# How to stop my goats from eating their bedding



## smilesx4 (May 8, 2013)

They are driving me nuts! I buy the worst hay I can for the bedding. I don't mean moldy I just mean yellow and very dry. If I put this in the hay bin they won't have a thing to do with it. If I put it in their pens...they gobble it all up! :grumble: I have even used straw with the same results. So how do I get them to leave their bedding alone so their pens stay clean and dry? I have a layer of sawdust in their pens, but I like a thick layer of straw down to give a barrier for them when they lay down. 


any help would be extremely appreciated!


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

I'm guessing they are hungry. Feed them more good stuff.


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## Sensiblefarmer (Apr 24, 2014)

I wish that I had a good solution for that problem. Mine have always seemed to do the same. They'll even eat straw when they have plenty of good pasture. I usually just use wasted hay for bedding. Otherwise they get only shavings.


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## Squeaky McMurdo (Apr 19, 2012)

Mine do this too. They will choose straw over grain. I tried to be nice and give Toast and her babies a whole bunch of straw to sleep on the night they were born and she ate it all down to the dirt by morning despite having a feeder full of alfalfa pellets and oats.

I once tried bitter apple spray and cayenne pepper to deter them...didn't work. Wood chips is the only solution I can think of.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Think like a goat. It is appetizing to them for a reason. We need to figure out what the reason is.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

Let the good hay get on the ground. It might as well be poo at that point. They won't touch it even though it just fell out of the hay feeder. Who knows?


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

They will always nibble on fresh bedding. If they're passing up pasture or good feed provided outside, its simply laziness that they prefer to eat bedding than pasture/hay. 

My alpines do this. They don't want to go out there because of flies or sun. I lock them outside and make them go eat. They wont' die.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Think like a goat. It is appetizing to them for a reason. We need to figure out what the reason is.


The reason is they're like cats. They know what you want them to do (or not do), therefore they do the opposite.


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## Squeaky McMurdo (Apr 19, 2012)

Mine will eat dirty bedding over pasture and other yummy stuff too (got into a garbage bag right after I cleaned out the baby pen. Ewww) No idea why they like straw so much. I'm starting to wonder if it's oat straw or something, there are seed heads in it.


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## Clovers_Clan (Jul 17, 2012)

Alice In TX/MO said:


> Think like a goat. It is appetizing to them for a reason. We need to figure out what the reason is.


Its the goat equivalent of potato chips, they're just snacking. They know its not good for them, they should just put it down, but they're just too lazy to get up off the couch to go to the fridge. Can you imagine what a goat would do with a remote? They'd never leave the barn.


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## Frosted Mini's (Nov 29, 2012)

mygoat said:


> They will always nibble on fresh bedding. If they're passing up pasture or good feed provided outside, its simply laziness that they prefer to eat bedding than pasture/hay.
> 
> My alpines do this. They don't want to go out there because of flies or sun. I lock them outside and make them go eat. They wont' die.


I agree with this. My alpines are the same. The Nigerians and mini's are great foragers, but the alpines are just princesses and would prefer to get waited on.


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## smilesx4 (May 8, 2013)

thanks for all the responses, most of which made me laugh!

I tried throwing sawdust on top of the straw yesterday and they moved it with their hoof and ate the darn straw! 

I can't do wood shavings because they are $8 a bag here, straw is much much cheaper so I guess I will just have to come up with a plan D..haha.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

Or..... not fret.


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