trash compactors. In the broadest designation,
goats are herbivores. Translation: they eat
plant stuff: not tin cans, not animal products
(yes, your adult goat is vegan), and not
Twinkies. More specifically, goats are
ruminants. Like cattle, they have a
four-chambered stomach. The rumen, the largest
compartment, contains microbes that ferment the
plant material and break down the cellulose
(plant fiber) into volatile fatty acids (VFAs)
that are the beneficial nutrients. In essence,
when you put food in front of your goat, you are
not feeding the goat, you are feeding the
bacteria. Even more specifically, unlike their
ruminant colleagues cattle and sheep, goats are
browsers not grazers. This means that they are
adapted to eat leaves and brush rather than
grasses. This last trait explains why your kid's
4-H goat ignored the lush lawn and decimated
your rose bushes the last time he got into your
front yard."
Goat Mythology
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