Poison Ivy

[girls and guineas]

How do you get rid of poison ivy and not harm your chickens??

 

[A.T. Hagan]

Let them eat it. Mine find it tasty.

 

[Life is Good!]

For some odd reason, our property is currently being overrun with poison ivy.
My DH has been such a trooper and is the only one of the four of us to get any, as he's pulling most of it (I guess I cover up better?). He had it most of last summer, and now it's back this spring too. Arms, legs, ankles, wrists - you name it!

In his research, he's discovered that poison ivy is only poisonous to humans. No other species can contract the itchies - although if your dog tromps through it and you pet him, you get it (not the dog). Also, burning the poison ivy (like in a burn pit) - IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS!

If you burn any part of it - the oils become airborne, and if lodged inside your lungs will cause immeasureable damage quickly. DO NOT BURN!

Also, if you are anywhere near the seacoast - last summer we discovered something very very odd. He had a bad case of it just above the sock-line at his ankle. He was standing in the ocean and a jellyfish attached itself to the poison ivy spot. The poison ivy ceased to itch immediately (although the jellyfish did sting a lot worse) and it healed up in less than two days (not two weeks like the other spots on him at the time). Wierd, huh? But true!

Witchhazel (found at all Walgreens) takes away the itches, as does exceptionally hot water on it for as long as you can stand. Those are the two 'cures' we've found that work best for him.

However, our hens refuse to munch on the stuff. Nope, not happening. Every other piece of green - oh yeah! But not the ivy....go figure. They also are not very fond of 'creeping Jenny' as we call it here. They'll peck a bit, but only a bit.

 

[jerseygirl1]

My cHickens LOVE poison ivy, though if you pick up a chicken who has been in it, you will get it

Also

Rent a goat? Seriously - my goats abosolutely love it - if you can't have goats, rent a goat and let them roam and eat it

 

[jerryb]

I personally would take a less organic approach: I would buy a bottle of cut stump and vine killer at the farm store and then I would take my pruners and cut each vine as close to the ground as I could and coat the fresh cut ends with the vine killer. then once its all brown I would go and pull it off the tress and ground to clean up a bit, keep an eye on the cut ends so that if they send up new sprouts you can hit them right away.

if you stick to this eventually you will get rid of it.

Jerry

 

[girls and guineas]

We want to get rid of poison ivy plants that are growing in our yard! How can we do that and not poison our hens?

 

[duckinnut]

Rent a goat? Seriously - my goats abosolutely love it - if you can't have goats, rent a goat and let them roam and eat it

I had never heard such a thing until last year at my local fair where my kids are 4Hers and I volunteer. A woman asked me if anyone rented goats. My answer......????????(Extremely befuddled) What for? To clear a property of brush including poison ivy. Hummmm.. So I ask a fellow 4H parent who had goats and he said he heard of it but never had done it but did say the poison ivy makes goat milk sweeter. Another fact entered into my useless trivia. And that goat will rip poison ivy out by the roots.

 

[RedDrgn]

I spray it with Roundup and keep the chickens out of that area for at least a week.

My chickens won't eat it (unfortunately), but they will run through it....and then give it to us if we then touch them (which they already did to me once this year). Since my DH is extremely allergic, I have to keep on it pretty regularly.