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5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Goats

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5 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Goats

1. Goats Do Not Eat Everything
Goats typically get the bad rep for eating everything, including a tin can, but that statement is typically false. When they chew on a tin can, they aren’t actually chewing on the metal but in reality, eating the label and the glue on that label. Metaphorically, the label is like eating leaves off a tree and glue a sweet treat to them. When it comes to normal forage, they can be rather meticulous on what type of weeds, grasses, and hay they will consume. Goats can be rather fussy eaters and won't just eat anything.

2. Social Animals and Good Companions
Say you own one horse, but that horse is lonely and you cannot afford another horse. Maybe a person in your life is struggling. Both of these situations could be solved by a goat! Goats are great companion animals to both human and animals, keeping them occupied and happy. Goats promote a bond of physical, emotional and psychological improvements of those they that serve.


3. Goat Meat and Milk Population Growing in the USA

It might seem strange to think of eating goat meat or drinking goat milk, especially when you typically think of both of those products typically coming from cattle. The number of goat by-product consumption has increased and has been on the rise in the US since 1999. There are other health-based reasons to consider adding goat products to your diet. Goat milk has higher protein content and contains less lactose, making it easier to digest and easier on sensitive stomachs. Goat meat is also a leaner option when compared to beef, pork, and chicken.

4. Goats are browsers, not grazers

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 When driving by fields with goats, you will usually see their heads down grazing on the grass. This would tend to make you think they graze similar to cows. This is not the case. Goats like to browse, meaning, they like to eat what is up high rather than what is on the ground. They prefer to stand up and stretch out to eat leaves and berries off the trees before going to the ground. Consequently, ‘browsing’ helps them to build muscle. 


Goats vs. Cows
When I meet people and explain to them that I have goats, they always ask if I have either fainting or milking goats. The answer is no - I own South African Boer goats. Boer goats are specifically for meat production, not dairy production. Being ruminant animals is obviously the number one similarity, goats and cattle share this quality of breed-specific purpose. For each species, you have a wide variety of breeds to choose from for production purposes. In beef production? Angus and Hereford. Dairy productions? Jersey and Holstein. Similarly, some common breeds in goats for dairy production are Alpine and LaMancha. For meat production, the top spot goes to Boer with the runner-up being Texmaster.



Brittany Couch

Durvet Summer Intern



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