what to plant for goat feed?

[nebs]

So I will plant extra squash and melons. Would they like sunflowers, stalks and all?

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

They love corn stalks. Well at least the leaf

[Phil-O-Rama]

Rose bushes?

-Phil

[IdahoNancy]

Black berries, raspberries, wild roses called Rugosa, cotoneaster, sumac, and mugo pine. These are my heartiest shrubs that put out alot of growth that needs to be pruned. Most are moderately drought tolerant once established. The goats love them.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Aussie Willows. Very fast growing tree and the leaves are like 20% protein

[Huckleberry]

Just got done reading a really cool book where the author grows a lot of her goats food, "5 Acres and A Dream" which is also a blog. She had some great ideas for things to grow for the goats.

[Taffy]

Oh, yeah, the DO love rose bushes!

Rose bushes?

-Phil

[Nanno]

Oh man... when we lived in the neighborhood in Colorado City and had Cuzco in our back yard, I planted rose bushes all around our house. It was fine because Cuzco lived on a 30-foot tether and couldn't reach them. Till he broke loose one day. When I went out to run errands we had lovely, colorful, and sweet-smelling roses all around the back of our house. When I came home, we had a barren wasteland with a few dry bristles sticking out of the dirt. Cuzco looked so pleased with himself, but I was devastated! Fortunately, they seemed to enjoy the severe pruning, and they came back with a vengeance the next spring, growing to nearly three times the size they'd been when Cuzco ate them. That's why I love rose bushes. They seem to thrive on maltreatment.

Unfortunately, so does scrub oak. If you want a hearty bush that won't die no matter what, but keeps coming back to feed your goats year after year, plant gambel oak! They love it, and they can't kill it. All they can do is beat it back a little. But be warned: the stuff takes over!