer.
Just remember, moderation.
Don’t give it too much, or you may cause kidney stones.
Other things to include in goat’s diets can include goat grains, which are often used to provide the extra protein needed for growing kids.
That just about covers most bases as far as feeding your goats.
Spinach can make up a healthy part of it, but it must be only a small part; too much will cause problems.
What shouldn’t goats eat?
Goats are fairly hardy, and there’s not much they can’t palate.
However, there are a few things that should definitely be avoided.
Most vegetables are fine; there is very little in this family that will cause any problems for goats, if you keep in mind what I’ve said about moderation.
Nightshade vegetables should be avoided; these include potatoes, peppers, eggplants and tomatoes.
It’s generally advised to avoid these products.
One of the most toxic household foods that you shouldn’t feed to goats is avocado.
Avocado contains a fungicidal toxin called persin which goats do not possess the faculties to properly digest.
If given avocado in virtually any quantity, it will cause your goat problems.
In small amounts it will usually not be fatal, but causes problems like mastitis, an inflammation of breast tissue.
This will be very painful for your goat, and occurs in only small quantities of avocado. At higher quantities, avocado causes cardiac injuries which can result in death.
Cherries contain quantities of cyanide that can be lethal to goats.
This includes both the fruit itself and the seeds.
Humans are quite capable of digesting and processing the levels of cyanide present in a cherry, in case you were worried.
Goats, however, could easily die from eating too much cherry.
There are a whole host of common garden flowers that can cause problems for goats, such as azaleas, lilacs, and lily of the valley.
For a variety of reasons these plants are toxic to goats, as are several others.
Goats will, in general, avoid foods that are toxic to them, but not always.
Sometimes they will get into a flowerbed and devour the whole thing.
So, you need to be very careful about what you’re planting in the space where your goats can roam.
So, while goats are in general considered to be capable of eating just about anything, there is a fairly long list of foods you should avoid giving them.
To wrap up, then, spinach is absolutely safe and healthy for your goats in small quantities.
Any fresh fruit or vegetable should make up only a very small part of their diet, and whichever you use you should make sure it’s safe for them to eat before giving it to them.
You may have seen your goat eat tree bark or twigs and bushes, and reasonably think that this means nothing is really dangerous for them.
But, just like us, they need a good balance in their diet, and their constitutions are not able to deal with any food.
Even goats have their limits.
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