# goats ate azaleas



## Sunny Daze (Jan 14, 2008)

I came home yesterday to the girls running loose all over the place. Noticed a couple were foaming and vomiting the green stuff, ran to the back yard and sure enough, they had munched on the azaleas (this is a new house and I didn't even know we had them until they began to bloom about a week ago). Tried to get some activated charcoal in them and also tried an oil/tea, ginger/baking soda mix. Ended up covered in goat vomit..They are all miserable today, but I think they are going to pull through (crossing fingers). Anyways, all 3 girls I am milking right now are part of this group. I am bottle feeding 8 babies right now...will the milk be affected and dangerous to give to the kids? If so, how many days should I wait? I milked them out right after the azalea incident, wondering if I should just dump this milk. Its just been one of those weeks :help


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## Patty13637 (Oct 26, 2007)

Best to call your Vet . I know its toxic and I would not be feeding babies there milk .

For some reason I cannot find out the treatment for the poisoning. You couls also try poison control.


Patty


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

There isn't alot to do for this. Fill them full of oil, and that can be a quart of oil tubed into the rumen, using activated charcoal. Goats don't vomit but they do sling their cud. This will also hopefully give them massive diarrhea that will exit the poision out of the system that will bind with the charcoal if you gave it soon enough. But with one part of a leaf able to kill a full grown goat you can see why having dangerous foundation plants, no matter how pretty they are around isn't wise. There are too many beautiful plants that aren't toxic we can have instead. Remember not all rhododendrons are poisionous and not all rhododendrons are azaleas, but all azaleas are posionous. 

You will need to start rebuilding their rumen, be very careful of feeding any grain or milking them out all the way. B vitamins, cud from another doe...

I hope they recover for you. Vicki


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## Sunny Daze (Jan 14, 2008)

Well, most of them seem to be feeling a bit better and are nibbling at grass and hay. A couple are still slinging their cud, but most of them seem to be improving...my bucks had gotten into them a few months ago, but at the time i wasn't sure what it was since this is a new house and I had never seen them blooming. They all got over it in a day. About a week ago they started to bloom and mystery solved. I plan to take them out, just haven't had the chance yet. Of all the things they could have eaten and got into...they had to go to the toxic plants! Well you can guess what this weekends project will be! How long do you think until it would no longer be in their milk?


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Give them a rennet tablet- 
It works instantly to calm the rumen so they quit puking! keep them hydrated!
Lee


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

If you stop them from slinging the cud or having diarrhea than the poison is in the system longer. Every year we go through this with local goat owners, living in the south where ever yard has azaleas, except mine  Vicki


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