Poison Hemlock ?s

[bwanaswan]

I discovered a good amount of poison hemlock in an area that I had planned to put my goats. I need to switch pastures here soon and now I find poison hemlock all over the place.

Anyone else have to deal with this stuff? How did you get rid of it?
Has anyone had problems with goats eating too much of it or getting sick from it? Or Dying?

Guessing 2-4 D will kill it down but would love any solutions that have worked well.

[suzyhomemaker09]

Ok I'm prepared to receive flames......

the way to eradicate it in our pasture was to let the goats eat it down.
I've had goats eat all sorts of stuff that is supposed to kill them dead after ingesting 1 leaf....of course YMMV.

Our goats have eaten tons of hemlock and a few azalea bushes as well.

[bwanaswan]

Originally Posted by suzyhomemaker09

Ok I'm prepared to receive flames......

the way to eradicate it in our pasture was to let the goats eat it down.
I've had goats eat all sorts of stuff that is supposed to kill them dead after ingesting 1 leaf....of course YMMV.

Our goats have eaten tons of hemlock and a few azalea bushes as well.

That is a hoot. No flames from me. I am sure there will be lots of debate on this but I'm guessing and hoping you are right.

My nervousness comes from just buying some really nice percentage boer does. I would be up a creek if they went down.

Thanks,

Chris

[CaliannG]

I was going to say that the absolute BEST way to get rid of poison hemlock is to subject it to foraging goats.

Goats cure poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac problems too.

It's stuff with pretty, harmless names that you have to watch out for, like "oleander".

[Nina]

Question... is the milk okay to drink after their poisonous foraging?

[Pony]

Originally Posted by Nina

Question... is the milk okay to drink after their poisonous foraging?

Well, I'm still alive, and I drink our goat's milk every day - and she eats that hemlock like it's her last meal. (The other goats like it, too.)

[CaliannG]

Yes, the milk is fine after they have eaten the poisons. I actually cannot think of a single, natural plant that is safe for a goat to eat but would have a "milk withdrawal" time. That pretty much only comes with man-made poisons.