I Found a Poisonous Tansy Ragwort Plant

[Smokerbill]

I was walking with my chickens this evening and saw a tansy ragwort plant across the fence in the neighbor's pasture. I know the weed well because when I was hosting at a Washington state park there was an infestation that I helped clear.

The plant can kill livestock, and from what I've read can affect poultry too. Ingestion can cause liver failure.

So keep an eye out for this plant, and don't let it go to seed. It's a toxic plant you don't want around your chickens. The park's procedure for disposing of the plant was to dig it out, roots and all, then wrap it in a tarp when transporting to contain any seeds. It was then burned.

So as an FYI, just keep an eye out for this plant and don't let it get a foothold on your property. Inform the neighbors if you see it on their properties.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/poisoning-by-tansy-ragwort-weed.273535/

There's also a common tansy that's not as noxious, and it's possible the plant I found is one of that variety, but I don't think so. Here are a couple of links that describe each plant.

https://kingcounty.gov/services/env...-weeds/weed-identification/tansy-ragwort.aspx

https://kingcounty.gov/services/env...s-weeds/weed-identification/common-tansy.aspx

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Thank you for the information!