Important Info - Pesticide/Herbicide Poisoning

[qhflicka]

I know first hand about the effects of Round Up posioning.
My neighbor sprayed poison on my pasture and killed 6 Nubian does and another neighbor also sprayed Round Up in another one of my pastures and poisoned my mini, who is now finally recovering, after many weeks and suffering from ALL the symptoms of Round Up poisoning.
The neighbors both admitted to spraying the Round Up and said it was accidental. They said they were spraying on a windy day???
I should have sued them both, the one neighbor is a headmaster at a local school here!!!!!
The fool would not even apologise.

Animals eat the plants sprayed with herbicide because it makes plants, especially when wilting, even the most toxic plants, palatable.

So be real careful using this stuff. A lot of dogs have died after just playing on grass sprayed with Round Up.

Please read these first hand reports of human and Animal victims of poisoning.
Some people even report problems caused by equine fly spray.

www.getipm.com/articles/letters/sitemap-ltrs.htm

[qhflicka]

Horses have an excellent sense of smell, so I wondered why the mini grazed so long in the area that had been sprayed. The goats also seemed to choose the weeds that had been sprayed.

Here is the answer.

From www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=540

"Allowing horses to graze a pasture after it has been sprayed with a herbicide, but before the weeds have died and disappeared, is another commonly overlooked reason a horse might become poisoned. Phenoxy compounds such as 2,4 D are believed to make the plants taste better and, in some cases, to increase concentrations of natural plant toxins.

[lisam]

Do you have a link to a specific page about Round up? My neighbor uses it on our fence line, and he is under the impression that it's not toxic to horses.

[qhflicka]

www.getipm.com/articles/letters/roundup-illinois.htm

www.naturescountrystore.com/roundup/index.html

www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/roundup-weed-killer-is-toxic-to-human-cells.-study-intensifies-debate-over-inert-ingredients

[qhflicka]

I did not want to bore anyone with the details, but here they are ....

A woman I know, who has been raising dairy goats for over 45 years, also lost a couple of goats from Round Up poisoning, and told me the symptoms to look out for. I called her immediately, when I realised what the neighbor had done. She said their chance of recovery would depend on how much they had ingested. The symptoms were EXACTLY as she described.

A few years ago, a neighbor decided to throw Round Up on weeds in one of our pastures.
This property is in the city, so I called the Kennewick Police Dept, when I saw patches of yellow grass/weeds. They sent an officer out immediately who spoke with the neighbor, who said he "accidently" sprayed the weeds in our pasture. (Goats are browsers, so refer nutritious weeds to grass). He said it was windy. Who sprays poison on a windy day?
Anyhow it was too late for my 6 Registered Nubian show goats.
The goats had 3 acres of pasture, but ate the sprayed weeds.
The very next day, they all aborted their babies. Two days later, they had lost control of their jaw muscles, their tongues hanging were out. That afternoon, one doe died. That evening we had them all euthanised. No cure, no antidote. They got very thin, in just a few days.

My one neighbor decided to spray Round UP, IN one of our other pastures, along the fenceline. The longest greenest grass was along this fenceline and that is where my daughter took her little mini to graze while she was grooming him. She then left him there for about 20 more minutes.That was Sunday.
On Tuesday morning I noticed the 2 to 3 foot wide yellow strip of dead grass on our side of the fence, where the mini had grazed.
I noticed that the neighbor had a one foot strip of dead grass on his side of the fence too.

I immediately called my vet and he tried to ressure me that he had never heard of a horse dying from Round Up poisoning. But, Yes, horses have died from it. Just Google it.
He said to water the area that had been sprayed very well. Told me a few symptoms to watch out for and that was it.

I then called the Benton County Sheriffs Dept, because this property is in the County, to file a complaint and they refused to send out anyone to see the dead grass and they refused to send anyone out to talk to the neighbor about what he had done!!!
So 5.30am the next morning, I paid the neighbor a visit. He admitted spraying the RoundUp.

The Mini was quite fat, he started losing weight slowly, then after the 2nd week, his weight fell drastically.
In just a few more days, his hip bones and ribs were visible.
He still maintained his appetite.
His winter coat was still thick, but soft and smooth, not coarse and oily, caused by worms.
When I saw him start to lose weight I gave him a dose of TapeCare PLUS But he still continued to lose weight. We deworm regularly and rotate dewormers , so I knew it was not worms.
I noticed he was making strange faces and jaw movements while eating. The hay was falling out his mouth. (Just like what happened with the poisoned goats.)
His teeth and mouth were then checked - was not the problem.

Finally, after many weeks, he is finally gaining weight.
He has regained control of jaw muscles. No hay falls out of his mouth when he eats.
His is finally shedding his winter coat.
He definitely seems to be recovering, but his hind legs are still a bit wobbly.

[winterlakesfarm]

We use a product called Weedmaster by BASF on our pastures and perimeters twice a year. It is extremely effective on weeds and does not effect the grass at all other than to encourage growth because the weeds are gone. We have an asshat of a neighbor whose weeds are out of control and blow onto our property so we have to spray. We actually mow and spray his property too.......you would think he would get a clue but he does not.

With the Weedmaster we have returned animals to the pastures within 24 hours with no ill effects. The horses do not seem attracted to the weeds after being sprayed and wilting(we mostly have buttercup both tall and creeping and daisy this year) but I am sure you would have to be more careful with minis and goats who both seem to eat things bigger horses do not.

Weedmaster is extremely effective and while it states to not use with horses who are lactating or with youngsters(I would also say minis due to size) it also says you can return horses to the pasture as soon as the product dries. I have not been that brave but I do return them to the pastures after 24 hours and have never had an issue with the many horses that have been on our pastures(over 40 over the last 6 years).

[qhflicka]

We only had a 8 foot by 3 foot patch of NUTRITIOUS weeds at that time, which we deliberately left for the goats. And they never went to seed. The goats kept them well trimmed and loved the dandelion flowers.

My 10 acre pasture does not have one weed in it. There was a sprinkle of mustard and we pulled them out by hand, before they even made flowers.

A lot of weed seeds get into pastures from irragation water.

If you pasture is full of annual weeds eg, mustard, pig weed (Amaranth), just keep mowing, do not let them go to seed. And the winter will kill them.

Perennial weeds obviously need to sprayed, or roots dug out, etc

Russian thistle (Russian Knapweed) paralyses horses jaw muscles too. There is no cure. It is a perenial with silver grey leaves, that sends underground runners and is really hard to get rid of. We eradicated it completely in our pastures many years ago, but is prolific here in the TriCities and surrounding areas.

[lisam]

Since I try to garden and farm organically whenever possible (my property borders two salmon streams), it's very upsetting when spray comes over from the neighbor. I don't use any synthetic pesticides or herbicides at all. I control the tansy and cinquefoil at my place by hand pulling. When I saw that my neighbor had sprayed on my side of the fence (saw the tell-tale brown dead grass) I asked him about it. He said his sprayer nozzle had malfunctioned.

[qhflicka]

An update on Star, our mini, who was poisoned by Round Up. - He is back to perfect weight. Stocky and muscular. His weight dropped to about a two on the Henneke scale.
His jaw muscles recovered fully. He is walking perfectly. It took him a very long time to recover.

[hcampbell404]

HI Alpha Mare - I'm so glad Star is fully recovered. It gives me hope for my lovely Highland Pony Chucky who I fear is also suffering from pesticide poisoning - in spite of the labels specifying that they are safe to use with livestock in the field. I am distraught. My lovely boy is looking so sad. His coat is standing up, he looks funny when he's eating, he could barely managed a trot out exercising. Did you do anything specific to help the healing process? I have obviously removed him from the paddock and am feeding him soaked hay. I will get some digestive enzymes. Is there anything else I should do?? You know the crazy thing - myself and my daughter had the exact same symptoms too. I was always suspicious of pesticides etc but now I am serious about never wanting to have anything to do with these poisons ever again.