I read somewhere that it is o.k. to feed leaves to goats. I have a huge pile raked up right outside the goat pen. I would like to feed these to the goats. My question is how much is safe to feed them in a day. Most of the leaves are maple with a few oak leaves (very few). I have noticed that if a leaf should blow into the pen that the goats race each other to see who gets the leaf first.

Now for an update on my goats. The Nubian is real sweet. She loves to be petted and brushed. She is very quiet and mellow. Since she is due in Jan she is getting quite large. She has very shiney black fur and she is the boss of the two. The Togg likes to be petted but not nearly as much as the Nubian. She is also the noisey one. Neither one is my favorite. I like certain qualities in each of them and try to give them equal attention however the Nubian gets jealous and pushes the Togg away from me. Also the Nubian does not like to see me brush the Togg. She pushes the Togg out of the way and pushes her head into the brush and begs me to brush her for as long as my arms hold up. I am really enjoying them both.

Thanks, George

-- george (bngcrview@aol.com), December 06, 2001

Answers

George, you say that the goats have eaten the leaves that have fallen in the pen. The main thing you have to watch for with any new food is that they don't gorge themselves on something new. If they have been getting some already, go with a muck bucket full to start, then increase from there. I doubt your pile will last long!! Keep in mind that leaves are dry, so the goats aren't as likely to bloat. Also, since the leaves are dry, they're fluffy, so what looks like a large amount isn't really. Still, erring on the side of caution never hurt anyone.

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), December 06, 2001.

Hi Sheryl, I had to chuckle when I got to the part "fluffy, looks like a lot but really isn't" If there isn't alot how come it hurt so much to rake them all up? I guess you are right though :-) I figure that if i were to be able to bale them I would have about five bales (square) The way they are right now it looks like 10 round bales.

George

-- george (bngcrview@aol.com), December 06, 2001.

I wouldn't have a problem with this if you were to rake the yard and throw over a big rakefull, daily. But now that they are raked into a pile, the dew/rain/snow will start to mold and rot some of them. Now if this were happening in their pen naturally, this amount of leaves, they would eat what they wanted and leave the molded ones to rot. But being fed as treats I would be afraid that they would eat the molded ones also, after all there favorite new person is feeding it to them!

With them being so new to your place, best not to change anything in their diet to drastically. Lots of good hay, a little grain, your loose minerals, perhaps baking soda, kelp or yeast, but leave it at that until after you have have them awhile, especially with the gals being bred. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), December 06, 2001.

Could the leaves be bagged and put under cover to feed out during winter?

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), December 07, 2001.

I bag up dry maple leaves and feed as a treat all winter.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), December 07, 2001.

We use bagged leaves all winter for our animals. We put them under cover and the bags that do happen to get wet while in the bag I toss into the outside chicken pen !! Our goats do eat them but I notice that afer they all run for the pile within a few minutes they are done and the rest just sit there to blow away. I have found no ill effects of even toss a few handfuls in with my horses.

-- Helena (windyacs@npacc.net), December 07, 2001.

My two goats are quite spoiled.They uaually get a walk around the place to browse daily.I've found they love elm leaves,sweet gum next, then oak,a few hickory, and finally maple. But dogwood leaves are their favorites.Since they are accustomed to them they don't seem to have any problems with them.They are pretty selective which ones they'll eat.moldy or decomposed are ignored.And none of the leaves have pesticides,fertilizer, or weed killers on them.

-- VickiP (courymous@tv.net), December 07, 2001.

Do not feed them any cherry leaves. They are fatally toxic.

-- Patricia Ramsey (WOOLSPIN@AOL.COM), December 07, 2001.

Cherry leaves are only poison when wilted -- once they dry out they are safe again. But Vicki is right about the possibility of mold in the pile, and molds and mildews can be very dangerous.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), December 10, 2001.

Too many oak leaves at once is probably not good because they contain tannin-not good stuff. Also red maple are toxic.

-- Brenda Kenfield (bjk@gmavt.net), December 14, 2001.