# Will goats eat poisonous plants?



## GoatCrazy01 (Feb 14, 2016)

So, we just built a new huge pasture for all of our goats. I picked out some of the milkweed, but not sure if there are other poisonous stuff in there. I've heard before that they will take a nibble and stop eating it, or smell it and not eat it. Is this true? TIA!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Not always.


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Things like rhododendron, mountain laurel, and azalea supposedly taste really good to goats but are extremely poisonous. I have only read this but I don't know for sure. Other poisonous plants have a foul taste and they will only take a nibble then leave it if there are plenty of other options in the pasture.


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## GoatCrazy01 (Feb 14, 2016)

Ok. I'm pretty sure there is no rhododendron, but I will check out mountain laurel. Thanks!


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## Spanky (Sep 5, 2016)

One of my goats repeatedly passed by a stalk of milkweed. The other nibbled a leaf and the next day nibbled some more. He didn't eat it all at once, but pretty much ate the leaves off the one stalk. Then he had a tiny bit of diarrhea for just one day.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

The biggest danger is if they get into a dangerous plant and consume lots of it. If they have many choices they will usually nibble a little of this and a little of that instead of focusing on one plant. Mine have eaten rhodedendron and ferns with no ill effects. But they only ate a few bites here and there. On the other hand, I had a friend who didn't know any better who threw her rhodedendron (rhodadendron? I can't spell that darned plant!) cuttings in her goat pen and almost lost her whole herd.

We have milkweed and the goats pretty much ignore it. Still, better safe than sorry; We pulled out our "R" plant and got rid of it. One less thing to worry about now!


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## Nab58 (May 8, 2016)

Mine ignore the rhododendron and azaleas but eat a ton of fern. Are there only certain types of fern they shouldn't eat?
I'm afraid in the winter when rhododendron still has its leaves, they'll try to eat it. I think I may need to fence it off.


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## Nab58 (May 8, 2016)

According to this, ferns are okay for goats to eat.
https://fiascofarm.com/goats/poisonousplants.htm


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

There are HUNDREDS of different species of both ferns and milkweed. It is really tough to identify exactly which varieties have been known to cause issues in goats. My goats eat several types of milkweed here in CT with no issues. They don't have access to any ferns so I'm not sure about those.


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

They say that "Bracken fern" is poisonous, but I can't tell one fern from another.

Goats WILL eat the "R" leaves in winter. In our yard it was the only green showing and they always made a beeline for it. Fortunately the shrubs have a shallow root system. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy our well established shrub was to dig up.


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## Nab58 (May 8, 2016)

Ugh....bracken fern looks like every fern in my yard!
http://www.library.illinois.edu/vex/toxic/bracken/bracken.htm


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## teejae (Jan 21, 2013)

My mob have a taste for Lantana an introduced weed here.We have heaps of it and the only thing that kills it is Round Up spray or dig it out! The goats however will pluck the flowers off and ring bark the plant.Ive seen them do this many times without any ill affect they will nibble a bit then move onto other grazing. teejae


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## Dayna (Aug 16, 2012)

Some ferns are safe some are not. My goats LOVE azalea. I'm working on killing the plant. It's huge, the root system giant. Poison is my current game as digging it out didn't work.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Bracken fern looks a lot different from other ferns but only if you see how it grows out of the ground. Most ferns are one plant with younger fronds in the center & larger fronds growing all around the center--a sort of rosette form. Bracken fern has large single finely cut fronds on tall ( 2 or 3 feet maybe) smooth tough stems that grow individually straight out of the ground from a rhizome a couple feet under the ground. The stems aren't that close together.


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## cwatkin (Jul 9, 2012)

I began to notice a plant that the goats wouldn't eat a few weeks ago. It looked like a thorny tomato plant and since the goats wouldn't eat it, I knew it was bad news. Further research confirmed this was horsenettle, a poisonous nightshade. It is invasive and will take over your pasture because animals avoid it so it has the advantage due to their selection.

I have been treating it with GrazonNext HL and seem to be winning as of now. I hope next year it is just some spot treatment and maintenance. I would like to eliminate this crap as I never had it before and got it in some weedy hay. Obviously the selection of hay will become more of a priority in the future.

The good news is that the spread beyond where I have the goats is limited. Apparently the goats will eat the fruit which looks like a small tomato, also a nightshade. This spreads the seeds so there is barely any beyond their fencing although I am making sure the perimeters are checked for any sprouts.

You might look into controlling weeds of concern since there are chemicals that aren't harmful to grazing animals such as goats. See the thread about my problems at http://www.thegoatspot.net/forum/f217/noxious-weed-control-grazonnext-hl-188680/

Conor


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