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12/02/11, 09:46 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 147
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Goats and Eggs?
Hello all- I was visiting my does' new baby daddy down the road the other day, and the lady was telling me that her goats eat her free range chicken eggs before she has a chance to collect them. Weird. I've never heard of goats eating eggs. That got me to thinking... Every other week or so I round up all my unused eggs, boil and mash them up and feed them back to the hens. Would my goats eat that too, as a little shot of protein, and would it even be any good for them? Anyone have any experience with this?
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12/02/11, 10:16 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 3,486
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No, do not feed eggs to a herbivore.
My goats will also eat bailing twine & bite off shirt buttons & eat them.....Just because they may eat them doesn't mean they SHOULD!
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12/02/11, 12:18 PM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,984
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My farmsitter once told me he observed one of my does eating an egg laid in a hay feeder but I've never personally observed it.
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12/02/11, 06:19 PM
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Caprice Acres
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: MI
Posts: 11,235
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A goat with a good diet should NOT desire an animal protein source. Something smells suspicious... Either the person thinks the goats are eating them and they're actually not (perhaps a problem with one of the many common egg predators) OR they are not feeding their goats properly if they're desperate enough to eat eggs! If that's the case... think twice about using their buck. Ignorant on basic feeding, likely ignorant in other healthcare issues as well...
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Dona Barski
"Breed the best, eat the rest"
Caprice Acres
French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.
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12/02/11, 08:27 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Southern Idaho
Posts: 4,032
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Nooooo! 
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12/03/11, 10:20 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 147
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Yea, it didn't really make sense to me either. Her goats looked good, but it's kind of throwing me off, some of the things she said. This is going to be the first time for me and my girls, so I was asking her advice on if she thought they were ready to be bred. I told her their weight and size and how many heats they had so far in the year, etc. She answered, "well, the goats know when to breed. If they accept the buck then it doesn't matter about the other stuff, she knows if it's ok or not." I'm not very happy with that answer. I don't know a lot about goats, but I know a lot about breeding other animals, and you don't keep healthy animals by just letting them "go to town" whenever they feel like it. She's very noncholant about the whole situation, so I haven't decided if I'll be using her, even though her buck is gorgeous.
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12/03/11, 02:31 PM
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Caprice Acres
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: MI
Posts: 11,235
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#1 rule with raising goats (IMO) - health.
I disease test for CL, CAE, and Johne's. If she doesn't know what those diseases are, run way. 
Some people don't test for CL - it can be an inaccurate test sometimes, some don't feel it's worth the money. If she knows she's CL abscess free, then it may be a go. If she DOESN"T test for CAE, however, run away screaming. Johnes is another that the ELISA tests can be kinda hit and miss - not because of the inaccuracy of the test, but because of long incubation times and odd shedding cycles of the bacteria (and therefore antibodies). I plan on doing fecal tests fo Johnes in the future, as much more of a headache it may be. 
__________________
Dona Barski
"Breed the best, eat the rest"
Caprice Acres
French and American Alpines. CAE, Johnes neg herd. Abscess free. LA, DHIR.
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12/03/11, 03:23 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 649
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MatthewB
Yea, it didn't really make sense to me either. Her goats looked good, but it's kind of throwing me off, some of the things she said. This is going to be the first time for me and my girls, so I was asking her advice on if she thought they were ready to be bred. I told her their weight and size and how many heats they had so far in the year, etc. She answered, "well, the goats know when to breed. If they accept the buck then it doesn't matter about the other stuff, she knows if it's ok or not." I'm not very happy with that answer. I don't know a lot about goats, but I know a lot about breeding other animals, and you don't keep healthy animals by just letting them "go to town" whenever they feel like it. She's very noncholant about the whole situation, so I haven't decided if I'll be using her, even though her buck is gorgeous.
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This is the exact thinking that will allow goats to become pregnant at 3 or 4 months old - delivering at 8 or 9 - and being terrible mothers. Age, size, and general health should *always* be taken into consideration.
My 11 year old daughter now has the physical ability to become pregnant, but that sure as heck don't mean she should!
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