Sheep on the Wild Graze

[Baymule]

Sheep are good plant toxicity indicators. But even they can be fooled. That’s why we are shepherds.

 

[SageHill]

It was bound to happen - things change. And that's what this is really all about.
I've noticed lately that the sheep have been tasting the wild radish ( Wild Radish - Raphanus sativus)
which I've covered earlier. In the years past I've seen them eat this, a lot actually. To the point I made cards for friends that had the sheep on the front eating them with a caption about them Picking Pretty Purple Posies.
This week they've been taking little samples of them as they were grazing. Well this morning it was the favorite of their salad bar graze. So - just add that in to the what they're eating on the wild graze
Wild Radish - Raphanus sativus

 

[Baymule]

They look like they are blooming and setting seed pods. I’m thinking maybe the flowers are tasty and the seed pods have more protein. My sheep will ignore plants, then sometimes eat them like they are starving.

 

[Mini Horses]

Temps and rain/drought changes a plant -- taste nutrition, chemicals. The plant cells change. Various grasses do this too, some become toxic. It's an ever changing landscape! In many ways . No rest for the weary.

 

[SageHill]

Yup things change as they grow and I seems true for the weather as well. When the hurricane brought rain the ranch turned green back in Aug/Sept - a rarity of the highest order. The radish grew then and even flowered yet it was not tasty to the sheep.

 

[Stephine]

Somethings that were particularly tasty today...........
Wild Mustard - Brassica nigra - Brassica tournefortii
Definitely edible. Even for people. When it's young the sheep love this. It can grow to be well over 6 ft tall. It's very leggy at that stage, being an easy thing for animals - dogs, sheep, us to get tangled in. According to legend, in CA the missionaries who travelled up and down CA cast seeds as they went, in the spring the mustard would provide a path of tall yellow flowers for them to follow back to the mission they came from. It is also tagged as the first invasive plant in CA.
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Horseweed - Erigeron canadensis, Erigeron sumatrensis

Interesting fact - it's the first known plant to be resistant to glyphosate. The Zuni have used it medicinally.
Sheep love it when it's not too tall (it can reach 5-6 ft).

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California Buckwheat - Eriogonum fasciculatum
Always a favorite with the sheep anytime of the year and in any growth cycle. It is a California native. They eat it as if it were candy, however they won't decimate the plant. They eat what they want and move on.
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I read that horseweed is poisonous and irritating - that’s interesting…

 

[Stephine]

It was bound to happen - things change. And that's what this is really all about.
I've noticed lately that the sheep have been tasting the wild radish ( Wild Radish - Raphanus sativus)
which I've covered earlier. In the years past I've seen them eat this, a lot actually. To the point I made cards for friends that had the sheep on the front eating them with a caption about them Picking Pretty Purple Posies.
This week they've been taking little samples of them as they were grazing. Well this morning it was the favorite of their salad bar graze. So - just add that in to the what they're eating on the wild graze
Wild Radish - Raphanus sativus
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I read that radish is fine, it’s the black mustard that can cause issues in ruminants… it’s all so confusing!

 

[Baymule]

I’ve watched my sheep eat the leaves of Black Nightshade, stripping the plant, but not eating the berries which are deadly.

 

[SageHill]

I read that horseweed is poisonous and irritating - that’s interesting…

That could be when it's tall - that's when the sheep ignore it. There's so much to learn in all this stuff --- and then the curveball

 

[Ridgetop]

I think that sheep and goats are pretty careful. They seem to avoid a lot of poisonous stuff or eat only a little unless that is all that they have to eat and are starving. It is interesting that at certain times of te year different plants are safe to eat and they seem to know it.