Author Topic: Laurel (Read 7244 times)

ScotsGirl · « **on:** March 08, 2015, 04:21:55 pm »

how many laurel leaves will it take to kill a goat? Just found some nibbled branches which had fallen behind shed. Might be hens but might be goats. Little sods had come through hen house otherwise they wouldn't have any access to it.

I'm struggling to find a solution to this problem. Going to try a line of gardening hoops between posts with mesh over. Might be too late though.

Is there anything that will counteract the toxin?

Rosemary · « **Reply #1 on:** March 08, 2015, 04:25:17 pm »

We had a sheep ate rhododendron leaves (similar, I believe). Vet said nothing worked against the toxin, it all depended how much had been eaten compared to bodyweight. He could only alleviate symptoms - antibiotic, steroids, vitamins and we gave charcoal ground up in strong black tea. The charcoal helps absorb the toxins, I beleive, and the caffeine in the tea acts as a stimulant.

The sheep survived btw.

ScotsGirl · « **Reply #2 on:** March 08, 2015, 04:46:14 pm »

Did you know straight away it had eaten it or only after symptoms appeared? I have a possible 5 that could have eaten some, only about a dozen or so leaves in total. I don't have any charcoal but could give them some tea. Will keep an eye on them.no idea how recently they were nibbled. Could have been today or within last week. Chickens must have scratched it under fence. I totally forgot I had cut it to try and get better signal on cctv"

Beeducked · « **Reply #3 on:** March 08, 2015, 06:14:38 pm »

I had a very similar experience recently, a goat ate pieris japonica which has the same toxin in it. She was vomiting within 8 hours. Her legs had given way and she was too weak to stand within 16 hours and her heart rate was much lower than it should be. She gradually picked up after 48 hours and was back to normal within 4 days.
Apparently small amounts can kill and there is nothing to stop the toxin. Charcoal early (my vet gave me something called forgastrin which has charcoal in it) can be effective (if challenging to administer!) if given within a few hours by absorbing the toxins before they are absorbed. after that it is just trying to keep the animal hydrated to prevent its kidneys failing and sat up as much as possible to prevent aspiration pneumonia which are the most common causes of death (as well as cardiac arrhythmias and if the heart rate is very low your vet can give atropine).

Good luck, hope yours haven't eaten enough to have a problem and make a good recovery if they have.

Rosemary · « **Reply #4 on:** March 08, 2015, 07:31:23 pm »

Dickie was ill almost immediately.

mojocafa · « **Reply #5 on:** March 08, 2015, 08:49:09 pm »

Hope your goats are ok,

My neighbour has planted a laurel hedge right next to my field, hopefully her prize winning horses will eat it before my goats !

ballingall · « **Reply #6 on:** March 08, 2015, 08:54:55 pm »

Sorry to hear

I don't have a lot of experience with Laurel poisoning, but I would think the how much they've eaten versus their bodyweight does tend to be true.

Good luck with them.

Beth

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #7 on:** March 08, 2015, 10:35:31 pm »

Mine just had one mouthful and was very very ill and in considerable pain. The vet said it was touch and go but she did pull through. I don't know how long it was between her eating it and being ill.

ScotsGirl · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2015, 10:57:16 pm »

It was around 4pm when I noticed them and they headed straight to where the laurel was but it had been eaten before then. Checked them last at 10-10.15pm and everyone looks ok, eating, cudding, sleeping contented. Just hoping and praying I find the same in the morning

farmvet · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2015, 11:34:44 pm »

that's good. I think you'd be seeing signs by now. eg colic, tooth grinding etc through to semi conscious if they'd eaten a lot. For future - feeding hay etc can help reduce the absorbtion too by physically reducing the amount of laurel/rhody relative to other gut contents. Red bull or equivalent is good for sugar b vits and caffenine. A rumenotomy is very simple for the vet to do if your sure a particular animal has eaten something, or once ill. Ideally earlier the better before eg irreversible kidney damage occours.

ScotsGirl · « **Reply #10 on:** March 09, 2015, 08:30:16 am »

Well all were waiting for me this morning, ate their breakfast and now tucking into hay. No signs of anything. Only one 2 week old kid with a runny bum but she is racing around so hopefully just her nibbling on something. Def not the laurel as she hasn't worked out the way in.

I've moved the house so offset from fence hole. Chickens can still get through but hoping kids can't. Time will tell.

waddy · « **Reply #11 on:** March 09, 2015, 10:12:10 am »

We are waging war against laurel which seems to pop up everywhere round here. The former owner planted lots of it and it seeds like mad. The woods round here tend to be choked with it. There is a lot around the boundary of our big field. Our neighbouring farmer puts cows on for most of the year and then store lambs (not got the facilities to put our own on yet). The funny thing is the cows seem to make a beeline for the laurel. Never seen the sheep eating it. Is it less poisonous to cows due to their size? I wonder if it is less poisonous than rhododendron. I think it will be a lifetime battle keeping it at bay.

I'm pleased your goats are feeling better.

Helen

Lesley Silvester · « **Reply #12 on:** March 09, 2015, 09:35:54 pm »

Good news, Scotsgirl.

landroverroy · « **Reply #13 on:** March 10, 2015, 04:25:04 pm »

Must admit our cattle had a go at a neighbour's laurel hedge before I realised they could reach that far. They didn't just take the odd leaf either, but trimmed one side of a large bush. However I didn't see any ill effects, so presume it was sufficiently diluted to not harm them.