Can Goats Eat Watermelon? All You Need To Know

Watermelon is an edible berry with a hard rind. It is of the Cucurbitaceae family and is widely grown in almost all parts of the world. You can eat it raw, pickle it, or turn it into a delicious watermelon drink.

While watermelon is consumed widely by humans, its healthiness for goats remains a  hot discussion topic. Goats can eat watermelon, and it’s beneficial to them. It contains critical nutrients like vitamins A, C, and Potassium, which are pivotal to your animal’s development. However, there’s more to feeding this fruit to your goat than just adding it to their diet.

In this article, you’ll learn everything about feeding watermelon to your goats. You’ll get to find out its nutritional components, downsides, serving suggestions, and numerous other essentials to enable you to give them to your goats properly.

Nutritional Compositions of Watermelon

Before delving deeper into the article, let’s examine the nutritional components of the fruit.

Per 100 grams, watermelon contains:

• 91% water
• 6.2 grams of sugar
• 7.6 grams of carbs
• 0.6 grams of protein
• 0.2 grams of fat
• Calories 30
• 0.4 grams of fiber

From the above nutrient composition, it’s easy to spot that watermelon consists of a lot of water. It also has very few calories, meaning that your goats have reduced chances of suffering from obesity due to consuming the fruit. Watermelons are also rich in vitamins and minerals like Vitamin C, B5, Potassium, and Vitamin A, which are beneficial to your goats.

Can Goats Eat Watermelon?

Like humans, goats enjoy watermelon and would eat it every time you feed them, although you should only give it to them as a treat. Not only should you feed your goats watermelon in moderation, but you should only serve them most fruits and vegetables as a snack. The reason is that most of these fruits and veggies contain similar nutrients that are harmful to goats in excess.

For instance, the high amount of sugar in watermelon can cause obesity when you overfeed them to your goats. We can liken feeding your goat watermelon to giving a human cake. As much as you enjoy eating cake, making it a staple part of your diet is unhealthy because it has a rich sugar content which can cause obesity.

Also, goats are incapable of regulating the nutrition of their diet on their own. Your goats will finish a diet of watermelon every single time that you serve it, and it’s up to you to regulate its intake. If you keep feeding them watermelons for breakfast lunch and dinner, you’re on your way to raising a terribly unhealthy goat.

What Type Of Watermelon Do Goats Eat?

Watermelons exist in more than 1,000 varieties and goats can eat all the most common watermelon types. However, you may want to check the kinds of watermelons that have lower sugar content than average, as they’re generally healthier to feed your goat.

Self-grown watermelons are always the best, but you can buy one from a trusted store to feed your goats. If you’re buying from a store, ensure that you wash it thoroughly to clean off all insecticides or preservatives that might’ve been added to the fruit.

What Parts of Watermelon Do Goats Eat?

Goats can eat all the parts of the watermelon, including the vines. All the parts have their nutritional benefits, but some are clearly more beneficial than others. Here is a detailed explanation on the part of watermelons and how well they fare with your goat.

Flesh

The flesh is that reddish juicy part of the fruit you enjoy eating. Your goats will enjoy it too and would be happy to munch on it during a hot afternoon. Why? Because it contains around 90% water. Also, the flesh’s Vitamin A, C, and Potassium combination are perfectly optimized for your animal’s health.

Rinds

The rind is the greenish back of the watermelon. Interestingly, the watermelon rind is edible even for us humans, but we generally keep it away because of its taste and texture. However, your goat will munch it if given the opportunity.

Although they would prefer to eat the flesh than the rind, the rind is more beneficial to their health. You should cut it into bite size and clean it appropriately before you serve it to them to prevent them from choking on it.

Vines

Goats are herbivorous animals, and, understandably, they enjoy eating watermelon vines. The only warning here is that you should wash the vines thoroughly before feeding them because there’s a high chance they’ve come in contact with pesticides.

If you can, you should only give them homegrown vines. Since they don’t need it to grow, you can always skip it if you can find any you can trust.

How Should You feed Your Goats Watermelon?

Moderation is the key when feeding your goats watermelon. Typically, you should feed your adult goats around two to three slices of the fruit thrice a week. This serving method will ensure they enjoy the meal without altering their regular diet.

Additionally, you should only serve your goat fresh watermelons. Feeding them with spoilt ones can mess up their already sensitive digestive system and cause health problems for your animal.

Also, chopping the fruit into bite-sized pieces makes it easier for your goats to consume them, preventing any possibility of choking.

Can Goats Eat Watermelon Flavored Snacks?

Goats can eat watermelon-flavored snacks, but you should avoid feeding them to your goats. Snacks are made and flavored for the human digestive system and will do more harm than good to your goats. The most harmful part is the high sugar content typically present in these snacks.

Can Baby Goats Eat Watermelon?

Watermelon can benefit baby goats as equally as it would an adult goat, but only if you know how to feed it properly. Only give the fruits to the kids after their mother has weaned them.

Even when you start serving them, you should give them in much smaller rations than you would an adult goat.

Conclusion

That concludes all you need to know about feeding watermelons to your goats. Homegrown watermelons are the best for your animals.

While you might think growing it yourself can be stressful, it’s one of the easiest fruits to grow out there. It takes around three months to germinate into an edible fruit, and you can grow it in your garden.

Eating a balanced diet is as essential to your goat as it is to humans. It would help to research the type of food you should feed in your goat’s daily diet and the one that shouldn’t. You reading this shows you care about your animal’s diet, and you want to find out if watermelons are beneficial for them or not.