Cattle and Oak

okie350 · Sep 19, 2007

I did not want to highhjack the "red maple and horse" thread, but I have a simular question: I have a wooded area that has a lot of oak trees that i was turning some cows loose on, but had a neighbor tell me that oak leaves can kill cattle. has anyone ever heard of this before??? To me it doesnt sound right but hey, it's worth an ask,

Luremaker · Sep 19, 2007

Never heard about that. I have large oak trees on my pasture and the cattle love resting under them. I was told the oaks repel the flies so the cattle enjoy a little fly free time while under the trees.

WTA · Sep 19, 2007

Almost everyone with cattle has live oak and pin oak on their ranches. I've never heard of a problem. Still if it runs out of forage an resorts to eating wilted leaves of any tree I'd be wary of it. The wilting seems to be what turns most plants toxic. I'd say just make sure they have plenty to eat.

hudr · Sep 19, 2007

We have several Oak trees on our place. Never lost a cow to oak poisoning that I know of.

jinman · Sep 19, 2007

okie350 said:
I did not want to highhjack the "red maple and horse" thread, but I have a simular question: I have a wooded area that has a lot of oak trees that i was turning some cows loose on, but had a neighbor tell me that oak leaves can kill cattle. has anyone ever heard of this before??? To me it doesnt sound right but hey, it's worth an ask,

Since cattle are grazing animals, they will graze as long as there is grass. Browsers such as goats, horses, and our useless donkey all eat oak leaves and love them, but cattle won't eat those leaves as long as they have grass or hay.