11 Treats Goats Love

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When it comes to treats, goats don’t kid around. They love to eat, and with a four-chambered stomach, it’s hardly surprising. Goats will use any means necessary to get a tasty snack.

White goat eats grass in the summer on a green meadow

While goats love to eat almost anything, they have a complicated digestive system that requires specific foods for optimal flow.

Here are 11 of the best treats goats love. Remember that moderation is crucial to keeping your goats strong and healthy.

Table of Contents

1. Banana Peels

Goats will happily eat most kitchen scraps, but banana peels are one of their favorites. Banana peels are high in many nutrients like magnesium, potassium, and vitamin B12.

They also contain fiber, which is an essential part of a healthy diet for goats. Banana peels help improve eyesight and digestion.

You can either cut them into small pieces or blend them up and add about a tablespoon to a goat or horse treat recipe.

2. Manna Pro Goat Treats

Manna Pro Goat Treats are the perfect option for those who love to spoil their hooved pets but don’t have time to make snacks. You can choose from two options: licorice flavor or apple flavor with added probiotics.

Using snacks to train your goats isn’t always the best idea because it can create bad habits like nipping when they think someone has a treat. Most goat owners recommend you place snacks down instead of feeding with your hand.

However, if you want to use treats for training and hand feeding, then Manna Pro is the way to go. It keeps their bodies strong and healthy while being delicious.

You can use this snack with the clicker method of training to help reinforce good behavior. Using the clicker method can also help you train your goats not to nip while you’re hand-feeding them.

3. Kelp Meal

Kelp meal might sound a little fishy, but goats love eating it as a snack. This tasty treat provides a range of nutrients like iodine and selenium. It’s especially good for kids and young goats.

If you have dairy goats, then kelp meal can help decrease mastitis while increasing the production of milk.

The best part about kelp meal is that goats self-regulate. They know when to munch it and how much they need, so you can leave it out for them as a permanent snack. Make sure the kelp meal is in a container that prevents soiling.

You can mix it in with their regular goat feed. Most goat owners suggest adding copper and sulfur to the mixture to make it even healthier for your goats. The recommended dosage is 1 pound per 50 pounds of typical goat feed.

4. Beet Pulp

Once the sugar is removed from sugar beets, you’re left with beet pulp. This is a brilliant source of nutrients for your goats and is often added to goat feed.

Beet pulp contains high levels of fiber and has a massive calorie count. You can mix it with your goat snack recipe to add more nutrients. It’s one of the best snacks to give growing goats or those that are malnourished.

You can also feed it to nursing moms who need a nutritional and energy boost.

5. Corn Chips

corn tortilla chips on a brown wooden background

Goats love corn chips almost as much as we do. These make an excellent snack for your goat as the high fiber and salt content keep their guts healthy. It encourages them to drink more water, which helps prevent urinary calculi.

Of course, “everything in moderation” is the mantra you should apply when giving your goats a tasty treat. Include your furry friends in your next Mexican night. They’ll eat all the nachos.

6. Kitchen Scraps

Goats are one of the best composters on the planet. They eat almost anything and love it. If you want to give your mischievous animals a treat that doesn’t take long to prepare and is fairly healthy, then kitchen scraps are perfect.

Be sure to take out any exceptionally processed foods like white bread and pasta. Fruit and vegetable scraps are the best, but be cautious.

Avoid giving your goats anything from the nightshade family, like peppers, and skip avocados altogether.

7. Homemade Butternut Squash Goat Cookies

You can make your goats a delicious treat with this simple recipe. Depending on what you add to the batter, you could even munch on a few of these yourself.

This recipe doesn’t call for beet pulp, but you can always add it in if you feel your goats could use an energy boost.

All you need to make these delicious cookies is one or two butternut squash and whole-grain flour. You might want to substitute the flour for something like millet, flaxseed, or oat flour. These are less harmful to goats.

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, pre-heat your oven to 350F. Poke a few holes in your butternut squash to help the steam escape and place it in the oven for about 45 minutes. You could also cut the squash into cubes to speed up the cooking process.

When it is soft, remove the butternut and allow time to cool. When you can touch it without getting burned, remove all the skin and seeds, then mash them up in a bowl. Add your flour and any other ingredients, like the shredded beet pulp.

There is no specific amount that you need, but add it until you can see it’s formed a dough-like mixture. You can also throw in some black oil sunflower seeds. They are high in iron, zinc, vitamin E, and selenium.

Once you have the perfect mixture, use a tablespoon to measure out cookie-dough balls and place them on a lined baking tray. Cook them at 350F for about 15-20 minutes. When they are crispy and slightly brown, then they are ready for your goats to eat.

8. Make Molasses Balls

If you ever need to feed your goats powdered medication, like some dewormers, then try giving it to them in molasses balls. While excessive sugar consumption isn’t good for animals, a medicinal treat every so often won’t cause them harm.

To make these special treats, simply measure out the required dosage of powdered medicine, then slowly start adding molasses. When it becomes thick enough to form into a ball, roll it up.

If you’re making it for more than one goat, you might want to roll it into a thick log, cut that into cubes, and then roll it into balls.

Goats love these molasses balls so much they might nip your fingers, so be careful when feeding them.

9. Hay and Alfalfa Cubes – Best for Babies and Kids

Hay and Alfalfa Cubes on wooden background

Hay and alfalfa cubes are the perfect snacks for kids. You can use them to slowly start introducing solid food into their diet as they ween off milk.

These treats are full of fiber. Many manufacturers also add protein and calcium, making it the complete nutritional package for kids. You can buy these tasty snacks from most farm-feed stores.

10. Try These Horse Treats That Goats Can Eat

Some horse treats are safe to feed to your goats, dogs, or even your rambunctious kids. This recipe is quick and easy to follow. The ingredients are as follows:

3 cups organic oats
½ cup wholegrain flower
2 grated carrots
1 apple; diced
¼ cup molasses
1 cup apple sauce
1 Tbsp coconut oil (vegetable oil works, too)

To make these delicious treats, start by preheating the oven to 350F and lining a baking sheet with a non-stick variant of your choice. Next, cut the carrots and single apple into small pieces. You can also make a paste using a blender if you have one on hand.

Then, take a bowl and mix the oats and flour together. Add the applesauce and molasses to the mixture. Once it’s thoroughly incorporated, throw in the carrots and apple.

Start rolling the batter into little balls and placing them on your prepared baking sheet. You can always add more oats if you find they are too sticky.

Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. You can store them in an airtight container for a few weeks.

Remember to feed them to your goats in moderation. Too many are not good for their gut health.

11. Animal Crackers

Animal crackers in white plate gray background

Like us, goats love animal crackers. They will look like they’re rushing to a Black Friday sale when you bring out the box. It’s exceptionally important to moderate this snack as it is made for human consumption.

Animal crackers are some of the best treats to use for training your goats. They will do anything to get their mouths on this snack.

However, if you have particularly boisterous goats, feed them through the fence as they tend to transform into over-excited dogs that know they’re about to go for a walk.

Final Thoughts

Goats are pretty easy to please when it comes to food. Eating is one of their pastimes after all. Try using animal crackers and the Manna Pro Goat Treats.

Kitchen scraps are awesome for your goats and the environment. Feeding them to your goats will keep them healthy while helping to reduce your food wastage.

Try these snacks with your goats and discover which ones they like the best. You might even find yourself munching down on some of them.