Goats are known as some of the most proliferous eaters in the animal kingdom, though it must be said their reputation does exceed them in a lot of cases.
Nonetheless, the goat diet is a fascinating subject to look at, both for domestic and wild goats—so what do goats eat?
Goats eat plant matter of a huge variety of forms. They are herbivores, and in domestic settings are fed mostly on hay, forage, such as plants and foliage, as well as various grains. In the wild, they also forage a wide range of things, and even eat tree bark.
The simple answer, then, is that they eat plants of one form or another.
Unlike cows and sheep, they are not grazers and will not eat a lot of grass but prefer to sample a wider range of foods.
Let’s look further into this.
What do domestic goats eat?
It really depends on the farmer and the setting.
The most common food fed to domestic goats is hay, though, and this is what they mostly are fed on.
It’s cheap, easy to acquire, and goats find it easy to eat and digest in large quantities.
They generally have to eat a lot of it, but this is often the case with virtually any herbivore.
They eat a great deal of food to keep up their energy.
The other option is to give them a wide and varied pasture to forage on.
Goats are ruminants, like deer, and so they like to survey a wide range of foods and eat a lot of different things.
This gives them a good balance in their diet and sates their varied appetite.
They will eat virtually anything growing, from plants to shrubs, berries and tree bark.
They are less commonly fed on grains, though.
Grains are favored in more industrial farm settings for a few reasons, such as being easier to transport and serve in large quantities.
Often, though, grains need to be laid out over a large area to prevent the goats from overeating on them.
Grains are generally only used in large settings.
Beyond their main feed, it’s good to provide them with a wide range of fruits and vegetables as treats, too.
They also like nuts and legumes.
These should only be fed in small amounts, though—a goat’s digestive system is fairly simple, and doesn’t need many such foods.
What do goats eat in the wild?
In the wild, the story is obviously a bit different.
The first point to make is that goats have, at this point, spread to virtually all corners of the world thanks to human activity.
So, what they eat in the wild is going to vary hugely depending on where they are.
Still, though, they are going to eat a plant-based diet.
They will cover a fairly wide area for forage, and will eat pretty much any plant matter they can find.
They will eat some grass, moss, plants and flowers, foliage, leaves—anything they can get their hands on.
If they can find fallen fruits that will be a great boon for them.
They will also search bushes for berries and other snacks.
They’ll also eat some amounts of wild grains they can find, if they are in the right area.
They might favor other foods, though, if enough are available.
Really, then, goats will eat just about whatever grows.
There are a few examples of things in nature that are toxic to goats, but they are extremely few and far between, and not often found in the wild.
Given their reputation for eating anything, though, you might be wondering if goats are known to eat meat.
Do goats eat meat?
No, they don’t.
Their digestive system is equipped to handle plants and only plants.
They have no capacity to break down or digest meat, and even in the wild, they would probably starve before they even scavenged any meat.
Meat does not appeal to them at all, and for good reason.
Most carnivores have a specially adapted gut biome equipped to break down and digest meat, and, naturally, all herbivores lack this.
Goats are no exception and have no capacity to eat meat.
Despite this, the notion that goats can and do eat literally anything endures to this day—so why is this the case?
Why do goats eat everything?
Well, the simple answer is, as I said, their reputation exceeds them.
One story that often goes around is that goats like to eat the tin of a tin can.
This is a misconception.
What they may indeed do is attempt to chew the glue off of tin cans.
Glue may not sound nutritious, and it isn’t, but it can nonetheless contain some trace nutrients.
But they will, generally speaking, only do this if they have few other options, or are simply bored of their regular food.
So, the short answer is that goats don’t eat everything.
They are certainly hardy eaters, able to break down tough material like tree bark, but this is about the extent of it—it’s all still plant matter.
So, goats are more complex eaters than we might often give them credit for.
Though they may have a reputation for eating virtually anything, they’re actually much more specialized feeders.
They don’t eat tin cans, though they will try to eat glue and they will sometimes eat tree bark.
Mostly, though, they like to just eat plants, whether that be hay, pasture forage, or anything of the sort.