mine have eaten it too with absolutely no ill effects. Not going to let them (trees have since been limbed so they cant reach) but TOU if they are showing no signs of illness they are fine. AND like has been stated most of the time the issues with cherry is only when its wilted. BUT since you dont know if the tree is under stress its best not to allow the goats to eat the fresh leaves either to be on the safe side.
Yeah it has me a little concerned as we had a walk up there early this morning before work again. They browsed for 10-15 & I didn't think anything bout it until I just randomly hit his thread at lunch. I will be checking in on them in about 2 hours after work. Hopefully all is well. So what do I do at this point otherwise? There are also old apricot trees left over from an old orchard that they seem to love to browse the green leafy branches from. Are these a problem too for them to eat?
We mess up their natural taste for things. Cyanide is sweet. We teach the goats that sweet is okay with feeds that include molasses. There are also a couple plants that contain Nicotine and become addictive to the animals that eat them.
Nothing i guess till you see ill effects. Then maybe some charcoal . Not sure. Hopefully someone will chime in here and give you some suggestions. Giving them all probiotics for a few days won't hurt any. Go to the beginning of this thread , you might find some suggestions there.
Thx Stacey. Before I will let them browse that area again, I am going to prune them ALL to the ground this weekend & then poison the stocks so they won't come back. I knew about rhododendron etc, but I just thought that goats were more naturally oriented in not really eating much of things that were bad for them like this. I am going to have to read up a bit more for sure.
Jill , can TOU give anything to his herd to help ward off any ill effects before he actually sees any ?
If they are fine now, they are fine. It's a quick poison. The toxifying action of HCN is almost immediate; that is, as soon as it is liberated from the glucosides. The specific action of HCN on animals is that it combines with hemoglobin to form cyanoglobin, which does not carry oxygen. Thus animal tissues are deprived of necessary oxygen. The cyanide-poisoned animal shows an increased rate of respiration, increased pulse rate, gasping, muscular twitching or nervousness, trembling, foam from the mouth, blue colorationi of the lining of the mouth, and spasms or convulsions; death occurs from respiratory paralysis. The clinical signs are seldom seen because most HCN-poisoned animals die within a matter of minutes once the toxic agent gets into the blood stream, usually within 15 to 20 minutes after animals consume the forage.
Goathiker & All, I really appreciate your input. All is well, thank goodness!!! Looks like we dodged several bullets on this as I looked at several other bushes/trees in these new pastures & they have been eating the heck out of these the last two weeks. I am not going to take any chance and are removing them all this weekend. Thx again! TOU
Okay, I am probably now just being paranoid, but in light of the RED Maples I wanted to ask if RED River Birch okay? Thx so much in advance, TOU
Since there are zero replies on this so far & I light of the fact that I have searched & searched all over the Net and found no mention of Red River Birch being toxic or any other birch for that matter...I guess I will let them eat the pruned branches from these trees. Thx, TOU
Birch is fine. These are the trees we can make a lightly fermented beer type drink out of. There shouldn't be any problem there. Sorry I didn't get back to you quickly. I was gone yesterday.
My boys have been eatting this on their walks daily and have never had a issue.. Still not letting them eat it anymore now. :doh: