I know that the wilting leaves in the black cherry aka "choke cherry" produce a deadly cyanide and thankfully I do not have any on my property to worry about:D but I do have a regular cherry tree and what I think is two pin cherry trees "have much smaller bitter fruit, but not on stem like the black cherry". I saw my girls munching on a few fallen leaves from these trees; are they of any concern?
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Does anyone know about lilacs and goats? I have been told that they are not toxic but tonight I read something that listed rhodies and lilacs the same. Though there are no lilacs in the "main" back yard, there are lots in the chicken yard and my front yard, both places the goats will be in from time to time. I had asked a local goat keeper about this last summer; she said she knew nothing about lilacs being toxic. For me, the lilacs are a much bigger deal than the cherry trees (of which there are only two).
Regarding the cherry trees, our local feed store owner said he had taken many animal husbandry classes and had not heard anything about cherry trees themselves being toxic and said he would certainly do more research from reliable sources before removing a tree. What can we believe - it is all so confusing and losing a goat would be a cruel way to learn the facts.
Goats vs Nanking cherry bushes on Antiquity Oaks --> cherry bushes dead, goats fine.
Goats vs plum trees on Antiquity Oaks --> trees dead, goats fine.
Goats vs apricot bushes on Antiquity Oaks --> bushes completely defoliated and bark stripped by two la manchas and their four kids; will let you know if they come back next spring.
And my goats have eaten thousands of maple and oaks leaves -- green, brown, red, yellow, and even buds when a tree blew down last spring as the leaves were just beginning to appear.
In one of the goat medical books it said that a lot of those lists are made for cattle and sheep and simply include goats because most people don't realize that they have a much higher tolerance for poison than other ruminants or mammals.
Personally -- I would not cut down a tree in fear of poisoning my goats. I wouldn't necessarily pen them under it when all the leaves have just fallen off the tree, but I wouldn't lose any sleep if they ate a leaf or two. Seriously think about how many leaves the goats could possibly access vs how many cherries you could eat if you left the tree there.
Ummm. Now the questions arise. The cherry tree where the goats will have access is coming down this winter. However, I have a huge apricot tree in our outside eating area near the house (actually have the tables set up under it). The goats have been eating the dried leaves under it as well as the plum trees for the past month. They are eating much else as well and not a steady diet of these leaves. They have apple and pear leaves as well as many other greens from throughout the yard. The rhodie bush is well protected until I can remove it later as I know that is absolutely toxic and have friends who lost their goats because they were staked too close to one.
I knew from years ago that cherry stems have cyanide in them and are toxic to us humans as well and not to be chewed; however, I was unaware of anything other than the apricot pits themselves having any toxins. When I was growing up, we cracked the apricot pits like almonds and ate them (scary later when I was reading about them).
Is there evidence that apricot and plum leaves are toxic or have they been included as pit fruits as a matter of course? I have read many conflicting things about this with some saying only certain types of cherries (wild black cherries) are toxic and others saying all pit fruit leaves, twigs, etc., are. I have even read that wilted cherry leaves (as on a cut branch) are toxic while green or dry are not! Dixie and Dexter have been regularly eating fallen apricot leaves for the past month (since the second week of October) with no negative effects that I can see except they are getting fat with all the browsing they have been doing!
The cherry tree to be removed is a Queen Anne that bears quite delicious cherries but is going so as to keep the goats safe. It would be quite sad to later learn it could have stayed and was of no potential harm to the kids. There is also a Bing cherry tree in the chicken yard that will likely be removed as a just in case they manage to get back there. It's sad to cut an old tree but I am telling myself they and other trees were planted too close decades ago to properly care for now. I also have several plum trees.
However, I would still like a definitive answer on the trees as there is so much conflicting information out there.
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