[gingercloverbramble]

We have lots of rhodedendrons on our farm which is let out for grazing to a local farmer.  His sheep seem to be fine and just don't eat them.  We now have two orphaned 'pet' lambs of our own which are a couple of weeks old.  Was planning to let them roam around the garden at the moment (we have a big garden) but there are a couple of rhody bushes in the garden.  Do sheep just 'know' not to eat the rhody bushes or is it something the lamb would learn from the mother?  Am worried to let them out without supervision incase they start eating them.

[Hellybee]

Well i wa planting up new stuff yesterday and our Molly lamb was game at trying any of it, so i think they would have a go, can you put some hurdles around the bushes to stop them getting near them ?

[Roxy]

I know they are poisonous to my horses, and also the goats, so would assume anything like that would do a sheep if it ate it.  We were told the shropshire sheep knew not to eat Xmas trees, hmmm.......they ate them, and ended up dying.  I would not be happy to let any animal round garden shrubs.  I suppose if there is enough grass around, they may not bother maybe?

[ScotsGirl]

Lambs much prefer plants to grass!  I hand reared two in the garden and they ate all my plants and NO grass.  Not sure if they touched the shrubs but  they are still alive... well one is the other is in the freezer! 

I would recommend fencing off the poisonous stuff or putting electric up an electric fenced pen and moving it round.  Ivy however is poisonous to some animals but sheep love it and it doesn't seem to kill them.

[Anke]

I fed ivy to my ewes during the winter, as it was the only green thing around and it gave them something to do! Goats also get it regularly in small doses.

Wouldn't risk Rhodis (or any other evergreen like laurel bushes), and maybe best to fence it off somehow, mine last year just went through the electric poultry netting to get to the hens pellets, but are now really good with electric tape, so not sure when exactly to introduce it. hurdles would be fine I guess.

[jembo]

Lambs will eat it, and its a pretty quick death if they do!

If you do catch it early enough - give the lamb or sheep black tea (cooled) with 2 sugars!

[gingercloverbramble]

Thank you for all the help on this matter.  Think we will fence the area off or maybe just pull the bloomin things out of the ground!  What's the score with foxgloves?  They are all starting to pop up again!

[kanisha]

I visited a breeder last year whose sheep live practically wild on a hillside FULL of foxgloves very pretty but  was very concerned they are toxic. he wasn't in the least bit worried and said his sheep don't eat them.

He did however have some ( the ocasional ) unexplained loss I don't know if that could be the ones that did eat them....

[jembo]

Its the leaves of the foxglove that are poisonous. When they are just coming through is when the sheep or lambs are likely to eat them. I personally would not risk it, my sheep mean too much to me to have even one loss. 

[hexhammeasure]

as jembo says rhoddies are poisonous and lambs will nibble anything on offer until they learn what is bitter or bad, the cold tea remedy is a great one for most gut problems including eating autumn fallen leaves which in excess is also poisonous to ruminants. if lambs have plenty of grass and forage they will leave rhoddies and other bitter plants alone.