Roundup versus Rabbits?

[Nao57]

Do you have to worry about roundup when you feed foraged stuff to rabbits gleaned from outside your own yard?

Is this an issue? What do you think?

We personally don't use roundup in our yard. I've been gardening for years long before I ever did rabbits and chickens. But I know for a fact that lots of people do use round up. (Doesn't make any sense to me.) But people do use it.

So it means if I were to ever be picking up some grass on the way home from somewhere or taking grass clippings from neighbors, I wonder if it will affect rabbits (and chickens, etc.)

Do you guys worry about this too?

 

[Grizzlyhackle]

If you suspect round up has been sprayed do not pick anything to bring home. I read somewhere ( a house rabbit website) about car exhaust and roadside pollutants being a potential problem also. Lady I bought my first rabbits from told me she lost 1/2 her barn to round up poisoning. It drifted over from the neighbors farm. Took the state vet's office to figure out what was happening. Winds here blow northwest or southwest. The farm was nextdoor and situated northwest. Breeze carried it right into her open barn. She had a big set-up for pet trade on flemish, champagne and new zealand. I can't verify this cuz she's shut down her website and I lost her number. I tend to believe her she was really helpful and I didn't feel like it was anything but true. All that said, I used to pick red clover from an undeveloped field the town owns. They only cut it occasionally and never saw any spraying. Probably wasn't the safest but luckily it worked out. We're probably alot safer growing as much as we can at home. I buy the cheapest leaf lettuce seed mixes, arugula,etc. I still don't have enough, but I don't have enough yard space even to free feed my six rabbits. December thru February is the hardest. I buy kale, collards,romaine, endive, italian dandelion. Costs 3 or 4 dollars a week at the cheaper grocery. Something different every week not all at once. I got a deal once on endive it was wilting at the store. I stuck it in water overnight next day it was fine, they ate it. I'm only trying to supplement cheaply not go completely off pellets.
By the way I'm not a house rabbit person. I read and use those sites as reference material only. What I read about pollutants made sense. Road salt, antifreeze, motor oil carried of the road by rain.
If you have a place your sure about and comfortable with go for it. I don't 💯% other than home.
So, yes I worried about it and decided not to do it.

 

[promiseacres]

I agree if you know it's been sprayed then definitely don't and if you are unsure I wouldn't either. And I also would avoid any greens if you're close to hot zones for rhdv2. There was a case in Florida reported.

 

[Grizzlyhackle]

I googled that rhdv2. So I'm done buying greens I guess. All comes from some where the disease is. All I was worried about was me getting e-coli. 2020 what a year.

 

[promiseacres]

I googled that rhdv2. So I'm done buying greens I guess. All comes from some where the disease is. All I was worried about was me getting e-coli. 2020 what a year.

yeah it's bad.... we haven't taken our bunnies for walks all year. no shows.

 

[Grizzlyhackle]

I googled it again and saw florida with an update letter dated 1/4/21. Haven't seen about Md or Delaware yet. Keep my fingers crossed.

 

[Alasgun]

Some food for thought. Traces of roundup have shown up in numerous water sources and unless you live in a very isolated region it’s probably closer to you than you’d think. If you live in town, any town; it’s everywhere. Bee keepers report it being brought into they’re hives by foraging bee’s and even though it’s an “herbicide”, it still affects them. We are in a subdivision on a couple acres and keep 2 hives and i wouldnt think of taking any honey off the bees. We keep them only as pollinators, which is a win for the bees as Alaskan winters are usually hard on hives with mortality rates often exceeding 50%. Leaving all that year’s stores has helped some.
i can and do cut forage for rabbits off this land without any concern but consider that more as a treat than anything. Our staple is unsprayed Timothy and some pellets. At $11.00 per bale, it’s affordable and user friendly.

i haven’t, but have read about growing fodder by folks wanting to get away from pellets. All year round i have Cilantro & Parsley growing indoors and wheat grass (fodder) durning the winter For our own consumption. It would be pretty easy to grow for up to 4 rabbits, after that it would take some effort.

Our acreage is wooded and contains plenty of brome grass, fireweed, willow cranberry, rosehip and a number of other Rabbit friendly items that are utilized “When the ground’s not hard and white”!

Fortunately we’ve not had the new bunny virus show up in Alaska.

 

[Grizzlyhackle]

Some food for thought. Traces of roundup have shown up in numerous water sources and unless you live in a very isolated region it’s probably closer to you than you’d think. If you live in town, any town; it’s everywhere. Bee keepers report it being brought into they’re hives by foraging bee’s and even though it’s an “herbicide”, it still affects them. We are in a subdivision on a couple acres and keep 2 hives and i wouldnt think of taking any honey off the bees. We keep them only as pollinators, which is a win for the bees as Alaskan winters are usually hard on hives with mortality rates often exceeding 50%. Leaving all that year’s stores has helped some.
i can and do cut forage for rabbits off this land without any concern but consider that more as a treat than anything. Our staple is unsprayed Timothy and some pellets. At $11.00 per bale, it’s affordable and user friendly.

i haven’t, but have read about growing fodder by folks wanting to get away from pellets. All year round i have Cilantro & Parsley growing indoors and wheat grass (fodder) durning the winter For our own consumption. It would be pretty easy to grow for up to 4 rabbits, after that it would take some effort.

Our acreage is wooded and contains plenty of brome grass, fireweed, willow cranberry, rosehip and a number of other Rabbit friendly items that are utilized “When the ground’s not hard and white”!

Fortunately we’ve not had the new bunny virus show up in Alaska.

11$ a bale and I complained about 7$. Some years ago I heard about how round up was affecting alligators at golf courses in Florida, made them sterile, had both male and female parts. Saw pictures of a cottontail covered in tumors on the internet and it was "supposedly" from round up. I quit using it. Straight vinegar and a weed wacker seem to work. Around here we have this stuff we call wiregrass it's really bermuda or st augustine. It spreads by root and seed. Roots go a foot deep and stolons reach yards in length. I used round up on that. You cut it and get multiple plants. I tilled my yard for a garden before killing it and spent 2 summers hoeing it out. It's insidious. I found that shading it works, just takes a season.
All that white stuff in that picture,you keep it o.k. right there ,don't need any.

 

[Nao57]

If you suspect round up has been sprayed do not pick anything to bring home. I read somewhere ( a house rabbit website) about car exhaust and roadside pollutants being a potential problem also. Lady I bought my first rabbits from told me she lost 1/2 her barn to round up poisoning. It drifted over from the neighbors farm. Took the state vet's office to figure out what was happening. Winds here blow northwest or southwest. The farm was nextdoor and situated northwest. Breeze carried it right into her open barn. She had a big set-up for pet trade on flemish, champagne and new zealand. I can't verify this cuz she's shut down her website and I lost her number. I tend to believe her she was really helpful and I didn't feel like it was anything but true. All that said, I used to pick red clover from an undeveloped field the town owns. They only cut it occasionally and never saw any spraying. Probably wasn't the safest but luckily it worked out. We're probably alot safer growing as much as we can at home. I buy the cheapest leaf lettuce seed mixes, arugula,etc. I still don't have enough, but I don't have enough yard space even to free feed my six rabbits. December thru February is the hardest. I buy kale, collards,romaine, endive, italian dandelion. Costs 3 or 4 dollars a week at the cheaper grocery. Something different every week not all at once. I got a deal once on endive it was wilting at the store. I stuck it in water overnight next day it was fine, they ate it. I'm only trying to supplement cheaply not go completely off pellets.
By the way I'm not a house rabbit person. I read and use those sites as reference material only. What I read about pollutants made sense. Road salt, antifreeze, motor oil carried of the road by rain.
If you have a place your sure about and comfortable with go for it. I don't 💯% other than home.
So, yes I worried about it and decided not to do it.

Wow. Thank you for explaining.

 

[Grizzlyhackle]

You're welcome. Glad some others jumped in. Kinda new to all this myself.