Feeding Greens and Other Garden Materials to Dairy Goats

Reader Contribution by Eric Reuter and Chert Hollow Farm
Published on October 1, 2015
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Using damaged kale as a milking treat.

Most dairy goats demand a treat in return for allowing you to milk them, often a scoop of grain or other purchased, processed snack. Many years ago, we decided to cut back on grain as much as possible, to reduce both expense and health concerns for our ruminants. This partly involved replacing the daily dose of milking treat with another foodstuff that the goats would enjoy sufficiently to remain cooperative on the stand.

Plenty of goats feel that milking ends when the food runs out, not the milk. Grain is like candy to goats, and regular old hay just didn’t produce the same satisfaction and cooperation in our herd. Yet the solution was not only obvious, but efficient: using various leafy vegetables from elsewhere on our farm.

Brussells sprouts, sweet potatoes, and pole beans all produce abundant leafy waste material ideal for goat treats.

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