# Good trees / Bad Trees



## Squirrelgirl88

Cherry Trees are bad. I understand the dying leaves are toxic. Oak leaves in moderation are ok - acorns are bad. But I haven't found these on any list:

We have Horse Chestnut trees and Black Walnut trees. Are the leaves and nuts good/bad?

What about maple trees? Are the leaves ok?

Right now they are eating a lot of cotton wood leaves as they fall after the heavy rains and wind. It's funny, they eat the brown, dying ones first. It's sounds like they are eating potato chips.


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## elevan

Yep, crunchy leaves are GOAT CHIPS  

Black walnut leaves are fine in moderation.  They are considered a natural dewormer so they may be an aid in prevention.  Your goats aren't likely to be cracking those walnut shells though.

Horse Chestnut nuts are poisonous...I'm not sure about the leaves.

eta: Maple trees are fine


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## doxiemoxie

According to "Storey's Guide to Raising Sheep" red maple leaves can cause kidney damage.  IT doesn't say anything about other maples.

I have an olive orchard and my sheep and goats think the leaves are the best.  CHIPS  yum yum


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## goodhors

Cherry leaves contain cyanide which gets concentrated as they dry.  

Black Walnut trees contain Jugalone in every part, bark, leaves, nuts, wood, roots.  Totally poison for horses, takes about a teaspoon of sawdust to get them going towards founder.  Also in the Jugalone,Latin name of tree family, are Butternuts, which are also toxic for horses.

Red Maple, Acer Rubrum is the Latin name, is poison, doesn't take much to kill a horse.  Just a few wilting leaves.  Can be hard to ID, LOOKS just like all the other Maples, not really red until fall color.  Seems to be the commonest, cheapest Maples sold at the box stores, as yard trees.  Reading the tree label for the Latin name is your best bet to ID if purchasing maples.  Lots of common names, but the Latin name will keep you straight.  Acer is the Maple family name.  Other Maples don't seem to cause many problems, but don't let the animals eat leaves to excess either.

Horse Chestnut is in the Aesculus family.  Again, not good for horses to eat, not sure about goats.  You might also want to check out Buckeyes.  They are in this Aesculus family as well. 

Maybe this site with listing of plants will be helpful for your goat food choices!  The chips reference was rather funny.

http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/goatlist.html


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## aggieterpkatie

Fresh cherry leaves and completely dry leaves are ok, just not the wilty/drying ones.


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## freemotion

The red maples have a reddish stem even when the leaves are green.  I have several in my pasture and they have not posed a problem...I also have cherries and oaks and black walnuts and one large butternut.  One goat I used to have would gorge on acorns and I had to restrict her access to the pasture until the acorns were gone, but that was it.

I'd be a bit more concerned if the goats are confined  and have nothing else to eat, or if someone was bringing branches of the above trees to confined goats.


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## treegod

This is a good thread, very useful for me.  I have to take branches into my goats, since we haven't space for them to be out just yet. 

What about pine trees? I have lots of those around, and if they can eat that then that would be great (I haven't given them any yet, since I wasn't sure about conifers). Not to worry if they are, because there are plenty of other options. In fact I'm still learning about them. 

Also, I have a veg patch. Sometimes there are leftover plants, is there anything there good/bad for them?


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## Roll farms

One I keep trying to find out about, but can't find on any list, either safe or unsafe, are Rose of Sharon / Hibiscus.

We have 500 or so that I prune yearly and if the goats can have the spoils I'd be thrilled...I'm just afraid to try it.


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## Goatherd

Here's a site that might help you with your decisions... http://www.aragriculture.org/horticulture/ornamentals/toxic_plants.htm

I would think that if a tree is non-toxic to humans, it would be perfectly safe for a goat.

As far as pines go, they are a delicacy for my goats and are the first trees to be devoured.  No dead goats here!


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## Snowhunter

Our goats don't have many pine tree branches to access, but they devour all the cedar stuff they can find! And privett hedge when they get let out in the yard.


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## dhansen

My goats live under/in a walnut orchard most of the year. (They are moved before I harvest the walnuts) They eat both black walnut and English walnut leaves all the time.  My nubians will occasionally eat old walnuts they find on the ground.  They also eat oak leaves and acorns out in the big pasture.  I guess they may not be "great" for them, but they gobble them up and are doing fine.  When I had horses, they ate the walnut leave also.


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## crazyland

Goats also LOVE pecan leaves.


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## treegod

Thanks for the advice on the pine trees, I feel happier about that. Pine is what dominates around here, alongside holm oak.

Been feeding them a bit of heather which they love too.

I tend to watch what they eat and don't eat and try to take some of my cues from that. The other day on of my goats took hold of some Bryony (I think it was Bryony) as if to test and the next moment she let go and went to feed on something else.

Also, Spurge, is that ok?


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## AlaskanShepherdess

My goats LOVE LOVE LOVE birch leaves. I looked up what they are high in the other day, and I forget everything, except they are high in calcium, which is really nice for me since alfalfa is crazy expensive up here.

They really like to nibble on occasion on spruce needles, they especially like the tips in the spring. A good Vit C source, and my brother says it is a natural dewormer as well.

They also like poplar and willow, but nothing compares to their top 3 favorites; 1. Wild Rose 2. Birch 3. Wild Raspberry (or cultivated). They pretty much decimated my raspberry patch last night.


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## elevan

My goats absolutely LOVE pine needles.  The pines that are in the field are now nude of all needles on their lower branches...gonna have to do some trimming  

They also love the honey locust leaves and pods when they fall.  The great thing about that tree is that the thorns keep them from decimating the tree and they have to wait for the fall of the leaves and pods...but it must be worth the wait!


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## maggies.family

Are fig trees ok?  Our pen is being set up right next to, and some of it under some fig trees.  We have so many fig trees we are ok if the goats tear them up, I just want to make sure the goats will be ok if they eat it.


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## Goatherd

The good folks at Fias Co Farms list fig trees as safe.   For what it's worth...


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## maggies.family

Goatherd said:
			
		

> The good folks at Fias Co Farms list fig trees as safe.   For what it's worth...


Awesome! Thank you Goatheard!


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## LadyIsabelle2011

Roll farms said:
			
		

> One I keep trying to find out about, but can't find on any list, either safe or unsafe, are Rose of Sharon / Hibiscus.
> 
> We have 500 or so that I prune yearly and if the goats can have the spoils I'd be thrilled...I'm just afraid to try it.


I have rose of sharon trees in my pen(it used to be part of the garden) along with some crape myrtle and a giant wild rose that my goats absolutely love, they have eaten all the leaves as far as they can reach and in some cases the whole tree if it was a small one

sooo I would say rose of sharon is fine...

They also love privit hedge, wax myrtle, black berry bushes, any type of vines, black jack vines, and chinese tallow...they also like wisteria but the pods are poisonous on those...


Anybody know if Mimosa trees are poisonous or not?


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