can you feed a goat dog food

[4h farmer]

I have a quesstion this is really bugging me .. I know of a person who wanted a goat so bad well she got one she got a boer well the problem i have now is this boer is tired up to a dog house on a lead and is left on it even with the cold nights but to top it off i ask her what kind of food are you feeding her and she comes off with cheap dog food last i knew u can't feed a goat or any type of livestock dog food cause of the animal parts they put in the food am i over doing this i feel if u can't tie a dog out for a long time on a leash why should u give a goat of a leash an why should you be able to keep a animal dog food an not what it really needs and to top it off she works for animal control..i feel i should go over her head and turn her in.. the goat looks bloat ..

[farmmom]

Dog food contains meat. Goats shouldn't eat meat. Besides that, it probably doesn't contain all the other nutrition necessary for a goat's health.

[4h farmer]

I have told her this but all i get is who works for animal control dont you think i know what they can eat ..

[DQ]

find some good basic information about ruminants and print it off and give it to her. but. she doesn't sound like someone interested in learning. it probably won't live long, and that may be a blessing.

[farmmom]

Don't you just love know-it-alls. You can't tell them when they're wrong about something. I really appreciate when someone tells me something I'm doing that may be detrimental to the health of my animals.

Some others here may be able to help.

[LittleRedHen]

unfortunately for the goat, she will likely learn her lesson at the expense of her goats life. I would venture to guess she will start seeing the effect of poor diet and hopefully she will change things up before the situation gets dire. Is she even giving him hay? or is he expected to just eat dog food?

[prairiedog]

well at least the cheap dog food is mostly corn. Poor goat. Maybe she should have animal control called on her!

[4h farmer]

well the problem is the dog food she is feeding does have meat in it and she doesn't give hay only hay this goat has is the hay she lays on she says its here to eat the weeds i have offer her blue seal and sweet sweet and she turns me down i have even offer to take the goat and pay her for it and i have told her when its really bad out let her come down here knowing i shouldn't bring a stray goat in to my herd but i wanted to see her comment and it was as i thought .. and i get my friend has a old nanny she feeds nothing but dog food too and its still alive she has been doing it for the last year and its fat as can be i'm like are u that blind so all i can do is turn this girl in .. you would think she knows the rules for animals the lead she has her on has to be as long as a horse lead so am i wrong for the well fair of this animal a goat in my eyes is not a tie out animal maybe for a few hours the most but to live a life like that it needs a paddock to run i could go on and on ..

[4h farmer]

the goat is her weed eater nothing else

[desertshi]

Absolutely!! Turn her in that is animal cruelty. Not giving an animal what it needs nutritionally and for shelter and all is cruelty. This is punishable by law!!! Do it for the sake of that poor, poor innocent goat.

[picklespickles]

like prairie dog says, cheap dog food might be the saving grace. it really must not contain that much meat. someone once gave me a goat, even an intact male, who had been raised its entire life on cheap goat food. it took me a week to teach it to eat hay. literally. i know it goes against all wisdom, but this was a very healthy goat. it gave me a whole slew of cute babies before i ate him cause he was just too darn rowdy.

as for the cold, i don't know how cold it gets in your area. it's in the low twenties here at night and mine actually like being outside versus inside. they don't like it when the wind blows, though, and go inside to get out of that. it may depend on what they've been acclimated to. i prefer a hardy goat.

[4h farmer]

Originally Posted by picklespickles

like prairie dog says, cheap dog food might be the saving grace. it really must not contain that much meat. someone once gave me a goat, even an intact male, who had been raised its entire life on cheap goat food. it took me a week to teach it to eat hay. literally. i know it goes against all wisdom, but this was a very healthy goat. it gave me a whole slew of cute babies before i ate him cause he was just too darn rowdy.

as for the cold, i don't know how cold it gets in your area. it's in the low twenties here at night and mine actually like being outside versus inside. they don't like it when the wind blows, though, and go inside to get out of that. it may depend on what they've been acclimated to. i prefer a hardy goat.

I understand but what your saying but as i can read the animals have a choise to stay out in the cold and wet and snow as this poor goat doesn't this goat if i had to guess is only maybe 6 months old my goats a that age were bigger and we all know a boer is a meaty looking goat this goat doesn't contain the look as a boer it looks like i ont know how to even say it it looks like a basketball on one side on a stick and cries .. i dont know i guess i am a warm hearted person who feels if u are going to have livestock raise them like they should be as a dog or cat you wont feed your dog or cat rabbit food and say thats it ..the weather here gets down to 6 and on a good day we have been up to 30 and its been very windy and wet we are in a wet period right now yeah we dont get alot of snow but we do have the drop in temp and ice and rain and winds... so in my eyes she is mean and it needs to be told to her from someone else..

[picklespickles]

ps

if you really want a better life for the goat, you are better off giving her real life help for the goat and not getting angry and blaming her. it might feel better for a while to blow off steam, but when you calm down, consider how you may actually help this real life animal. instead of hating the woman, focus on that.

in my state it is very, very common to chain dogs, especially pitbulls. it bothers me. but yelling at the people will not get them to listen to me and turning them in will most likely just get the dog destroyed.

so, instead of berating them for not listening to me, i try to listen to them. even though it's hard. i also consider what the dog genuinely needs to have a better life. one of my neighbors now has a shade thing up for his dog and another rotates his chained dogs around the yard so that they are more socialized.

these things did not happen over night. if i had talked to them or turned them in out of anger, the dogs would most likely be dead or at best in exactly the same situation as before.

instead, i took my time and was patient though it was hard. i kept my ultimate goal, the welfare of the animal as my priority, not my need to be right or to blame them.

these changes were made over a period of time and they have been permanent changes as they now really understand and did not just do these things to get us to shut up or for animal control and then immeditately go back to teh way it was.

also, another neigbhor who hated the fact they didnt' have shade, i challenged him one day. instead of telling me this every day for six months, why don't you take your tools over there, say hi, and offer to help.

it took him a few more weeks of complaining but he did. they were surprised but actually glad for the help. they told me a week later that he had come over and what a good idea it was. that to me says that it is a permanent change, a change of perspective, one that they will take with them even after they move.

i know you're mad. i udnerstand. just trying to share some real world experience of one way that worked in my neighborhood. oh, and once i knew them better, i offered to feed the dogs for them if they have to be gone. these are people with a fence that was always chained shut. now, they gave me a key to the fence. and, i have learned they are actually very nice people. they have invited me to dinner several times.

we were raised differnently and still have some very different opinons on things, but i feel like i got new friends and the dogs got a better way of life AND their minds were genuinely changed. rome was't built in a day.

take care.

[4h farmer]

wow sorry for the added words just makes me so mad lol she would jump faster on a dog or cat to fine someone or remove it but her own mistake is nothing

[picklespickles]

i know. things make me mad, too.

i was just writing the posts for later when you have time to think about it.

[Bay Mare]

This animal has food, shelter, and water (I am assuming there since you didn't mention water.) You might not agree with the way this person is keeping their animal but that is the owners decision. This is not a case for animal control to be called.

As you have already done, you can try to educate the person or obtain ownership of the goat but that is really all you can do.

Angela

[4h farmer]

i have offer to help her i have even iven her hay and food and she wont feed it she tells me she had livestock as a child and stuff i'm not mad at the idea what gets me the most this person knows the rules and life of a animal more then i do i mean she works for the state and removing animals she knows what the well being is for them .. well if she does why is she not doing what is best for this animal... my 8 year old has even went over to her house and offer to trim the goats hoofs and she said no she dont need her hoofs done she is not a shown animal we have even ask if she had her cdt and she said no and what is that i offer to give the goat her shot i was told no..this goat looks like a 3 month old nubian as in growth and its a boer.. all i can do is offer help and maybe one day she will wake up ..thanks for the inputs maybe i am upset sorry for being so mad on this subject

[4h farmer]

yes it has water and a small dog house ... the goat is in the back yard .. i will let it go but if i do feel its getting out of hand i will take action .. thanks everyone its just been a issue i have been thinking about ..

[picklespickles]

dont' be sorry for being mad. i think you've hit on the difference, though. she views them as livestock, which they are. you view yours as pets or show, which they are. she was raised differently and can probably point to her upbringing as proof that everything worked out fine and you can point to your experience to prove your own way of life.

that's cool that your kid offered to help and that you offered supplies. that's good and practical.

since she doesnt' accept, then that is what you can do for now.

when you feel bad later, remind yourself that the animal is fed but that it's just a different way of life. take care and have a cup of coffee on me.

[4h farmer]

i know what u mean but she said she never raise a goat only dogs but as for her i'll just keep my eye open and still offer the help .. one day who knows she will give in and maybe she wont..