# Goats and tin.... **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 29, 1999, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385 "1999-04-29T23:12:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 1999, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385/1 "1999-04-29T23:12:00Z")
I have no idea why I am curious about this, but i was watching a cartoon yesterday and their was a goat munching on a tin can. I got to thinking, this is not the first time I have seen or heard about goats insatiable hunger for metal. I’m not around to many goats (ex-girlfriends excluded), do they really eat tin cans and other metal objects? If not, where does this come metal munching portrayal come from, I’m sure there not the brightest animals, but wouldn’t this be a bit painful when it’s time to go to the little goat’s room? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 1999, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385/2 "1999-04-29T23:48:00Z")
The goats eat the _lables_ off of tin cans. My grandmother is fond of telling the story when my grandfather bought two goats who proceeded to eat everyting in sight. They even, my grandmother still laments, ate her broom, the only weapon she had against their onslaught. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 1999, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385/3 "1999-04-30T00:01:00Z")
I think i heard once that this originated back during like World War I. Due to all the weapons and ammo and what not that were being produced at the time, there was a shortage of metals and alloys for household products. So metallic items were consequently made from some sort of soy-based material/metal mix. The goats (who apparently love soy) could smell the soy in the cans, license plates and what not and thus would chow down on them. I have no idea what effect it had on there bowels, but i would imagine it wouldn’t be to pleasent. I don’t know, it sounds reasonable, but i can’t think of many weapons made from tin, so where does this great tin shortage come into play? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 1999, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385/4 "1999-04-30T02:23:00Z")
I just posted to OP Mike King’s thread on a possible new subsection for debates as opposed to general questions and then found this evidence that it may be a high fence to jump. Regards ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2000, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385/5 "2000-12-31T21:04:32Z")
I looked up some old posts and started wondering about the guest designation. Rather than revive something ancient in GQ or MPSIMS, I thought I’d just try it out here at the testing grounds. I’m testing to see if beatle the guest becomes beatle the member by posting to this thread. I really don’t know anything about goats. ---
**Author:** ![barstow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/90db22/32.png) [@barstow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barstow)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2001, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385/6 "2001-01-01T00:58:52Z")
Well? Did it work? Did you revive the Guest of Christmas Past? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-and-tin/385/7 "2001-01-01T19:51:55Z")
This is really not a good test thread . . . and I would have moved it to a better forum but now there’s testing in it. So heck with it, I’ll just close it. your humble TubaDiva Administrator