When you have goats and sheep either as pets or livestock, you know how much they enjoy treats.
Of course, it’s important for those treats to be healthy for them in order to keep them at their best.
If you’re currently buying treats at your local farm supply store, you know how expensive they can be, and you also know that they’re frequently full of preservatives and artificial colors and flavors.
Just like us, all of those chemicals aren’t healthy.
I have an alternative for you that will give your barnyard buddies a natural, delicious and healthy treat, and save you money in the process.
Make your own at home!
Before you jump to the conclusion that I’m asking you to spend your entire afternoon in the kitchen, read through these recipes.
They’re cheap to make and super quick.
Here are four easy recipes, using ingredients that you likely already have, to make some homemade treats for your herd or flock.
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As always, treats should be given sparingly, meaning no more than two per day. Just like with us humans, if your livestock overindulges, you risk obesity and related health problems that come along with it.
These treats are great for rewards during or after milking time, vaccination time or hoof trims.
Note About Storage
All of these recipes save very well. Place biscuits (or cookies) in a freezer bag or container and store in the fridge for up to one week, or freeze for months of storage.
Banana & Carrot Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 small carrots
- 1 banana
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup alfalfa hay (chopped into small pieces)
Directions
- Put the hay into a food processor and blend until it is in small pieces, then put into a mixing bowl.
- Using the food processor, blend the oats until they’re a powder.
- Combine oats and hay.
- Purée the carrots in the food processor before adding the banana, and blend until purée.
- Add purée of carrots and banana to the mixing bowl of dry ingredients and stir until a dough forms.
- Place the dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and press into 1/4 inch thick sheet of dough.
- Use a knife to score the dough into 1-1 1/2 inch squares (depending on desired size) and bake in a preheated 325F oven for 30 minutes.
- Once fully baked, turn off the oven and leave the biscuits in until it cools, which will cause the biscuits to dry out and get nice and crunchy.
- Remove from oven and break the sheet into tasty crunchy squares.
Oatmeal Peanut Butter Biscuits
Ingredients
- 1 cup dry old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup unsalted raw sunflower hearts
- 2 Tbsp 100% all natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup molasses or honey
- 1/4 cup water (to be added in small amounts as needed)
Directions
- Put the flour, oats and sunflower hearts into a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the peanut butter and molasses or honey and stir until it forms a dough, you can add a small amount of the water if needed to form the dough.
- Place the dough onto one or two parchment paper lined baking sheets and press the dough into a 1/4 inch thick sheet.
- Score the dough with a knife into 1-1 1/2 inch squares and bake in a 350F oven for 20 minutes (watch closely to prevent burning).
- Turn off the oven and leave the biscuits in the oven until it cools to allow the biscuits to dry out.
- Remove from the oven and break the sheet into squares along the score lines.
Healthy Cookies
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup dry old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup whole grains (oats, barley or mix of both)
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 2 cups of a raisin bran cereal (smashed up into small pieces)
- 4 carrots (grated)
- 1 cup molasses
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or mashed banana
Directions
- Put all the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir until well combined, then add the remaining ingredients and mix until a dough forms.
- Place the dough onto parchment paper lined baking sheets and press into a 1/4-inch thick sheet.
- With a sharp knife, score the dough into 1 x 1 1/2 inch squares and bake in a 325F oven for 25-30 minutes (watch closely to prevent burning).
- Once fully baked, turn off the oven, but leave the biscuits in to ensure they dry out and get crunchy.
- Remove from the oven and break the sheet into squares along the score lines.
Apple Carrot Biscuits
Ingredients
- 4 cups dry old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup molasses
- 2 carrots (shredded)
- 1 apple (cored and shredded)
- 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
Directions
- Put the oats and flour into a mixing bowl and stir to combine.
- Add the shredded carrots and shredded apple and stir together.
- Add the molasses and stir until a dough forms.
- Roll out the dough onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet into a 1/4-sheet.
- Score the dough with a sharp knife into convenient 1×1 1/2-inch squares.
- Bake in a preheated 375F oven for 10-12 minutes.
- Turn off the oven, but do not remove the biscuits. You’ll let the oven cool with the biscuits inside, this will dry them out and make them crunchy.
Whether you’re giving treats to your goats or sheep ‘just because’ or as a reward for good behavior, if you’re making them at home, you know they’re healthy!
You can rest assured that your herd or flock are only eating healthy natural ingredients without any of those nasty preservatives and artificial ingredients.
Now let’s gather those ingredients and get baking!
Just remember to only give treats sparingly. After all, you want to treat your livestock, not give them obesity related health issues.