harmful to goats?

[BlessedMom]

Can anyone tell me if Photinias or Arborvitaes are harmful to goats?
I know that cherrys and plums are right?
We are trying to make a new area for our buck and soon to be wether. There are these large tall arborviateas covered in black berries that they will be able to get to. Do you think this will be okay?

Thanks for all your wisdom!

Lori

[MoBarger]

http://www.goatworld.com/health/plants/

[dragonfly65]

I don't know about the other plants, but I can tell you from personal experience that they won't be covered in blackberries for long. My goats LOVED my blackberry vines. I'm going to have to hunt for them in the road ditches this year cause I don't have any more here.

[BlessedMom]

Originally Posted by MoBarger

http://www.goatworld.com/health/plants/

I think I would need to be a botanist to figure out this list.
I have no idea where these two plants would fall.
I thought ALL plants did photosythesis??

Lori

[MoBarger]

Originally Posted by BlessedMom

I think I would need to be a botanist to figure out this list.
I have no idea where these two plants would fall.
I thought ALL plants did photosythesis??

Lori

Long list of common names in pull down list, upper right. Check it out.

Also using Google I found:

From this site:
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/botany/ncs...ular_plants.htm

"Photinia spp. - Photinia
The evergreen photinias are popular ornamental shrubs grown for their round
clusters of white flowers, red berries, and particularly their red new
leaves in the spring. Cuttings from these shrubs can be poisonous because
they contain hydrocyanic acid similar to Prunus."

and then from the info about Prunus:

"Poisonous principle: Hydrocyanic acid (also called prussic acid), which is
one of the decomposition products formed by the action of enzymes on the
glycoside amygdalin. Many factors appear to contribute to the formation of
the acid, but it is most commonly found when the leaves are partially
wilted. When fresh leaves are eaten, they release hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in
the stomach or rumen after mastication.

Parts of plant: Leaves, twigs, bark, or seeds. Discarded fruit pits should
not be available to dogs or caged birds.

Periodicity: Spring, summer, and fall; fresh, or wilted due to frost,
drought, or broken branches.

Animals poisoned: Cattle, horses, sheep, goats, dogs, and birds.

From same site:

Poisonous Vascular Plants

(arranged by family)

Lower Vascular Plants

Ferns and related plants reproduce by dispersing spores rather than seeds.* Spores are found in either cone-like structures at the tip of the stems or in clusters on the back of the leaves.* These plants are herbaceous and are usually less than 3-4 ft tall.

Equisetaceae - Horsetail Family

Equisetum spp. - Horsetail, Scouring-rush

Description: (Fig.1) Stem erect, jointed, vertically ribbed, hollow; leaves whorled, minute, and fused into a sheath with terminal teeth; cones terminal, formed of shield-shaped sporangia-bearing structures. Two species grow in North Carolina.*
E. arvense L. - Field Horsetail.
Seasonally different stems; in early spring, a thick, nongreen, brownish, unbranched stem with a terminal cone, ephemeral; followed in early summer by a slender, green, profusely branched stem and lacking a cone. Stream banks, low wet floodplains, railroad embankments. Mainly mountains and piedmont, infrequently in the coastal plain (Map 2).*
*
E. hyemale L. - Scouring-rush.
Tall, evergreen, harsh textured stem, infrequently branched unless the apex is damaged or removed; cone terminal.

Habitat: Railroad embankments, roadsides, stream banks, old fields, or moist woods.

Distribution: Mainly mountains and piedmont; less frequent in the coastal plain (Map 2).

Group number: 2. (Dangerous, but rarely eaten)

Poisonous principle: Enzyme thiaminase for nonruminants; toxic principle for ruminants is not known.

Parts of plant: Aboveground parts; green or dried in hay. Hay containing 20% or more causes poisoning in horses in 2-5 weeks.

Periodicity: Spring through fall.

Animals poisoned: Horses, with sheep and cows less affected.

Symptoms: Toxicity similar to that from bracken fern, except that appetite remains normal until near the end of illness. Ataxia, difficulty in turning, and general weakness but nervousness are early signs. In later stages, animals may be constipated and muscles rigid, pulse rate increases and weakens, extremities become cold, cornea of eye may become opaque. Calm and eventually coma precede death.

Treatment: Parenteral thiamine (10 mg/kg body weight). Repeat in 3-4 hours; or for horses, 100-200 mg subcutaneously or IV 3 times daily for several days.

*

Dennstaedtiaceae - Bracken Family

Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn - Bracken fern, Brake

Description: (Fig. 2) Leaves (fronds) usually 10-40 in. tall, arising annually from a perennial underground creeping rhizome (stem). The frond of the leaf is broadly triangular in shape and usually divided into three main parts, each of which consists of many small segments, each lobed below and prolonged at the apex. The frond itself is often inclined to one side. The reproductive spores line the margin of the fertile segments and are partially covered by the narrow recurved margins. The plants are spread by the branching of the underground rhizome.

Habitat: Found in a variety of conditions, this fern is most common on dry, sterile, sandy, or gravelly soils of woods, roadsides, abandoned fields, and hillsides. It is most abundant in the open pine woods of the coastal plain, but it can be found from the mountains to the dunes.

Distribution: Found commonly throughout the state.

Group number: 1. (Dangerous!)

Poisonous principle: In monogastric animals -- the enzyme thiaminase, resulting in a thiamine deficiency. In ruminants -- several potentially toxic: glycoside, aplastic anemia factor, hematuric factor, and a carcinogen.

Parts of plant: Blade of the leaf and rhizome; fresh or dry.

Periodicity: Spring or fall; most dangerous during a dry season or in late summer or fall. Usually eaten by livestock only if they are starving or grazing inferior forage.

Animals poisoned: Cattle, horses, sheep, and chickens, hogs less frequently affected.

Symptoms: Cattle -- high fever, loss of appetite, weight loss, difficult breathing, salivation, ataxia, opisthotonos, convulsions, internal bleeding; often mistaken for anthrax and other infectious diseases of cattle. Death in 4-8 days. Horses -- unsteady gait, nervousness, timidity, congestion of visible mucous membranes, and constipation; later staggering, dilated pupils, opisthotonos, and death.

Treatment: Supplemental feeding in dry season; nerve sedatives, heart and respiratory stimulants. Massive doses of thiamine for horses (see treatment of Equisetum).

Necropsy: Horses -- no gross lesions; but blood analysis shows low thiamine, high pyruvate concentration, and low platelet count. Ruminants -- hemorrhages throughout, laryngeal edema, intestinal ulcers, low platelet count, and hypoplasia of bone marrow.

Related plants: Of doubtful importance is Onoclea sensibilis L. (sensitive fern). This is fairly common in the state in wet habitats and is sometimes associated with hay, causing disturbances when fed to horses.

*

Gymnosperms

The gymnosperms are characterized by "naked" seeds in cones, or red or blue "berries," and usually evergreen, needle-like or scale-like leaves.

Taxaceae - Yew Family

Taxus spp. - Yew

Several species are cultivated as ornamentals in North Carolina, but T. canadensis Marsh. is found naturally in North Carolina only in the extreme northwestern counties. These are evergreen shrubs with alternate, linear leaves and scarlet "berries"; only the outer red coat (aril) is edible.

Group number: 3. (Dangerous but uncommon)

Poisonous principle: Alkaloid taxine; ephedrine and HCN.

Parts of plant: Leaves bark, seeds. Fresh or dry.

Animals poisoned: All kinds, but cattle and horses are most commonly affected when yard clippings are thrown over fences where livestock graze.

Symptoms: Nervousness, trembling, ataxia, collapse, and dyspnea. Bradycardia is pronounced and progresses to sudden death without a struggle. A subacute poisoning may occur 1-2 days after ingestion; acute poisoning is accompanied by gastroenteritis.

Necropsy: Acute: no lesions. Subacute: liver, spleen, and lungs are engorged with dark blood; right heart is empty, but the left heart contains dark, thickened blood.

*

Pinaceae and Cupressaceae - Pine and Cedar Family
Pinus - Pine
Picea - Spruce
Juniperus - Cedar
Thuja - Arbor-Vitae

These conifers are seldom eaten, but may be harmful if eaten in large quanities, or when eaten exclusively when other forage is not available.

[BlessedMom]

Originally Posted by MoBarger

Long list of common names in pull down list, upper right. Check it out.

Also using Google I found:


From same site:

Oh thank you, I didn't see that before. I was so bewildered!
Oh dear, how do goats survive? I'm so paranoid that they are going to eat something and become ill or die! ACK!

Lori

[windyhollowfarm]

In the fields bordering my goat pens grows lots of milkweed. It is poisounous to goats. My goats escape sometimes and browse out in the field containing milkweed. Sometimes I even purposely let them out to browse in the fields or get them to go for a walk as they follow me. My goats never touch the milkweed. It is said that goats know what is good for them and what isnt. Now I wouldnt try this with young goats as they mouth everything. Also, my goats are adequately feed and have browse w/in their pasture.

[Jen H]

A lot of the plants listed are only poisonous at certain times, and only certain parts of the plant are poisonous. It also depends on what else the animal is eating and on how full their stomach is.

I give my goats a couple flakes of hay first thing in the morning. Then I let them into the pasture after I've had my coffee - this way they have hay already in their rumen to buffer whatever else they might get into during the day.

For what it's worth, my goats have eaten rhododendrons with no apparent ill effect. They've chowed down on fresh cherry and plum leaves (and eaten the cherries and plums ). They've gotten into bracken fern. They're still wandering around figuring out how to open the latest gate latch I installed.

Remember that goats are browsers - they take nibbles here and there, they won't normally eat an entire plant. It's unlikely that they'll eat enough of any one plant to really hurt themselves as long as there's plenty of other stuff to munch on.