Sheep and Red Clover

[Ariel301]

I was thinking of trying clover hay for my goats, but a friend told me she thought red clover was poisonous to sheep but she didn't know why. I've got a ewe lamb living with my goats, so I need to know if clover hay would be a problem for her. Various places online say grazing on clover causes ewes to be infertile, or that it's not a problem, or that hay is fine but fresh clover is bad...so does anyone know what the truth is on this?

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I've never heard of any issues with clover and sheep. My sheep ate a good bit of clover (red) hay this winter and they graze white clover frequently.

 

[carolinagirl]

http://www.sheepandgoat.com/poison.html

This link has dozens and dozens of fact sheets regarding toxic plants for sheep and goats. Clover does show up as a toxic plant, but I can't figure out why.

Just found this link....it says it's only toxic when it is wet. http://www.library.illinois.edu/vex/toxic/alsike/alsike.htm

Oh...this one is interesting! It says that red clover is not the same as white clover and it not toxic at all, but it can interfere with fertility! So that may be bad if you are breeding your animals http://www.ehow.com/facts_6303423_red-clover-toxicity-goats.html

Gotta love Google! lol!

 

[patandchickens]

Pretty much all legumes are on "toxic plant" lists (for grazers) b/c under some circumstances they can contain too-high levels of nitrates, or maybe nitrites, I forget which. This does not happen often, and as I understand it is mainly a problem of extremely-lush-and-fast-growing pure stands rather than normally-growing stands and mixed pastures. I don't know anything about whether it persists into hay tho. For horses and my sheep it is not something I worry about at all myself, for whatever that's worth (and frequent readers of these forums will know that I am generally pretty cautious ) although I don't think I'd turn animals out onto all-day grazing on super-lush actively-growing pure stands of legumes.

Most clovers are said to sometimes interfere with fertility in sheep b/c of estrogenic compounds -- birdsfoot trefoil (related to clover) is the one they always say is totally fine, there may be others, i dunno. I am under the impression that it's not a problem in hays, just fresh plants, and is only an issue in the month or two just before putting the ram in. You could look it up more if you want.

One issue with clover hay (any clover, pure hay not mixed with grasses) is that it is more prone to mold than most other hays, so you want to be more careful buying and feeding it to make sure you catch any moldy parts.

Pat

 

[Ariel301]

I think I'll just avoid it and keep feeding alfalfa then, just to be safe, since I do plan on breeding my ewe this fall.