Goats prefer a diverse mix of pasture grasses, legumes, herbs, and leaves from shrubs and trees. This selective feeding makes them omnivores ,unlike cattle, which are purely roughage eaters.

A grazing trial with dairy goats was conducted at the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein to investigate whether different plant communities (standard pasture vs. grass-herb pasture vs. grass-legume pasture vs. grass-legume-herb pasture) affect the animals' grazing behavior . In addition , forage yield, feed intake, milk production, milk components , and milk taste were examined.

The results showed that herbs and legumes had little influence on forage yield and feed intake. Milk production was also unaffected by the plant community. However, the animals' selection behavior revealed a preference for the standard pasture and the grass-herb-legume pasture mixture .