One of the biggest risks to the health and safety of your homestead or pet goats is the ingestion of toxic foodstuff.
This applies specifically to goats because, as foragers, they are naturally more curious about different food sources and can easily get themselves into unintended trouble.
This is why it is crucial to know the benefits and risks of offering your goats certain treats, fruits, and foliage.
For example, Are plums safe for goats to consume? Or Can goats eat plum pits and leaves?
Yes, goats can eat plum fruits without risk as long as the pit of the fruit has been removed. However, the plum plant poses some serious threats to goats’ health if offered incorrectly, so read up on this potentially dangerous fruit below before offering any to your nannies or billies.
What Fruits Can Goats Have
Fruits are a great dietary supplement for goats. We have been offering our goats small amounts of different fruit for years as seasonal treats and sources of unique nutrients.
However, not all fruits are best for goats. Some fruits naturally contain indigestible compounds, poisons, or too many sugars that will harm your goats.
Remember, a goat’s best diet is rich in coarse plant fiber. Our best advice is to offer your goats unlimited hay, one of the highest fiber plant-materials available, alongside a rotating pasture where they can forage, and small amounts of quality fruits and vegetables.
Knowing which fruits goats can safely consume will also help you determine the best pasture for them.
To learn about different types of fruits and plants that are safe and unsafe for goats, explore our goat post archive!
Are Plums Poisonous To Goats
The plum fruit itself is not poisonous to goats. In fact, plums have a high water content, offer a number of different vitamins and minerals, as well as powerful natural antioxidants.
Keep in mind though that an average plum also contains about 1.4g of fiber and almost 10g of sugars. For a goat, that is a big fiber to sugar imbalance and must be taken into consideration: plums are treats for goats, but should never be considered a primary part of a healthy goat diet!
If eaten in excess, your goats can suffer from rumen bacterial upsets that can cause bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and loss of appetite.
A bloated, swollen rumen will be visibly pushing out of your goat’s upper left side.
How To Prepare Plums For Goats
We always wash fruits before offering them to our goats to ensure all residual dirt, grime, food wax, insects, and pesticides are removed.
Goats can have plum peels, so there is no need to peel the plum before offering it to your goat.
However, you must remove the plum pit before giving the fruit to your goats.
Risks of Plums For Goats: Poisonous Pits
While the flesh of the plum fruit is not poisonous to goats, the pit of the fruit poses a serious threat: plum pits contain a natural compound called amygdalin (Vitamin B-17).
Amygdalin naturally breaks down into poisonous hydrogen cyanide when ingested and is irreversible, so never allow your goats to naw on or chew plum pits!
In fact, amygdalin is found in all pits and seeds of the fruits in the Prunus plant genus, which includes plums and other common fruits such as apples and peaches: learn more about the threat of amygdalin in Can Goats Eat Apples and Can Goats Eat Peaches.
How Often Can Goats Eat Plums?
Due to the high sugar content and low fiber quality of plum fruits, we never offer our goats more than 2 plums a day.
Again, we always and without exception remove the pit of the plum fruit before offering this treat to our goats!
Prussic Acid In Plum Trees
Plum trees also naturally contain cyanogenic prussic acid, the result of a cyanide ion binding with other enzymes when crushed and chewed.
Prussic acid quickly prohibits the body from being able to use oxygen and can easily kill animals if ingested in high amounts.
The Virginia Cooperative extension shares some important information regarding prussic acid in fruit trees:
- Wilted leaves from Prunus trees contain high amounts of prussic acid and should never be offered to goats.
- Drought, frost or storm stressed plants contain higher amounts of prussic acid and should always be avoided.
Note the instances when it is okay to offer this plant material:
- New regrowth from a drought or storm event after 2-3 weeks is usually quite low in prussic acid.
- Dried leaves do not contain the harmful compound and can be eaten without worry.
Can Goats Eat Plum Trees Safely
We prefer to be better safe than sorry with our goats and avoid offering them any part of the plum tree.
However, we have a good friend who offers her goats no more than a handful of fresh leaves from her plum trees, but she has told us that she is very cautious and ensures her goats eat all the leaves within 1-2 minutes of being cut from the tree. She never leaves uneaten leaves in their pasture area, as any wilted leaf is toxic!
Overall, we really do not recommend giving your goats access to plum trees.
Frequently Asked Questions Related To Can Goats Eat Plums
Can Goats Eat Plums and Peaches?
Yes, both plums and peaches are safe fruits to offer your goats. Both of them however, come with some risks due to their poisonous pits and plant parts. Be cautious and intentional when offering your goats plums and peaches.
Can Chickens Eat Plums?
Yes, plums can be offered to your other homestead animals such as chickens, as long as the pits are removed!
This video does a great job of highlighting some common pasture plants that are toxic to livestock.
Final Thoughts On Can Goats Eat Plums
Plum fruits are a delicious treat option for your goats. Just be sure to offer plums in moderation, remove the pit, and avoid other parts of the plum tree!
If that seems too risky for your liking, no worries, there are many other treats that you can offer your goats without risk, for example blueberries or Lettuce For Goats!