Giant Ragweed

[alforddm]

I've been feeding giant ragweed to the rabbits and they seem to love it. I moved my horses to a different area that had a patch of it, about a 10x10 area just thick with it. This was the result.



I figure anything a horse will mow down like that is probably safe for rabbits.

 

[EnglishSpot]

GAASP!! And deny the butterflies their blooms??? LOL

My sister's horses have a penchance for young hemlocks!!! Yikes!! :shock: Whenever she sees one trying to grow in her pasture she pulls it, but more often than not the horses got to it first!!

 

[alforddm]

Are you sure it's hemlock and not common ragweed or queen anne's lace?

Nervousness, trembling, incoordination, depression, coma,
death, birth defects.
Consumption of Poison Hemlock can cause respiratory failure in less
than 3 hours. Animals show signs within 2 hours. A lethal dose for a
horse is 4 - 5 pounds of leaves; cattle may be poisoned with 1 - 2
pounds and sheep with a half pound or less.

This was fresh pasture and they went for them first thing. It's not like they didn't have much to choose from.

 

[EnglishSpot]

She knows her plants, and yes, it's hemlock. That's why she freaks out when she finds it in her pasture. The plants are very young and don't have time to put out a lot of foliage when the horses find them. One or two bites and it's gone down the horses's hatch! Her pasture is 5 acres and they also have plenty to choose from, which is why it boggles my sister's mind that they go for the hemlock.

I'm glad to know ragweed is good to go for the rabbits!!

Your picture reminds me of my sister's pasture frontage by the road. She's been locating native flowers and weeds in the surrounding county and transplanting them to her place, trying to get the native species of everything in her yard while uprooting all the invasive. Next on her list of removal is a giant japanese wisteria clump in the pasture by the creek. <br /><br /> __________ Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:21 pm __________ <br /><br /> This is a picture of my sister's place. The creek is at my back and there's another acre or two to each side of the picture.

 

[alforddm]

Nice! I'm envious of the willow. I transplanted a willow from along side the road a couple of weeks ago. I though I had killed it at first but I've been watering it everyday and it now has lots of green shoots on it.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Before you know it, that willow will take over!! If you put it in a low spot in your yard or where the ground water runs off, it will go nuts!! The willow is very nice, she has her rabbit hutches tucked under it. There's a couple of man made ponds up by the willow. On the other side of the big barn is her garden, although she's got tomatos planted all round the house along with her regular flowers.

 

[alforddm]

I actually planted it on the hill by my rabbit cages. Not the best place I know but our water table is fairly high so I'm hoping it will do ok after it gets established. I don't mind watering it if needed. I needed a fast growing tree for shade and it was free and I can feed the leaves. Sounded like a win win to me.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

so the weird pointy paw shape leaves plant is ragweed and edible? that's super awesome!

 

[EnglishSpot]

Makes some people super sneezy too! LOL

 

[alforddm]

so the weird pointy paw shape leaves plant is ragweed and edible? that's super awesome!

Here's a couple of links. There isn't alot of info out there about it.

http://www.illinoiswildflowers.info/wee ... agweed.htm

http://www.eattheweeds.com/ragweed/

https://thecontraryfarmer.wordpress.com ... t-ragweed/

Makes some people super sneezy too! LOL

So just feed it all to the rabbits before it can flower :twisted: <br /><br /> __________ Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:38 pm __________ <br /><br /> I just found this and it's awsome! https://www.noble.org/global/ag/wildlif ... ersion.pdf

Giant Ragweed protein varies from 37.8% in June to 19.7 in November
TDN varies from 88.8% in June to 70.9% in November

There also nutritional listings for Mares tail in that pdf as well as some other weeds and trees good info for foragers.

 

[funnies50]

You guys have such huge yards. :shock: :lol:
Isn't hemlock poisonous? :x And I had no idea some of the things you could feed rabbits included ragweed...
:twisted:

 

[alforddm]

You guys have such huge yards. :shock: :lol:
Isn't hemlock poisonous? :x And I had no idea some of the things you could feed rabbits included ragweed...
:twisted:

What is this "yard" you speak of? We have "gardens" and "pastures" and "hayfields" but I have not idea what a "yard" is? Maybe a unit of measure? :twisted: :lol: :lol: :twisted:

 

[akane]

A yard was the area my stepdad chose arbitrarily and mowed obsessively surrounded by 42 acres. :lol: Much the same for the other farmhouse I was at but then it was the landlord defining the "yard" area. Now I have an actual restricted yard. It's so disappointing.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

lol ya 'the yard' here is just the general close to the house area that gets mowed regularly (or maybe semi regularly lol).

 

[Zass]

You guys have such huge yards. :shock: :lol:
Isn't hemlock poisonous? :x And I had no idea some of the things you could feed rabbits included ragweed...
:twisted:

Hemlock trees are not at all poisonous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuga


The totally unrelated Poison hemlock or Water hemlock are among the most poisonous plants in north America.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conium_maculatum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicuta

Ragweed seems to be a preferred food for rabbits and guinea pigs

 

[cmfarm]

I am surprised your giant ragweed is so short. It is already 6-10 feet tall here.

 

[EnglishSpot]

You guys have such huge yards. :shock: :lol:
Isn't hemlock poisonous? :x And I had no idea some of the things you could feed rabbits included ragweed...
:twisted:

Hemlock trees are not at all poisonous.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsuga

It must be hemlock trees that are sprouting? They were definitely saplings.

 

[funnies50]

:shock: I see. Not all hemlock is poisonous...and the earth is not round :twisted:
Okay ppl, instead of yard, what about...hmmm...yeah, sorry. We Californians don't have properties quite so large as most of you, 'kay? :angry:

 

[alforddm]

I am surprised your giant ragweed is so short. It is already 6-10 feet tall here.

It rained almost everyday in May. Alot of things got off to a bad start and are just now catching up. Many gardens were completely ruined although some people replanted.

I hadn't paid attention in previous years but I bet that is the reason.

 

[Zass]

It must be hemlock trees that are sprouting? They were definitely saplings.

I know that hemlock trees are commonly munched on by whitetail deer during winter months, and that the leaves can be used as a tea ingredient for humans.

Cedars have some toxic compounds but are not too dangerous in small amounts, and yew is deadly poison, but overall, I tend to see evergreens as a pretty safe group.


The poisonous hemlocks are definitely not saplings, they are herby things that usually have multiple stems and flower heads. They mostly look like very tall overgrown carrot plants.
This page has some nice photos:
http://www.eatonvillenews.net/hemlock510.html