In the back of my mind, there is something telling me that I read that buttercups are toxic to goats. This seems a bit odd to me given that these plants can be so common in pastures and even gardens. Because there are a few in the area which I intend to add to my goat area, it is important I know now before they have freedom to roam there. If I need to pull/dig them out, I can do that at this point.
While we are on this subject, how about dahlias? I was not going to include the area where the dahlias are but if they are not toxic, I will include that area as well and put fencing over where they grow. However, if they are toxic, then I will not include the area since fencing can fail, especially with the clever escape artists.
Most importantly, how about the buttercups?
Glenna
Replies
Okay, folks, you have reinforced what I thought I should do. I will dig up the buttercups as that is manageable and not fence the part that has the dahlias until they are moved this fall. The only other plants there are my favorite rose and lilacs. I will fence around the rose since if they do get a bite or two of it, it won't hurt them. This will give them considerably more room than they now have but more importantly will give them length to have a decent run if they want, likely more important to baby who likes to run at full speed.
I love this group!!!
Glenna
Margaret makes some really excellent points. Someone at a conference said that goats have a much higher tolerance for toxins that cows or sheep, so it seems that it's not the poison but the dose that really causes problems. I don't know much about the particular plants you mention, but I know that when I let my goats into the garden one year in the fall, they didn't touch the tomato plants at all, which I later learned were toxic. If they were confined, however, and someone tossed some tomato plants in there, I would not have that much faith that they'd ignore them.
According to wiki answers online the buttercups are, but the toxin volatilizes and is LOST when they dry as in hay. You said you could pull them. If they are not any worse than that, then that is what I would do. Of course only you can weigh those risk. I personally have to deal with azalea which CAN be dreadful. It has only been a problem once. A BAD PROBLEM. But normally it is no problem. I don't know that it always works this way with poisonous plants. (I don't like taking chances.) But I have found my azalea problem really strange because there have been goats off and on for 30years on this property. And I know of at least 2 goats here, years apart who would take little nibbles on a regular basis with apparently no ill effects. Many goats have been exposed and I don't know if they ate them. But recently we put up a new pen and the azaleas were sticking all through the back fence line. (I had never had a problem so I thought it was ok, it wasn't) That is when I discovered that they may pig out on them with disastrous effects when confined with them. We had 3 goats in there that had run loose all around all these plants all the time with no problem until confined by them. We pulled both does through, but had to slaughter the buck. Well, after 30 years and all the goats I have seen around them I have decided that in my situation that the safest thing to do is to leave the goats loose around the plants because then they are NOT PART of what is greener on the other side. I let them out of their pens to run free on all the property and they have lots to choose from to eat and do not touch the azaleas. Therefore I have come to the conclusion that for me the best decision is to give them lots of space with a variety to choose from and they are not likely to poison themselves. It scares me, especially after seeing what did happen, but that was a direct result of my trying to confine and control them. And I just don't know enough about plants to know all the possible risks, to try to eradicate them. When given a choice they usually seem to eat safely. Just my opinion, but for us the variety of a natural environment seems to be the right balance for MY goaties. I have not found the dahlia info yet. Hope all goes well.