Oak leaf toxicity

[SDGsoap&dairy]

We live on 14 acres of mixed deciduous woodland and are thinning (but not completely clearing) areas of the property to keep goats. The majority of the trees here are oak (at least 3 different species, don't ask me which ) and I've read again and again that oak leaves are toxic.

Does anyone else keep their goats in this type of environment and if so what are your management practices to prevent toxicity?

Even if there are no oaks inside the paddocks they will still be close enough to shed their leaves within reach of the goats. And before anyone suggests just clearing out all the oaks, I'm looking for alternatives to this obvious option. We enjoy living in the woods!

 

[mavrick]

I have oaks in my goat pasture and they eat the leaves all the time , I have heard the opposite about oak leaves ,actually folks have told me that oak bark and leaves mixed with water and set for awhile to mix is good for upset tummies and will take some kinds of toxins away from goats

 

[mavrick]

I have heard of acorns being bad for goats, but its never hurt any of mine they eat them all time

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Found a research paper on the subject if anyone is interested:

ABSTRACT:
The blood metabolic profile was examined in 2-3 year old non-lactating and non-pregnant Mamber goats consuming Quercus calliprinos (oak), Pistacia lentiscus (pistacia) and Cerafonia siliqua (carob) leaves to determine whether intake of tannin-rich fodder induces subclinical systemic toxicity. Total phenolic and condensed tannin content ranked in the order pistacia > oak > carob. Goats did not exhibit toxic effects following consumption of IO-23 g kg- day- of tannin-rich leaves. Metabolite blood concentrations did not differ from goats fed wheat straw, and were within the normal range. Certain serum metabolic indices that are known to be sensitive indicators of damage to the liver (gamma glutamyltranspeptidase, alkaline phosphatase, cholesterol) and kidneys (urea, uric acid, minerals) were within the normal range for goats. Thus, it appears that goats used in this study were well adapted to the nutritional environment and may consume large amounts of tannins (1.1-2.7 g per kg BW per day condensed tannins and 0.4-0.9 g kg- BW day- soluble phenolics) without suffering any ill effects.

LINK TO COMPLETE TEXT:

http://s3.amazonaws.com/publicationslist.org/data/silanikove/ref-74/tannin.tox.SRR95.pdf

 

[DonnaBelle]

I bought two Nubians in August from a breeder whose whole property was covered with oaks. He said his goats ate oak leaves a lot.

Our property also has oak trees. My goats have been eating the oak leaves here since August. No problems yet.

DonnaBelle

 

[freemotion]

Oaks, pine, and cherry trees are toxic. So are red maples and black walnuts. That is what I have in my pasture in large amounts, and my goats do just fine. As long as they are not starving to death and presented with these leaves as their only food, they will choose to eat them only in small amounts.

That being said, I had one small pygmy-x get a bit under the weather one year when one of the very mature red oaks in the middle of my pasture had a bumper crop of acorns and she gorged on them. Red oaks have more tannins than white oaks. The other goats didn't have a problem. The solution is simple enough, I just keep her in a smaller area in bumper crop years until the local squirrel population gets them all gathered up and buried.

I had another issue with my first goat that I rescued and kept as a companion for my horse. I was having some land cleared for pasture and there was some wild laurel out there. In early spring, the cut-back laurel was the first thing to sprout and it did so quite luxuriently, and was the only green thing out there. We think that this sweet but fragile rescue goat may have eaten it and it caused her death....according to the vet. It is particulary toxic during the growth phase.

We cleared it from our fenced land and I patrol for it several times a year, along with yew, which is abundant here as a foundation planting and the birds spread the seeds. It is very poisonous.

www.fiascofarm.com has a nice list of toxic plants, with the list having two columns, showing that some people list a plant as ok and others list it as toxic. Many plants that show up on a list of toxic plants need to be consumed in very large amounts to cause a problem, so know your plants, and don't panic.

Oh, I also have lilacs in my pasture. They are listed as toxic, and I've noticed that my goats don't touch them at all.

Confused yet? Me, too.

 

[mavrick]

You need to talk to a vet or get some other source for your information, wild cherry leaves wilted is toxic. oak are far from being toxic, and pine needles are highly recommended for their high content of vitamin C

 

[freemotion]

I was being facetious.....I found all those trees on toxic plant lists and I don't worry about them in the least.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

Nearly every toxic plant list I've found (and I consulted many) listed Oak as toxic. Anecdotal evidence (and the research paper I posted) seem to suggest that the tannins are tolerated by most goats with no adverse health effects. This is good news for us! Thanks folks.

 

[Goatzilla]

I don't think my goats got the memo about the oak leaves being toxic. If they did, they probably ate it before they read it. I live in a dense oak forest, and my goats eat bushels of oak leaves, with no ill effects. They also eat acorns like crazy. I assume that the goats build a tolerence to the leaves after a while. I would think that if you fed a bushel of oak leaves to a goat that had never eaten one before, that you might run into trouble.

A funny sidenote, my son actually had to go to school earlier this fall and tell his teachers that his goats ate his homework. He walked into the barnyard on his way home from school and set his folder on the ground to help me unload some grain from the truck. When he was done, he went to pick up his folder and one of the goats had just a corner of the last sheet of his assignments hanging out of the corner of her mouth. He took a picture of her with his camera on his phone to bring in to school as "proof".