Ragwort is one of the flowering plants you can find in the garden.
If you have ragwort in abundance in the garden, you might be wondering if you can feed the plants to the goat.
In this blog post, you are going to discover if you can serve ragwort to the goat or not. You will also learn how to introduce new treats to the goats.
Can goats eat Ragwort? Goats can eat Ragwort. But you should serve Ragwort to the goats in moderation due to the presence of alkaloid in them. Ragwort can be served to the goats as a treat.
You can allow your goats to go into the garden to have a free-range on the ragworts. The goats are going to eat the amount which is enough for them.
Table of Contents
Is ragwort poisonous to goats?
Ragwort contains alkaloids in their nutritional facts. Excessive intake of ragwort by the goats can cause a series of effects in their body systems.
Goats can develop liver poisoning if they eat ragwort excessively. The symptoms might be different from one goat to another depending on the strength of their immune systems.
This is the reason why it is very essential to allow the goats to eat ragwort in moderation. Make sure you don’t put excessive ragwort in their feeder.
One of your major duties as a goat owner is to know the level of toxicity in the new treat you want to introduce to the goat.
You don’t just feed the goats with anything if you truly care about their well-being. Most of the treats you are going to give them should nourish their bodies and improve their health.
Trying to do a little research about the new treats you want to give the goat so as not to give them something that will harm their well-being.
Don’t be like some goat owners who treat their pets like garbage cleaners. These are a set of people who will throw anything at the goats and never care about the nutrients composition of the leftovers.
One of the easy ways to identify such owners is that their pets will look malnourished and will not develop properly.
They are too careless about what their goats eat. These are the people who often complain that their goats experience bloating most of the time.
How do I introduce ragwort to my goats?
Introducing ragworts to the goat should not be complicated. The goats are fond of eating plants that come their way while browsing around, so Ragwort shouldn’t be hard to introduce to them.
If it happens that your goats often go on free range looking for pasture, you can simply allow them to go into the garden to feed on the ragwort available there. The goats are going to eat the ragwort in moderation.
You have to go slow at first anytime you want to introduce ragwort to the goat, if it happens that they are always in the yard.
You can do this by serving them a small portion of ragwort into the feeder. The amount you are going to put in there should not be enough for all of them if it happens that they accept the new treats.
Take for instance, assuming you have 10 goats in the yard, you can simply serve them ragworts that will only satisfy three of them.
This will help to increase their appetite towards the ragworts or any other treat you are introducing to them if it happens that the goats find it palatable.
On the other hand, you are going to realise little waste if it happens that the goats reject the ragwort you serve them.
The goat might reject the ragwort at first serving, do not be too hasty to take it away from them, they might likely come back and finish everything you serve in the feeder.
However, if you discover that they are turning up their heads against the ragwort in the feeder, it shows that they are not interested in the plant and you should take it away.
How often do I feed my goats with ragwort?
Ragwort should be regarded as a treat, that is, something you give to the goat rarely.
When you discover that goats can eat a certain treat and you have that treat in abundance at your disposal, I know it can be very tempting to always want to serve the treat to the goats so as to prevent wastage.
Well you need to be cautious about this and avoid serving ragwort to the goats always due to the alkaloid present in them.
You should not serve ragwort more than 3 times in a month even if you have them in abundance in the surrounding area or garden.
Can ragwort cause bloating in goats?
Ragwort can cause bloating in goats if they consume it in excess. Moderation is the key when it comes to feeding goats with different treats.
The digestive system of goats are a bit complicated as it contains a lot of microbes.
If you feed the goats a treat in excess, those microbes in their digestive systems will be working extra hard to bring down all the nutrients in the treats. This process will cause a lot of reaction in their stomachs which leads to bloating.
Can baby goats eat ragwort?
I will not advise you to allow baby goats to eat ragwort. The reason is that baby goats need more protein in their body systems in order to grow properly.
Ragwort does not contain any protein in their nutritional facts so it is not suitable for baby goats.
Most of the feeds are going to give baby goats should not have less than 15% protein in their nutritional value.
Why are my goats not eating ragwort?
Goats are capable of rejecting ragwort if they don’t find it palatable. You will notice this when they begin to turn up their head against the ragwort you put in the feeder.
Another thing is that the goats might eat the plants at the first serving but reject it on the next one.
The goat are going to reject the treat on the next serving, if their body system is not comfortable when they first eat the ragwort.
Other treats you can serve the goats
Here are some other treats which we can serve the goat in order to have varieties of treats to serve them.
Cabbage
Cabbage is one of the healthy vegetables which you can serve the goats. Cabbage can be served together with other vegetables for the goat.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin is another treat which you can serve the goats. Pumpkin is a good source of vitamins and minerals for the goat. Just help them to break the pumpkin into smaller pieces before you serve them.
Bananas
Bananas are good for the goat. The goats are capable of eating the fruit of bananas as well as the peels. Bananas are a good source of fibre for the goats.
Lettuce
Lettuce is another good and healthy vegetable which you can serve to the goats as a treat. Lettuce is a good source of antioxidants for the goat.
Conclusion
Ragwort is safe for the goat. But it is very important to serve ragwort in moderation to the goats due to the alkanoids present in the plant. Always serve ragworts to the goats in moderation so as to prevent bloating.
