Horse Nettle in hay

[Hereford2]

Hi all, my Uncle baled some squares up and it's full of Horse Nettle. He was going to give it to Horse's, cow's, goats and rabbits. But has since been told it would poison all of the above animals. There's controversial stuff on it online. So he's thinking about Burning the hay instead of feeding it out (cringe). Is it safe?

 

[coachg]

My cows eat hay with horse nettle in every winter . Never heard it was poisonous? Thorns on the stems might not go down too good .

 

[ClodHopper37869]

My cows eat hay with horse nettle in every winter . Never heard it was poisonous? Thorns on the stems might not go down too good .

dito

 

[M.Magis]

Same. Never heard of it causing any issue. Its pretty common some years.

 

[Hereford2]

Thank you all, for the quick response. I told him. Sounds like they're going to feed it out.

 

[wbvs58]

As with most things that are an issue if they are starving and very hungry and you put it out they tend to not be selective and can overdo things. Anything that you have doubt about just don't feed it like their life depends on it, mix it with other hay so they can be selective.

Ken

 

[farmerjan]

We have tons of it this year. It gets rolled into the rolls and will be fed this winter. As @wbvs58 said... don't feed it to starving animals and make sure they have enough to eat and other choices. They will eat around it 99% of the time. But also remember it will carry to whatever field/lot that you feed it at as well.

 

[greybeard]

The worst part about it, is if it has any seeds in it. You'll have it everywhere next year.

 

[MtnCows93]

ive made alot of squares with it in it, there would be a plant about every 2 foot in the field but once you cut the hay and it dries it surely cant add up to more than 5 percent of the weight of the bale. ive never had an issue or even had anyone complain about it.