Poisonous Plant Series: A discussion of different poisonous plants to goats will be discussed in the newsletter series. The information is designed as a reference, but ultimately the individual goat owner is responsible for information and feeding of poisonous plants. The FNGA and the author are not liable for information presented or used in these articles).
By Matt Bray
Cyanogenic Plats (i.e. plants containing cyanide)
Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana)
Cyanogenic plants are known killers of goats. Plants containing cyanide occur mostly in the rose family and in particular, trees and shrubs from the genus Prunus including “Choke Cherry, Pin Cherry, Domestic Cherry, and including their relatives apricot, peach, apple, and to a lesser degree elderberry ( Sambucus), flax ( Linum), Sudan Grass, Johnson grass (Sorghum) and Serviceberry ( Alelanchier) ( Mionczynski, 1999).” Most of the above plants do not grow wild in Alaska except elderberry and serviceberry. In Alaska plant books, serviceberry is not listed as containing a poisonous toxin, but rather expand on the edibility of the berries. Elderberry plants are known to contain the purgative alkaloid sambucine as well as hydrocyanic acid in the seeds, stems, roots, and unripe fruit, but significant amounts would need to ingested to cause problems ( Shofield, 1989). Cook and deseeded fruit have been commercially made into elder jelly.
Many members of the prunus genus are used as decorative shrubs. Most plants in the prunus genus have edible fruit, but the other parts of the plants including the leaves, bark, wood, and seeds contain hydrocyanic acid. A particularly common decorative shrub in Alaska is the choke cherry. I will use the choke cherry to discuss the effects of hydrocyanic acid. The problem toxin is cyanide sugar which is always present. “The cyanide component is readily absorbed through the rumen where is binds quickly to the ferric ion in cytochrome oxidase, which prevents the release of oxygen from the hemoglobin in the blood ( Mionczynski, 1999)” thus resulting in the suffocation of the goat. Goats contain an antitoxic enzymes which prevents poisoning from hydrocyanic acid until a toxic threshold is reached, upon which poisoning occurs rapidly. Symptoms of poisoning include frothing at the mouth, dilated pupils, gasping, convulsion, bright red blood, and other symptom of suffocation. Cyanide sugar is always present and usually the goat can detoxify small amounts of the toxin. The problem arises when the plant is subjected to a frost, drought, and intense summer storms which mobilizes an enzyme in the leaves, thus resulting in a higher concentration of cyanide sugar (and subsequently, taste better to your goats). The result is that much lower amounts of plant product need to be consumed to cause poisoning. The best bet is don’t let you goat have access to plants containing cyanide and in particular, prunus shrubs.
References :
Mionczynski , J.M. 1999. Goats and Poisonous Plants. Goat Tracks: Journal of the Working Goat, Vol. V, Issue 1, pp. 14-17.
Schofield, J.J. 1989. Discovering Wild Plants: Alaska , Western Canada , the Northwest. Alaska Northwest Books, Bothell , Washington , 354 p.
Cyanogenic plants are known killers of goats. Plants containing cyanide occur mostly in the rose family and in particular, trees and shrubs from the genus Prunus including “Choke Cherry, Pin Cherry, Domestic Cherry, and including their relatives apricot, peach, apple, and to a lesser degree elderberry ( Sambucus), flax ( Linum), Sudan Grass, Johnson grass (Sorghum) and Serviceberry ( Alelanchier) ( Mionczynski, 1999).” Most of the above plants do not grow wild in Alaska except elderberry and serviceberry. In Alaska plant books, serviceberry is not listed as containing a poisonous toxin, but rather expand on the edibility of the berries. Elderberry plants are known to contain the purgative alkaloid sambucine as well as hydrocyanic acid in the seeds, stems, roots, and unripe fruit, but significant amounts would need to ingested to cause problems ( Shofield, 1989). Cook and deseeded fruit have been commercially made into elder jelly.