# Farmers Beware! - VERY toxic plant!!



## Livinwright Farm (Aug 30, 2011)

I took a photo of a plant on my property(noted that we have at least 4 of these "bushes", was curious as to what they were, googled it, and found out that it is deadly!

The link to my photo & the info on this plant can be found here


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## elevan (Aug 30, 2011)

Here's a rule of thumb for you regarding berries - ALL WHITE berries are poisonous, 50% of RED berries are poisonous and 10% of BLUE / BLACK berries are poisonous.


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## Livinwright Farm (Aug 30, 2011)

Wow, thanks for posting that info Emily, I never knew that.


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## elevan (Aug 30, 2011)

It makes life a little easier when you know little tidbits like that.  When wild eating (as humans) it's important to know certain traits of plants.  I've taken an interest in wild eating in the past few years....


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## redtailgal (Aug 31, 2011)

1


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## jodief100 (Aug 31, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> Here's a rule of thumb for you regarding berries - ALL WHITE berries are poisonous, 50% of RED berries are poisonous and 10% of BLUE / BLACK berries are poisonous.


My grandmother had a white mulberry tree in her yard.  We ate those berries all the time.  Is this the exception to the all white berries rule or was that tree some kind of mutant?  My sister has one in her yard now, grow from a ctting of the one Grandma had.  

I heard that statistic about the colors of berries on one of those "survival shows".  Thought it was interesting...


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## cmjust0 (Aug 31, 2011)

jodief100 said:
			
		

> elevan said:
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There's also a white currant..


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## elevan (Aug 31, 2011)

Well...   

Funny thing is that I have eaten white mulberries too    Completely slipped my mind on that one...didn't know about the white currant cmjust.

Time to go shoot the person(s) who have put that statistic out there everywhere and making me look like a fool  

There are exceptions to every rule...so let's just say that those are 2 and don't yell at me too much   

I'd still prefer to go by the rule (even though it's not 100% accurate) when wild eating as more often than not it'll save you some trouble...though I guess that it should probably be amended to MOST WHITE berries are poisonous?  But then again I'm not the one that blabs it on nature shows, in books and such...and that person is considered an "expert"  :/

eta: Though I am curious...can anyone tell me if the white mulberry or the white currant are a naturally evoluntionized plant or if they are human "engineered" hybrids?


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## cmjust0 (Aug 31, 2011)

I have no clue..  Never really was that interested in 'wild eating' unless it was something I could shoot, or maybe catch with a spinnerbait.


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## kstaven (Sep 1, 2011)

White currants are the product of several red species crossing out. Not man made but a natural cross.


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 1, 2011)

Does anyone know if Maple Leaved Viburnum is safe or toxic for goats? All I could find for this kind of info in a google search was that deer eat it... I would assume that it would be oka if a goat ate it too, but want to know for sure.


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## Goatherd (Sep 1, 2011)

I don't know what the maple leaved species is, but my goats eat viburnum regularly without any ill effect.


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 1, 2011)

Goatherd said:
			
		

> I don't know what the maple leaved species is, but my goats eat viburnum regularly without any ill effect.


Here's a pic of it
http://wildeherb.com/images/maple-leaved-viburnum.jpg


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## JustKiddin (Sep 1, 2011)

I have to laugh... My son calls those the Eyeball berries.. lol   We kinda figured they were poison.


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## elevan (Sep 1, 2011)

The berry is very similar to the nanny berry which is a viburnum too but doesn't have that shape of leaf...idk about that one, not all viburnum are edible.


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## Livinwright Farm (Sep 1, 2011)

JustKiddin said:
			
		

> I have to laugh... My son calls those the Eyeball berries.. lol   We kinda figured they were poison.


First: 

 & 




*PS: * 

 



Second: White Cohosh is also known as Doll's Eyes... so Eyeball berries is quite accurate!


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## JustKiddin (Sep 2, 2011)

Thank you Livin   I have an acre down back that I wish to fence in for my goats and being a new owner have lots to learn.  My understanding is choke cherries are poisonous to the them... I have other varieties of cherry trees on my property.. are they bad for the goats as well?   I planted a lovely cherry tree this summer next to the gate.  This variety is for making pies... also have plum trees on the other side of the goat yard I am using .. Now plums have pits.. Will goats try to eat those and will they hurt them??

thank you


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## Royd Wood (Sep 2, 2011)

My pigs uprooted a tall European Cranberry bush (very hard to distinguish but looks like one) and ate all the berries which were green at the time. With swollen legs and genitals they were ill for 3 days.
Unripe green berries can be very toxic


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## JustKiddin (Sep 2, 2011)

Sounds like those green berrires affected their hearts.   I have 2 crab apple trees with 3 ft loose fitting hardware clothe wired around their trunks for now.  This has held my kids at bay for now.  I plan on cutting up a combo cattle panel to box each tree in before snow falls to keep those trees from gettin eaten.  Are crabapples bad for goats?


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## elevan (Sep 2, 2011)

JustKiddin said:
			
		

> Thank you Livin   I have an acre down back that I wish to fence in for my goats and being a new owner have lots to learn.  My understanding is choke cherries are poisonous to the them... I have other varieties of cherry trees on my property.. are they bad for the goats as well?   I planted a lovely cherry tree this summer next to the gate.  This variety is for making pies... also have plum trees on the other side of the goat yard I am using .. Now plums have pits.. Will goats try to eat those and will they hurt them??
> 
> thank you


Cherry leaves while wilting are toxic...fresh and completely dry are fine.
Cherry pits are poisonous when eaten in quantity.
Choke cherries are poisonous.
They are not likely to eat the plum pits.




			
				JustKiddin said:
			
		

> I have 2 crab apple trees with 3 ft loose fitting hardware clothe wired around their trunks for now.  This has held my kids at bay for now.  I plan on cutting up a combo cattle panel to box each tree in before snow falls to keep those trees from gettin eaten.  Are crabapples bad for goats?


Crab apples are fine for goats, but like any apple they can have undesirable side effects when eaten in quantity - such as an upset stomach.

And it's a very good idea to fence around any trees that you want to keep...the goats will slowly kill them between eating the leaves all gone and stripping the bark to pushing the tree over and chewing it up if it's small enough.




			
				Royd Wood said:
			
		

> My pigs uprooted a tall European Cranberry bush (very hard to distinguish but looks like one) and ate all the berries which were green at the time. With swollen legs and genitals they were ill for 3 days.
> Unripe green berries can be very toxic


Unripe berries of any variety have higher concentrations of chemical compounds that are more likely to be harmful.

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While we're talking about poisonous plants, here's a bit of info for you (from our state's extension vet):
You'll find a lot of plants that are high in tannic acid on poisonous plants lists but most can be disregarded when you're talking goats.  Goats are engineered to be able to metabolize tannins better than almost any other animal.  Tannic acid is mostly found in the leaves and bark of trees and bushes...which is what goats prefer to eat.


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## JustKiddin (Sep 2, 2011)

Thank you so much for you input Elevan.


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