Who's lost animals to cherry trees?

Silvercreek Farmer · #1 07/27/12, 07:21 PM

Had a big one come down in the pasture today. The sheep and goats have already gorged on it. I hope there are enough roots still connected to keep it from wilting until I can get it removed.

lazyBum · #2 07/27/12, 07:29 PM

We've lost a few cows that we attributed to wilted cherry leaves. Healthy in the evening, dead and bloated the next morning. Only explanation we could think of.

gone-a-milkin · #3 07/27/12, 07:59 PM

I know of one other poster here that lost several sheep when a cherry tree came down on the farthest fenceline.

You really need to keep those animals away until the mess is cleaned up or the leaves dry out.

manfred · #4 07/27/12, 08:38 PM

I almost lost goats to a cherry tree. They got in the yard and stripped it in minutes. Wife wanted to kill them.

snoozy · #5 07/28/12, 12:10 AM

I have the opposite problem. I lost cherries to animals. Last night there were cherries on both trees, this morning, every last cherry is gone. Maybe birds, maybe racoons, maybe bear.

kasilofhome · #6 07/28/12, 01:35 AM

I am with Snoozy. My herd of goats vs 3 cherry trees. I still have the goats but no cherry trees--they also hit the rhubarb and this year with acres of wonderful brows they enjoyed breaking into the potato patch--whats up with that was it because it was behind the fence that they had to have it? Potatoes are planted out in the open with out fencing and the moose never have touch it but enlarge the fenced in garden and they had to eat them.

AuntKitty · #7 07/28/12, 12:12 PM

I had a cherry tree come down in a thunderstorm a couple of years ago and I didn't see it until it had already wilted. Unfortunately the goats saw it at the same time I did and it was too heavy for me to push the rest of the way over the fence by myself before the goats got to it. But nothing happened to the goats. It wasn't that big of a tree and they regularly eat unwilted cherry leaves so maybe that gave them a little "immunity".

So, its not neccesarily a "death sentence". Just do the best you can. Maybe put something really tempting at the other end of the pasture to draw them away. I use peanut hay as bait for times I need them to stay somewhere.

Hope the goats are ok!

Kitty

VERN in IL · #8 07/29/12, 07:17 AM

The goats should die for messing with a cherry tree!

Stupid livestock can be grown in a season, it takes years to grow a cherry tree.

Homemade cherry pie is the best.

country friend · #9 07/29/12, 12:06 PM

I had a cherry tree come down in pasture Thursday . I cut it up right away , that is what I was taught to do all my life . I got it all cut up and was stacking the wood next to the now 10 foot stump when all of a sudden I start getting stung by honey bees . Did not like the stings but now have another hive of bees . Will be adding to a box soon .

big rockpile · #10 07/29/12, 02:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VERN in IL

The goats should die for messing with a cherry tree!

Stupid livestock can be grown in a season, it takes years to grow a cherry tree.

Homemade cherry pie is the best.

Most problem is with Wild Cherry Trees.

big rockpile

bruce2288 · #11 07/29/12, 06:20 PM

Chokecherry can produce prussic acid the precursor to cyanide poisoning as can many plants.

TheMartianChick · #12 07/29/12, 08:03 PM

This is a good topic! I wasn't aware of the dangers of cherry trees. I never lived on a property that had any.

boundarybunnyco · #13 07/29/12, 10:43 PM

wow, my goats eat the bark off their cherry tree all the time. I assume they also eat the leaves and cherries that fall. Is it only bad if the leaves are wilted? hmmm...

beaglady · #14 07/30/12, 09:04 AM

When I was a teenager, we lived in a development with a farm field behind us. There were a couple cows and 2 horses that lived in the field. I loved to feed those horses and thought of them as 'mine'. One morning, my favorite one was on the ground writhing in agony til he eventually died. The farmer found it had been eating wilted cherry leaves.

ozark_jewels · #15 07/30/12, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMartianChick

This is a good topic! I wasn't aware of the dangers of cherry trees. I never lived on a property that had any.

Cherry leaves(and peach and plum), are fine if the livestock eats them fresh off a healthy tree. Also fine if they eat the naturally falling leaves in the fall.

BUT, they are toxic if the tree or a limb falls or is cut in leaf, and the leaves wilt. That is when they are toxic.

Its a good idea never to pick cherry(or peach or plum)limbs for penned goats to eat. In case they don't eat it all right away and it wilts.

Silvercreek Farmer · #16 08/17/12, 08:40 AM

I was able to get my fence back up (it fell on a pasture divider) and keep the animals away from at least half the tree. There were enough roots still connected to keep the tree from wilting, so I just left it. Tree is pretty much stripped at this point and animals are all well. I think it is important to note that they had plenty of other forage which probably diluted their intake, and at no point would have been driven by hunger to consume the tree. Hungry animals may have had a different outcome.

BethW · #17 08/19/12, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ozark_jewels

Cherry leaves(and peach and plum)...BUT, they are toxic if the tree or a limb falls or is cut in leaf, and the leaves wilt. That is when they are toxic.

Yep. We cut all of the wild cherry trees that are within 20 feet of our goats' field.

Cyngbaeld · #18 08/20/12, 08:59 PM

Activated charcoal will NOT help with cyanide poison. Sodium nitrate IV is the treatment of choice.