Treats!

Here are some tasty treats my goats really enjoyed and had no problems with:

• Pretzels! Laverne loved them! I was always munching on them and she would just steal them. I don't really think they were that great for her, but like all sweets, they're fine in moderation.
• Weeds! They're probably the best treat for them and super helpful. One of mine just loved dandelions and goats will even eat thistles.
• Sweet feed! This is just molasses, corn, and other grains. They adore this stuff, but molasses is a natural laxative, so I wouldn't recommend too much.
• Sunflower seeds! Goats don't always love them, but some do. Plus, black oil sunflower seeds help with shiny coats.
• Cookies! We had a really finicky milker, so we gave her some stale Christmas butter cookies. No sprinkles though.

And that's just several ideas!

P.S. I once had a donut at fair while sitting by my goats in their pen. Laverne was begging for it, so I gave her a little taste. She was such a weirdo! Probably, not the best thing, but oh well.

kk

Tummies

When goats get stressed or their diet changes they can get an upset tummy. They might get a bloat, not eat or drink, or have diarrhea. Ours got the latter. There are a few things you can do...

• Make sure that they are drinking water. Sometimes the water tastes different and they won't really like it, but they need to drink so they don't get dehydrated. If they refuse the water try some Gatorade.
• Baking soda helps with bloats.
• Do not give them molasses(some is okay on sweet feed or something but not much). It is a laxative.
• Probiotics(like in yogurt) gets their bacteria going again. Sometimes food change and stress can kill the good digestive bacteria, so probiotics(which you can buy as a powder at a farm feed store) starts it all up again. Too much or giving it when not needed will actually have the opposite desired effect.
• Pepto Bismal is amazing for diarrhea. Just get a large syringe, slide it in the side of their mouth, and squirt it in. They don't really like it, but will swallow when it's in.

And that's the basics!

kk