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Regarding what goats will eat, while it is true they seem to prefer to
browse (i.e., eat with their heads up) versus graze (i.e., eat with
their heads down, they are equal opportunity eaters. That is, they
will gladly eat those fruit trees, but also will eat things like thistle
(somewhat reluctantly), stinging nettle (ditto, although some
actually seem to specialize on it when other preferred foods are
scarce), milkweed (no, it doesn't kill them), brambles (definitely in
the "dessert" category--they love it), goldenrod, mutiflora rose
(ditto), Japanese barberry. They will absolutely devour a Christmas
Tree when it is given to them at this time of year, although they
only seem to nibble on spruce, fir and pine in the pastures. As a
consequence, they are a good companion to horses in pastures.
They also will not damage pastures the way sheep and horses will,
given that they only have front teeth on their lower jaws, and can't
crop vegetation close to the ground (or even pull it out by the roots).
