# I want to plant fruit trees but I have goats



## PendergrassRanch (Dec 11, 2012)

We need to plant trees to create a privacy barrier between us and the craptastic neighbors across the creek.  

I want a variety of fruit, olives, figs, apples, pears, peaches...etc

The trees will be on the other side of the fence but I am sure a fair amount of fruit will fall and I will diligently pick as many as I can for canning and eating, giving away and what not. 

What would be the worst thing to plant? I keep hearing something about cherry leaves?


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Dec 11, 2012)

From Langston University.

Prussic acid or cyanide poisoning can be caused by many plants. One such plant is the wild cherry. It is not unusual for wild cherry trees to be present in a pasture for many years and cause no problems. However, if a wild cherry tree is cut or if branches blow down during a storm, goats will readily eat the wilted leaves, and this is when wild cherry becomes extremely dangerous. The leaves and bark of these trees accumulate toxic levels of cyanogenic glycosides and cyanide is released in the leaves whenever they are damaged (such as by frost, trampling drought, or wilting). When eaten by a sheep, microorganisms in the rumen convert the compound into cyanide which prevents the blood from bringing oxygen to the cells. Death is usually sudden and swift (within a few minutes to an hour of consumption). On autopsy, the blood in the veins is a bright cherry-red color. Wild cherry tree branches should be removed from a pasture immediately after they have been cut off or blown down. Removing them from a pasture before they have a chance to blow down is the best measure.


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## PendergrassRanch (Dec 11, 2012)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> From Langston University.
> 
> Prussic acid or cyanide poisoning can be caused by many plants. One such plant is the wild cherry. It is not unusual for wild cherry trees to be present in a pasture for many years and cause no problems. However, if a wild cherry tree is cut or if branches blow down during a storm, goats will readily eat the wilted leaves, and this is when wild cherry becomes extremely dangerous. The leaves and bark of these trees accumulate toxic levels of cyanogenic glycosides and cyanide is released in the leaves whenever they are damaged (such as by frost, trampling drought, or wilting). When eaten by a sheep, microorganisms in the rumen convert the compound into cyanide which prevents the blood from bringing oxygen to the cells. Death is usually sudden and swift (within a few minutes to an hour of consumption). On autopsy, the blood in the veins is a bright cherry-red color. Wild cherry tree branches should be removed from a pasture immediately after they have been cut off or blown down. Removing them from a pasture before they have a chance to blow down is the best measure.


Is there a difference between wild cherry and other cherries? I don't really NEED cherries.  I just want to make sure I don't kill my goats.


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## verkagj (Dec 11, 2012)

No avocados. I've read that goats should not have the fruit nor the leaves from avocados.


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## pdpo222 (Dec 11, 2012)

Yes there is a difference between wild cherries and domestic cherry trees.  Not sure if I would do cherries if I didn't absolutely have to have them.  Better safe than sorry.  Everything I've always read they have said "wild" cherries.  But with them doing so much hybridizing I don't think I would chance it.  Sometimes they use wild cherry for grafting stock.  So you still get the bark.  Worked in a nursery for 7 years.  If you know what cherry bark looks like, make sure the others aren't grafted onto it.  They us it because wild cherries grow fast and doesn't have a whole lot of pests.  So it's a favorite to graft on.  Be it peaches, pears etc.  They do use other stock to graft, but cherry was a big favorite.  And unless you get heirloom fruit trees alot are grafted.  Just ask your seller or look for the very prominent cherry bark.  Once you see the bark you won't forget it.


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## Alice Acres (Dec 11, 2012)

We have several varieties of apples (3), pears (2), and peach (2). They are well away from the  animals, but all can have the fruit or leaves consumed by them. The apples and pears are older, and I would say make a nice smaller shade tree. The peach trees are too small to tell. And with peaches being really unusual in MN, I don't see any adult ones to judge how they would be for shade or privacy.


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## Goatherd (Dec 11, 2012)

Fruit trees are great and have an end result which benefits the planter.  BUT, if you have "craptastic" neighbors and want to create a privacy screen and want it in a reasonable amount of time, fruit trees might not be your best choice.

There are no fast-growing fruit trees and with the proper pruning involved to achieve good crops, they really don't provide the privacy you might want.

Deciduous or evergreen trees would surpass fruit trees in growth at a much more useful rate.


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## Harbisgirl (Dec 11, 2012)

I thought that the leaves of ALL stone fruits (cherries, peaches, nectarines, apricots, almonds, etc) were toxic ?


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## pdpo222 (Dec 11, 2012)

Alice Acres said:
			
		

> We have several varieties of apples (3), pears (2), and peach (2). They are well away from the  animals, but all can have the fruit or leaves consumed by them. The apples and pears are older, and I would say make a nice smaller shade tree. The peach trees are too small to tell. And with peaches being really unusual in MN, I don't see any adult ones to judge how they would be for shade or privacy.


Fast privacy.  I'd use Privet Hedge.  Comes in green or yellow now too I think.  They were working on them to make them more appealing.  You will have to trim them once in awhile so they stay full at the bottom.  Another is an arborvitae but it's not all that fast.  Very pretty.  Called Emerald Green.  Not sure on the price.  Privet is cheap.  My kind of plant.  Some goats will eat it.  But it's not harmful to them and Privet is pretty hard to kill.  And you can buy 3 gal. privet  relatively cheap and they are already pretty big and full.


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## Pearce Pastures (Dec 11, 2012)

A cherry tree, any type that is actually a part of the 'Prunus" genus" which includes the wild black cherry which is also known as sweet cherry, contain prussic acid in the leaves to some extent.  While it would take consuming the right amount at the right time, you might want to stay away from that one.  Lots of plants have some level of poisonous/toxic properties but most would require a great deal to be ingested before any real damage would occur.  

A site I like for reference:
Cornell University's Plants Poisonous to Livestock and other Animal
http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/

I personally love our big apple trees, with their weeping branches.  They do give us a nice shady area in out yard that our kids play under.  The apples are a mess though and while a few here and there would not do much harm to our goats, the trees are not in such a spot that lots and lots of apples could drop into their browsing area.

If you are willing to look outside of the fruit tree idea, river birches are AMAZING (my favorite deciduous tree).  They grow fast, thick, provide ample shade, and fallen leaves and branches (it does tend to shed medium sized twigs when it gets windy) are great treats for the goats.

Edited to add that river birches are not the skinny, white-paper birches a lot of people might think I mean


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## PendergrassRanch (Dec 11, 2012)

Thanks for all the replies!

I'm not just doing fruit trees.  We are going to have a mix of different types (no eucalyptus LOL) I just wanted to know what types of fruit would be off limits. I can't grow avocado trees if my life depended on it so no worries about that  We will probably doing a hedge type in their direct line of sight and then the fruit and others along the outer edge of that line.


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## Southern by choice (Dec 11, 2012)

Years ago we had a baby orchard.  How do I do a big sigh?

We had pears, peaches, 2 apple varieties, nectarine, plum, and cherry. The constant pruning, neem oil, and thinning of fruit was a pain in the ***!  We also could not grow them organically in the region we were in. Had extension agents out etc. they just laughed...good luck with no pesticides! The final straw for us was the yellow jackets that would bore into the fruit. The massive fruit piles on the ground became unmanageable.  We ended up having THOUSANDS of yellow jackets that bore holes into the ground...we are talking HUNDREDS of these "hidden" nests. If you, a kid, a dog anything stepped on one of these holes..out they swarm and they can sting over and over AND they WILL follow you. We couldn't walk our property anymore, and one of my sons stepped in the wrong place..they swarmed him he ran into the house the YJ followed. They were even up in his clothes stinging everywhere...if you know what I mean. Following weekend..every tree was cut down and pulled out. The cherries always got eaten by the birds. :/  

We have a lone pear  tree here...same problems! Yellow jackets.  The pears are delicious though! I can deal with one! 
Maybe a few wouldn't be too bad but they are still hard to manage pests without poisoning your food with pesticides.

Some fruit trees will grow rather qiuckly and provide a little shade but for privacy- nah, not worth it. Privet grows VERY fast and is very hardy...makes for a great "fence". But then that's not shade.


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## Harbisgirl (Dec 11, 2012)

Wow, I did not know that. We have ALOT of jellow jackets in our area. I was concidering planting a few fruit trees but now I think I may have changed my mind. I'm allergic to bees and have a hard enough time trying to evade these miserable, hostile little insects.


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## pdpo222 (Dec 11, 2012)

Also when the fruit is rotting on the ground it smells.  It's the fermenting that makes the fruit smell.   We cut down all our apple trees the first year after we moved in.  The smell the yellow jackets, just wasn't worth it.  We planted maples.  We planted silver maples cause they grow fast.  Aspen trees grow fast just don't live real long usually.  But the give shade fast but spread so can be a pain too.  Silver maples shouldn't be planted near cement cause their roots come up above ground.  We have no cement so np and they aren't anywhere near the water pipes or septic tank.


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## PendergrassRanch (Dec 11, 2012)

The fruit trees would be in the far corner of the property as far away from the house but closer to their house.  We aren't looking for an impenetrable barrier, just something besides air!  There is already a huge oak tree there and the peach tree.  They would be between the creek and our fence. The space varies but they wouldn't actually be in the pasture or anywhere near a building where roots can tear it up.


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## Alice Acres (Dec 11, 2012)

We don't have any yellow jacket issues with our fruit trees.

Also, we don't use any pesticides on them. (3 Apple, 2 pear, 2 peach). We have really nice fruit from all of them - got our 1st 6 peaches off one of our little trees this summer. We do keep the fallen fruit picked up. After a big wind (we have lots of wind), we go out and pick up the fallen fruit in 5 gallon pail, and we feed it to our stock in controlled portions. This summer with the drought, the fruit was about the only fresh stuff they got. :/


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## Southern by choice (Dec 12, 2012)

I definitely think fruit tree problems are very regional. I wouldn't think you'd have a problem with the same stuff being in Minnesota.
There really isn't anything like picking fruit right off the tree! MMMM! This area for us is the same as when we were up north, unfortunately. I would love to have fruit trees again!


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