[Jacob-list] poisonous plants & sheep

[Neal Grose]

Sheep will pretty much eat on anything (accept what SHOULD be perfectly good grass), regardless of whether it is good or bad for them. They love fertilizer. And when bored, the barn or anything green is fair game.

The saving grace is that they may be spared if they consume enough proper food to dilute out the toxins. That said, I had a 1500 lb cow fall dead after nibbling a little Jimsonweed, and a bottle lamb that completely stripped an expensive laurel in the front yard with no apparent side effects.

Poison ivy, blackberry briars, and your mom’s roses are a favorite food. Your Carolina jasmine is evergreen (and may be even more toxic in winter), and will be a too-tempting target next winter. During stress periods, the sheep will be particularly susceptible to toxins.

Neal Grose

From: Linda 
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 5:11 PM
To: Katherine Williamson 
Cc: jacob-list at jacobsheep.com 
Subject: Re: [Jacob-list] poisonous plants & sheep

No, I don't think the vet was right. I'm sure I'm not the only person on the list that has lost a sheep that ate a toxic plant - in my case a mountain laurel (aka lambkill) branch that broke and blew into the ram paddock during the winter. 

Linda

Katherine Williamson wrote: 
  When we first moved to our place we were petrified to put sheep (or anything else) on the hillside because it was so dense with blackberry vines, privet, and poison ivy that we couldn't tell if there were noxious plants there that might harm something if eaten.  You couldn't walk thru the area without a machete.

  A vet from our local vet school told us not to worry, that animals have a "sixth sense" about which plants NOT to eat, and they stay away from them.  

  Fast forward 15 years and the hillside is cleared of all brush, bushes, small trees, and anything else that was chewable.  The sheep are healthy and happy.  If they ate anything poisonous, it didn't affect them.  

  The question:  I was given a Carolina Jasmine plant this spring, and I'd love to have it climbing one of the pasture fences, but I've been told it is very toxic.  I don't want to make the sheep sick, nor do I want to have the plant eaten.

  Do you think the vet was right?  Will they somehow know not to eat it?

  Just some food for thought.

  Kathey

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