# Is oriental bittersweet OK for goats to eat?



## livefree (Aug 15, 2012)

Hi!  I'm a newbie to BYH.  Curious if anyone knows whether oriental bittersweet is fine for my goats to eat.    We moved to a new home recently and there's quite a bit of it in the area I'm hoping to move their pen to.  (I took down most of the woody vines, but there are still quite a few roots in the ground and I'm not planning on using Roundup, so we keep getting shoots.)  To the best of my knowledge it's not poisonous, but I'm obviously not going to take my chances.  For the record, it's oriental bittersweet (celastrus) I'm worried about, NOT bittersweet nightshade (solanum), which I know is poisonous.  

Thanks!!!


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## livefree (Aug 16, 2012)

Well, a little more research uncovered this helpful resource:  http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/plants/goatlist.html

In case anyone else has similar questions.


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## SkyWarrior (Aug 17, 2012)

Great resource!  I've bookmarked that!  Another great website is the ASPCA Poison Control Center .    It has horse toxic plants listed.


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## livefree (Aug 17, 2012)

Thanks so much!  That looks like a fantastic resource as well... but now I'm a bit concerned, as american bittersweet--a close relative of oriental bittersweet--is on the list of toxic plants.  D'oh!


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## SkyWarrior (Aug 19, 2012)

livefree said:
			
		

> Thanks so much!  That looks like a fantastic resource as well... but now I'm a bit concerned, as american bittersweet--a close relative of oriental bittersweet--is on the list of toxic plants.  D'oh!


Call up your county extension office and ask.  Some plants related to each other can have one poisonous and the other benign.  Case in point: Russian Knapweed is toxic to horses but Spotted knapweed is not.  Honey locus isn't toxic but black locus is very deadly and experts often can't tell the difference in the pods.  So, there you go.


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