Goat Treats

Ann, a member of http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/packgoat/ , reported that she had some pumpkin cookies that were a little more done than she'd like. So what to do with them? She hid the evidence! Her goats LOVED them! Smart goats! I love home made cookies too and pumpkin are just yummy!

Here are some ideas of what people have reported or I've discovered that many goats like for treats! I keep a plastic coffee canister with them and when the goats are out loose, or I enter a pen, I get MOBBED! Some forget their manners and think they should stand on 2 legs with a foreleg against me for support as they reach and try to be closest to the treat jar! It makes for catching a shy goat pretty easy if the others will let you get to the shy one! Give some a try and see what is the magic fruit that will bring your goats from the back 40 or at least a running!

Mostly I use my container of treats as part of training new milkers and the pregnant juniors to the milk stand. I also give a bit of scritching on the withers and gentle pats with "goooood girl" in a soothing tone while feeding treats to the juniors. I want them to think the confinement on the milk stand is a very good thing. Then they'll be easier to teach to be handled under the belly easier. Mine especially like the fig newtons and frosted animal crackers in the treat canister.

alfalfa pellets
animal crackers
apple slices
bananas - dry chips, pieces of fresh and peels
bread
carrot chips, chunks and peels
cookies
crackers
dried apricots
dry or wilting cranberries
favorite weeds
fig newtons
frosted animal cookies
goat cookies
grain
grapes
horse treats
leaves from their favorite trees
marshmallows
molasses cookies
peanuts
pears
pumpkin
pumpkin cookies
pumpkin seeds
rabbit pellets
raisins
ritz crackers
saltines
sunflower seeds
triscuts
wheat thin crackers

Just a warning: Do NOT leave your treat container sitting where a horse can reach it! My mare managed to reach mine last summer while I was trying to catch a loose, shy goat and she (mare) quickly used a hoof to hold it while biting the lid off! I ended up with a bent container. It did soften and regain most of it's original shape full of hot hot water and a little manipulation in the sink.

Enjoy your time with your goats and taste testing the various ideas to see which are favorites at your barn too! Just remember, it's not my fault if you are mobbed and possible knocked to the ground by a herd of taste testers!

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Edited to add the following:
ginger snaps
vanilla wafers
pumpkin seeds

I'll come back and add more if I run across more so be sure to check back. You can read the labels in the margin and click on goat treats to find your way back quickly! ;)