frustratedearthmother
Herd Master
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- May 7, 2013
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And....let the goat do the cleaning of the brush! Hope you feel better soon!
I have about 25 fruit trees and when I prune them I take all the apple and pear trimmings to the goats, the stone fruit, i.e. peaches, plums, and apricots go to the burn pile but it sure is nice to let them do part of my cleanup. The blackberries go the goats too. I have an area that has poison oak and I need to clear it. I have a couple of goats that will eat it and stay near me at the same time so I am hoping to put them on cleanup duty soon. It isn't in a fenced area so I have to be selective on my crew.
Hope this goes well and it is nice to have help.
I'll just copy and paste...
Under certain conditions, these plants contain prussic acid, or hydrocyanic acid), a deadly poison which interferes with the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood. Death in these cases is usually rapid and with few outward symptoms. Members of the Prunus family of plants, especially wild cherries, are dangerous. Peaches, plums, wild cherry, and other stone fruits belong to this group of plants. Wilting of the green leaves caused by frost, storm damage, or by cutting, changes a glucoside found in the leaves to hydrocyanic acid (HCN) and sugar. The sweet, wilted leaves are thus more attractive to animals than normal foliage. Hydrocyanic acid content varies widely, but under some conditions, a few handfuls of leaves may be enough to kill a horse or cow. This type of poisoning should be suspected when sudden death of animals follows windstorms or early sharp frosts. These leaves apparently lose their poison after they have become dry; the limp, green or partially yellowed leaves are the most dangerous.