Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

Sorry your deer aren't over fed. We have a very big acorn crop here. I have damns of them from water washing them down the driveway. We've had two periods of heavy rain since I moved in the end of September. Both over multiple days and both in excess of 4 inches. My pastures are like walking on a sponge. Any pressure and it gets very wet. I don't have a feeder, just spread the feed out on the ground. Don't have food plot(s) yet either.

 

[Baymule]

You just got there, you'll have your food plots all planted for next year! The sheep have kept our acorns cleaned up. I let them out in the yard and they hoover the acorns up. We have some American Persimmons on the place and I shake them for the persimmons to fall. The sheep love them.

 

[babsbag]

Goats adore acorns too, but on many places they are listed as poisonous. Tell that to my goats.

 

[TAH]

Poisonous?
My goats eat them all the time. I never knew that.

 

[CntryBoy777]

I have 4 books that list oak on the poisonous 'Lists', with no reference to a variety of oak...of which there are quite a few. We have several here, and they eat them all....leaves and acorns. I believe the problem is with the ones that have really large acorns, because they are the ones the goats won't eat unless we crack the shells and give them the meat, we don't do that so they don't even try....the only trees we have like that are by the pond. I was anxious and concerned last year about it, but they are prolific here and in no way could they be eraticated, so I just said if they die they die....but haven't and infact, they browse on them all winter. They will even use their horns to strip bark from branches and saplings.

 

[greybeard]

I have 4 books that list oak on the poisonous 'Lists', with no reference to a variety of oak...of which there are quite a few. We have several here, and they eat them all....leaves and acorns. I believe the problem is with the ones that have really large acorns, because they are the ones the goats won't eat unless we crack the shells and give them the meat, we don't do that so they don't even try....the only trees we have like that are by the pond. I was anxious and concerned last year about it, but they are prolific here and in no way could they be eraticated, so I just said if they die they die....but haven't and infact, they browse on them all winter. They will even use their horns to strip bark from branches and saplings.

You are probably on to something in regards to species of oaks. Far be it for me to speculate what might be toxic to small ruminates, but it has been my experience with watching whitetails, that they tend to avoid red oak acorns a lot more than the white oak acorns. Deer are in the same order as goats, but with goats/sheep being Bovidae, and deer in the Cervidae families. Deer won't touch acorns here, once a freeze or heavy frost has occurred. They become too bitter.

My cows will also eat white oak acorns like mad in early fall up until first frost/freeze, but won't touch red oak acorns any time.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

Goats adore acorns too, but on many places they are listed as poisonous. Tell that to my goats.

My goats favorite food is acorns... If they have the choice between fresh browse and acorns, they choose acorns.

 

[CntryBoy777]

@greybeard in the yr and a half of 'Observation' of the goats daily...except during Rain of coure...they wil devour all the green, forming, and fresh fallen acorns eargerly; but, as they get more plentiful, they become rather 'Choosey' only selecting the 'Best of the Best'....mostly what we have here is live oak, but their absolute Favorite is the pin oak....they seem to be smaller, but softer shell; they go very quickly...deer love em too.

 

[babsbag]

I honestly don't know all the oaks we have. I know we have live oak, black oak, valley oak, and more. The goats seem to eat them all, when the leaves fall and turn brown I just call them "potato chips"....the goats love those too. If they were poisonous there would be no goats in CA.

 

[Baymule]

My sheep prefer the black jack oak acorns, but snuffle them and reject the ones with a worm hole in them.