KMG365
Well-Known Member
I did not realize that goats enjoyed eating pine trees. 
From The Ottawa Citizen
Donate your Christmas tree to a holiday feast for goats
Now that Ottawa residents have gorged themselves on holiday delights, 13 goats will be taking a seat at their own Christmas table — to chow down on your tree.
The Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge is accepting donations of old Christmas trees to feed to their flock of hungry goats.
“They mostly get hay this time of year and that’s really boring,” executive director Lynne Rowe said.
“They do get very excited when there’s trees.”
Rowe said goats are natural browsers, meaning that they eat off trees. They will eat just about all of a Christmas tree, including the bark and needles, right down to the trunk.
“They (the flock) can go through three a day,” she said with a laugh. “I often just ration out, though, to spread them out over a longer time.”
Rowe said the goats can smell the coniferous scent.
“They don’t make a lot of noise but they’ll come running out and start nibbling right away,” she said. “Hopefully some of them will talk.”
The trees are actually more nutritious than hay, providing many vitamins and acting as a natural dewormer.
So far the Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge has received about a dozen trees, according to Rowe. One family donated their tree and the rest were collected by the people who run the Kemptville Canadian Tire.
Rowe said she has put out a call to the community for old Christmas trees for the past five years. Last year, the refuge received 30 trees.
If you would like to donate your Christmas tree to feed the goats, you can drop it off, stripped of all decorations, at the refuge front gate (2494 Dunrobin Rd.).
From The Ottawa Citizen
Donate your Christmas tree to a holiday feast for goats
Now that Ottawa residents have gorged themselves on holiday delights, 13 goats will be taking a seat at their own Christmas table — to chow down on your tree.
The Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge is accepting donations of old Christmas trees to feed to their flock of hungry goats.
“They mostly get hay this time of year and that’s really boring,” executive director Lynne Rowe said.
“They do get very excited when there’s trees.”
Rowe said goats are natural browsers, meaning that they eat off trees. They will eat just about all of a Christmas tree, including the bark and needles, right down to the trunk.
“They (the flock) can go through three a day,” she said with a laugh. “I often just ration out, though, to spread them out over a longer time.”
Rowe said the goats can smell the coniferous scent.
“They don’t make a lot of noise but they’ll come running out and start nibbling right away,” she said. “Hopefully some of them will talk.”
The trees are actually more nutritious than hay, providing many vitamins and acting as a natural dewormer.
So far the Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge has received about a dozen trees, according to Rowe. One family donated their tree and the rest were collected by the people who run the Kemptville Canadian Tire.
Rowe said she has put out a call to the community for old Christmas trees for the past five years. Last year, the refuge received 30 trees.
If you would like to donate your Christmas tree to feed the goats, you can drop it off, stripped of all decorations, at the refuge front gate (2494 Dunrobin Rd.).
