black wall nut poison?

[Slinkytoys]

Sure miss Miss Jayne.
Slinky

 

[patandchickens]

With horses there is considerable disagreement among horsemen (and among vets even) whether eating black walnut leaves or nuts or husks can be a problem... basically what it boils down to is that some horses are out there nibblin' on 'em with no obvious problems but others develop problems that are awfully suggestive of walnut being the cause. (Walnut shavings in bedding *definitely* cause laminitis/founder in horses, there is no dispute about *that*).

With poisonous plants for sheep/goats it is in general a similar situation overall -- some people have animals get sick or dead from eating <plant X> and others have had their stock eating it for years with nary a problem.

Basically in my opinion what it boils down to is something like this: it's YOUR call. Plants with a history of possible-poisoning of stock are probably more of a crapshoot than plants that everyone agrees are entirely safe. That does not mean that they are *necessarily* going to cause your animals a problem, only that there is probably a higher *chance* than for something like, I dunno, orchardgrass or birdsfoot trefoil.

Whether you choose to avoid the risk by avoiding the plant, or whether you choose to just keep a close eye on the animals and see what happens and hope it's nothing bad, is totally a personal choice and I do not think there IS a one-size-fits-all correct answer.

JMHO,

Pat

 

[denim deb]

I have a friend that has black walnut trees next to her horse pasture, she's never had a problem. My BO has a large black walnut in her yard. I have let Misty graze in the yard right under the tree w/no problem. I don't know how they are for goats.

For oaks, I have a willow oak in w/my goats. They eat the leaves, and nibble on the lower branches, no problem. And, while oak is listed as toxic for horses, they'd need to eat a large amount for quite some time in order for it to be a problem.

Plums, cherry and peaches are all in the rose family. The leaves of all of them can be poisonous, especially if wilted or stressed. I'm not sure what poison is in the plum and peach leaves, but in cherry trees, the poisons are amygdalin and prunasin.

A good reference for poisonous plants is http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/comlist.html