Possible ragwort poisoning

[Tash88]

This afternoon my horse and his fieldmate broke through some electric fencing to a section of the field that had been fenced off because it has a moderate amount of dried ragwort in it, with plenty of grass as well. We think that they were only in there for a couple of hours max.

Of course the field is going to be cleared and the fencing removed before they can get to any more as we don't want them eating any more, but if I were to get my vet out to do a blood test to check for liver damage, would it be too soon to tell? From my research the damage is irreversible, but the sooner the liver damage is noticed the better the chances are of treating it, even though ragwort poisoning is cumulative and irreversible.

Many thanks, Tash x

 

[PeterNatt]

I would suggest that given that they only had two hours to eat the Ragwort that even if they ate some it should not have to much of a detrimental effect on them.
The priority should also be to burn the dried Ragwort immediately and the lesson learned to always remove and burn Ragwort immediately so that horses can not get the opportunity to eat it.

 

[Mustard]

If there was grass in there, I would think they would have concentrated on that, rather than touchng ragwort. I would also agree with PeterNatt that they won't have had time to do themselves any real harm.

 

[PurBee]

I would think if there was plenty of grass to eat they would have ignored the ragwort, grass is much more tastier than dried bitter ragwort.

I would be checking for hoof prints and scouting the area they went to see if you can see any flowered ragwort having been munched on. It’s usually a very symmetrical round bouquet of small flowers heads on top so should be easy to see if that’s been disturbed.

The liver enzymes should be going crazy if they did consume any, as the toxins will cause reaction fairly quickly...so a blood test should show unusual liver levels...IF they did have any.

If i knew for sure they had some i’d be immediately giving them loads of charcoal in soaked beet pulp and a high dose of milk thistle in the days/weeks following to try to soak up the poison and mitigate liver damage.

in Ireland ragwort is on the noxious weeds list and by law has to be destroyed by land owner, despite the council having plenty on the verges of course, re-seeding privately owned lands!!?

Get rid of the ragwort, dont ever let it flower and go to seed. Black bin liner and gently top each flowering stalk not disturbing the seeds and shove into the bin liner head first..to capture the seeds. Then burn the bag full afterwards.

 

[Tash88]

Thank you for the replies - the bit of the field they were supposed to be in had been cleared, as had the majority of the area that had been fenced off, but there was some remaining that we were in the process of clearing before we opened the rest of the field. They had enough grass to eat and space in the available area, I think they were probably just a bit bored as they haven't been worked enough in the last few days due to the weather.

We have fixed the fencing and allowed them a bit more grass in an area where there is no ragwort, and tomorrow we are on a mission to clear the rest of the field and then they can have the whole space. All the ragwort that has been removed has been taken to the tip, there hasn't been any that's been pulled up and left in the field.

I have ordered some milk thistle and will be getting a remedy made by a medical herbalist, if she can do something for it.

The lady I share a field with is very conscientious with the field/ragwort management (I moved in a month ago) and we were working together to clear it before the horses were going to graze in the area, so it's such a shame they got to it now, but hopefully no lasting damage has been done. And as you have all said, the grass would have been tastier for them. There is no flowering ragwort, it is all old and quite rotten but I understand that is still toxic.

Thanks again, Tx