On Goats, Banana Peels, Tin Cans, and Pants
You know you’re a goat mom when after you eat a banana, without thinking, you split the peel into six parts — two for each of your goats.
Did you know goats love banana peels? Mine sure do.
They do *not* however eat tin cans. Yes, I know what you’ve heard. LIES! ALL LIES, I tell you! Seriously, it’s a nasty rumor, so let’s just stop it right here.
They may, however, nibble on your pants if given half the chance as recently happened to Jorge Garcia, Hurley of Lost, at Maui Surfing Goat Dairy:
Thanks to my friend Girasoli of Shave Ice & Gelato for passing along that link.
If you have any other questions about what goats eat, please leave them in the comments!
13 Responses to “On Goats, Banana Peels, Tin Cans, and Pants”
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Tins cans? I’ve never heard of that.. and our goat never ate them. However… I have several friends who constantly remind me of the time they came to our house and left with a hole in their jeans… courtesy of our goat!
Really, you’ve never heard it? The tin can thing is one of the biggest goat myths out there…don’t know where it comes from though. Ours have yet to actually eat a hole in anything, but some of them (namely Carmelina and her kid Nina) sure do give it the old college try 😉
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haggis783 Reply:
August 12th, 2011 at 2:50 pm
I bet that started because a goat would love to eat the tastey label wrapped around all tin cans. Never stand near the goats holding the mail they will rip those bills right out of your hands, try explaining that lol…
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michelle Reply:
August 14th, 2011 at 10:55 am
HA! Instead of the dog ate my homework…the goat ate my bills!
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jennifer Reply:
January 13th, 2013 at 9:18 pm
My mom grew up on a farm in Delaware and she says the whole “goats eating tin cans” comes from the fact the goats liked to eat the paper or glue off of the cans(from the labels). So people started saying “goats eat tin cans”/
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I no longer have goats in my life. Miss them. I am sooo enjoying yours. I do still have a big vegetable garden where I sheet compost all vegetable waste. It seems terribly wrong though whenever I compost corn husks, apple cores, watermelon rinds, edamame shells, etc. I know there are goats out there eager to consume these and transform them into the best garden fertilizer.
Oooh I hadn’t thought of watermelon rinds…our girls are going to love those! We’ll think of you Anne!
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My goats are always nibbling on my clothes. Sometimes they make a go for my rubber shoes! Crazy goats 🙂
It’s funny that we really have one mom and one kid who do most of the nibbling…and they are indeed mom and kid; must be genetic!
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I wonder where that silly tin can myth came from? Glad you enjoyed the link. Thought of you right away when I read his goat post.
Loved it, indeed! I didn’t know he had a blog!
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He is pretty funny. Been following him for a while now. Last fall they had rats in their house. His poor girlfriend was freaked out (I would have been too). He did a few posts with video of the rats.
Haha…I’ll have to subscribe; I love him on Lost!
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…cute little guy, and, of course I had to ask, is his forehead “teething”?
Looks like he was recently disbudded (had his budding horns burned off)….
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The tin can story came from the fact that goats use to like the taste of the glue that the labels were affixed with. Of course they may be licking the remenants of what was once in the can alos. Now since I’m not sure what is used as glue, I don’t know if goats chew on tin can labels or not.
Interesting…I’m tempted to test this out to see if glue still attracts them…but yes I’d definitely buy that they wanted what was in the can. Maybe those cowboy-style baked beans?
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My babies also like onion skins & orange peels. I only feed them organic though because I’m afraid of chemical residues. 🙂
Mine *love* our mandarin orange peels (and the oranges), but I haven’t given them onion skins. Interesting! Thanks for commenting, Jennifer 🙂
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My goats **LOVE** corn chips! They are also very fond of bell peppers, apples, and any sort of cookie they can snatch from one of my children. (I keep telling the children not to eat cookies in the barn! lol)
In the fall, after the garden is done, we give them the corn stalks, pea vines, and carrot tops. They’d also eat all my parsley if I’d let them. But I’m mean and hog it all myself! They also adore pumpkins – just split them in half and watch the feasting begin.
Haha mine haven’t tasted cookies, but I also don’t have children who would wander over there with them 😉
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I have two goats, a boy & girl. They love marshmallows, stale bread, croutons, popped and unpopped pop corn, corn on the cob, spicy french fry chips, Doritos, beer (importetc.
I drive them around town in my pickup with topper and we visit my friends all across town. Fred & Maude get to taste a variety of plants in everyone’s yard! They love to stop by the outdoor beer store here and sample the ales. They don’t like lagers (and I don’t blame them) and prefer the malty, dark ales, but only if served at room temperature. They don’t seem to like the commercial Mead, but my home-made variety is a wintertime favorite.
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