What forage is bad for goats?

[country_wife]

I'm still working my way through all of our library's goat books. So far I see they aren't supposed to eat cherries or cherry trees. What else would be bad for goats? What about poison ivy? (Not for our dairy goat, of course, but maybe for our meat breeders..which I hope to acquire after I get the hang of this goat thing. )

What forage is bad for the dairy goats, as in it would make the milk taste off?

Thanks so much!! I'm learning so much here!

[hoofinitnorth]

Lupine. We have lots of it wild here and it is apparently poisonous to goats. It is poisonous to horses too but mine eat a small amount every year and never show any ill effects. I wonder if it's a cumulative thing such that they don't eat enough to get sick???

There is a good book on plants poisonous to livestock. Try Amazon.com. It's on my wish list.

[BlueHeronFarm]

Yew, azalea and rhododendron will kill your goat. I'm sure there are plenty others, but these three are REALLY toxic. I would guess oleander, too.
Poison ivy is fine, but if your milkers are out in it, you may pick up the oils from their skin/hair when you are milking.

[yarrow]

I've spent many a day with poision ivy, on my arms & my cheek, always the same cheek...(I have a habit of leaning my head on the girls as I milk...) I don't worry about cherry leaves, unless they have been green and suddenly wilt (branches/trees brought down by storms, trees that are green and then hit with a late freeze) You'll read about all sorts of things that are bad...poke weed & acorns/oak leaves.... **maybe** it that was ALL they ate, but a bit here and move on over there... we've never had a problem. My girls will take each other out over the poke weeds!
susie, mo ozarks

[AnnaS]

Originally Posted by yarrow

You'll read about all sorts of things that are bad...poke weed & acorns/oak leaves.... **maybe** it that was ALL they ate, but a bit here and move on over there... we've never had a problem. susie, mo ozarks

It's the "a bit here and move on over there" grazing pattern that keeps goats from getting poisoned. A cow or a horse can be confined to bad pasture and will poison itself or starve, while a goat will think, "to heck with you, barb wire" and go to greener pastures.

Too much pine browse can cause abortion in goats. This was a case involving a goat owner who collected discarded Christmas trees and fed her herd on them exclusively every January. She had about 25% abortions in late January for years. She finally got the university vets involved & the issue diagnosed.

[lonelyfarmgirl]

Ive read that cockleburr is poisonous to goats. I have it in my brushy area. Ive watched them take ahold of the plant, lip a bit, and spit it back out. apparently they know.

[Indrananda]

Slightly OT, but... We've actually found that drinking goats milk from a goat eating poison ivy grants us a homeopathic-like immunity to PI. I get it terribly bad normally; just looking at the stuff sends me into fits of scratching and blistering. However when I drink the raw milk from a goat who has been eating PI, I don't get ANY reaction. I could roll around in it naked if I wanted to. Just a bit of info for you FWIW.
Indy

[michael1]

Oops. Yesterday I let my 24 does (at least 11 pregnant) and 2 bucks out into the front yard for a very rare treat. THey got to forage for acorns under the oaks. Has anyone seen any ill effects from acorns or oak leave? I've given them lots of leaves when pruning trees with no problems. They ususually don't get the acorns though. They sure love em.

[Jcran]

Originally Posted by hoofinitnorth

Lupine. We have lots of it wild here and it is apparently poisonous to goats. It is poisonous to horses too but mine eat a small amount every year and never show any ill effects. I wonder if it's a cumulative thing such that they don't eat enough to get sick???

There is a good book on plants poisonous to livestock. Try Amazon.com. It's on my wish list.

Here in California, back in the 80's, there was a goat rancher whose goats ate lupine through their pregnancies. It had a teratogenic effect on the fetuses, and sadly, she drank the milk throughout her own pregnancy-caused some pretty serious birth defects, goats and human alike. DO NOT drink milk from your goats if you are pregnant and they are browsing on lupine. UC Davis did a primate study, I hear, as a result. You may be able to look it up.

[hoofinitnorth]

Best just not to let them eat the lupine at all!

[lonelyfarmgirl]

can someone post a picture of lupine?

[RedneckPete]

Originally Posted by country_wife

So far I see they aren't supposed to eat cherries or cherry trees.

I've got a bunch of huge native cherry trees, and the goat do nibble and eat their leaves, along with many other species when they fall out of the trees. Never seems to harm them, and I have no way of preventing them from doing so.

Pete

[BlueHeronFarm]

Originally Posted by lonelyfarmgirl

can someone post a picture of lupine?

Bluebonnets are a lupine. I imagine there are others, too. Try this: http://images.google.com/images?q=lu...=1&sa=N&tab=wi

[Rowdy]

Originally Posted by michael1

Oops. Yesterday I let my 24 does (at least 11 pregnant) and 2 bucks out into the front yard for a very rare treat. THey got to forage for acorns under the oaks. Has anyone seen any ill effects from acorns or oak leave? I've given them lots of leaves when pruning trees with no problems. They ususually don't get the acorns though. They sure love em.

My goats eat oak leaves and acorns year round, it makes up a large amount of their forage.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by RedneckPete

I've got a bunch of huge native cherry trees, and the goat do nibble and eat their leaves, along with many other species when they fall out of the trees. Never seems to harm them, and I have no way of preventing them from doing so.

Pete

Its not fresh cherry or fresh cherry leaves that are bad. Its when the leaves wilt suddenly and unnaturally as in broken branches or downed trees. This causes a chemical reaction that is extremely toxic to all animals, not just goats. Wilted leaves in the fall are also not toxic.
So cherry in itself is ok. But if we have a windstorm I would always walk the pastures and check for downed trees or limbs. And never pick cherry leaves and take them to penned goats! This goes for all stone fruits, not just cherry.

[lonelyfarmgirl]

I dont think I have ever seen lupine in real life before. after looking at those pictures it doesnt look familiar to me.