Danger to livestock -- Toxic plants

[macmex]

Just a heads up. We have kept goats and rabbits for years and years. We've also had box elder trees in our yard. Over the years I have pulled many volunteer box elder trees, tossing them to the goats or feeding them to our rabbits, all with no problems. Yesterday we cut down some really large limbs from our big trees and tossed many limbs into the pasture with the goats, who ate them avidly.

This morning we had a dead milk goat and the other was very ill. Upon further investigation we found out that these trees can be very very toxic to herbivores and there is no antidote. The other milker looked pretty bad this morning but appears to be improving now.

All this to say that critters can live in close proximity to toxic plants without any problem, for years, and then.... boom! There can be a problem. 

When one reads that something is toxic, that doesn't mean that animals might not eat small amounts of it and get away with it at times. But at some point, under the right conditions, it can be lethal.

The box elder had seeds. My understanding is that the seeds have concentrated levels of toxin. Also, the leaves are not new. They've matured for a while now. Perhaps that factored in.

I should have noticed that the rabbits only ate a few of these leaves and then went on strike. They wouldn't eat them. That should have tipped me off.

[heavyhitterokra]

I'm really sorry to hear that George.

I had no idea that box elders were poisonous. Who knows how many times I've cut Weiner sticks from box elder, just because they were so handy at the river.

I would not have known not to feed them to the animals.  Here is a link to help identify them, so no one else feeds them to their livestock.

bouldertreecare.com/boxelder-acer-negundo/

[rdback]

Wow George, so sorry to hear this. In all my years, I never knew box elder was toxic. Thanks for posting this and educating us all.

[hmoosek]

I too hate to hear this. I don’t have any that I know of. I’ve seen the wood used for knife handles, but I don’t ever remember using it myself.

[macmex]

I think it's only toxic to herbivores who eat it.
Cinni Mini, our remaining milking goat, is improving steadily. Twenty-four hours ago I wasn't sure she'd make it but today she's stalking me, begging for fresh cut weeds. We're treating with a daily injection of banamine, which is an anti inflammatory medication. This helps to keep her heart rate from going wild and sooths her muscles. I'm pretty sure she'll be fine in a couple days, though it may take weeks for her milk production to reach normal levels.

Here's a 2018 photo of me leading her to the milking shed



I was going to sell her two kid does, but not now. I'll keep them, breed them and choose the better of the two to replace the doe we lost.

Here's a photo of her kids this year.

[macmex]

Here's a picture of the leaves and seeds of the Boxelder. They have lots of seed at the end of May/early June. Toxins are more concentrated in the seeds.

[chrysanthemum]

Macmex, I am so sorry to hear about your dead nanny but so glad to hear that Cinni Mini is improving. Her two kids are adorable, and I’m thankful that you have them to replace your other doe. I would never have thought that boxelder would be poisonous.

[hmoosek]

Beautiful Goats, George. I’m a been a long, long time since we had a goat. She got stung by a red wasp and died. She was pretty old though. I forget why we had her to be honest. I think it belonged to a 4H kid that got tired of it, but I may be wrong.