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arabic
Platinum Member
 England
4562 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Aug 2008 : 3:38:48 PM
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Sorry, another topic on the dreadful stuff!
Can ragwort poisoning be diagnosed? Presumably it can as I know of someone (on another website) who lost a horse to this and they are always stressing how unpleasant it was and not to let your horse near any. But we were discussing it this morning and often horses are lost thro liver damage but ragwort doesnt seem to be mentioned??
Sandie
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 12:34:20 PM
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| ragwort poisoning usually affects the liver and a blood test can determine the state of your horses health. I have just returned from the derbyshire peak district and was horrified at the amount of the stuff growing up there! i cannot remember seeing it so bad in derbyshire, some fields just looked like a crop of rape seed! |
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moatside
Platinum Member
England
3224 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 1:11:01 PM
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| I echo VJC - ragwort is everywher in Derbyshire year - the councils seem to be unconcerned! I have my land treated twice a year and pull any odd plants but the farmer over the road leaves his and the verge is full of it. |
www.spanglefish.com/kasanarhythmbeads/ |
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 1:18:46 PM
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Hi Kim, sorry we did`nt get chance to call in to see your horses on the way back but it was great to meet you at bakewell 
I was amazed at the amount of ragwort we saw, perhaps its because there are a lot of sheep grazing and it is not harmfull to them when they digest it! even so that is no excuse there are horses too in derbyshire! lovely place though! envious of anyone living there  |
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Icarus
Junior Member
England
40 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 3:58:14 PM
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| It can be diagnosed from a blood test that tests the liver function and if that comes back suspicious then a liver biopsy would be performed. |
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pat ww
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3459 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 6:50:35 PM
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Not true that sheep are not harmed, their life span is much shorter and damage is cumulative. A large hunk of liver has to fail before the outward signs of illness are present. They are in the stew pan long before that.
With that in mind, they do graze it and clean the land up when in the small rosette stage, just don't eat lambs liver, I don't know whether the toxins remain to be ingested by humans but would you take a chance. |
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 7:10:37 PM
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| did not realise that patww i always thought thats why farmers turned a blind eye to it when grazing sheep! i suppose a poison is a poison when all said and done! |
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Professional Lurker
Bronze Member
229 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 8:43:20 PM
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Just come back from Northumberland and was shocked at just how much ragwort there was up there.
Not just on the sides of the road either, fields of the stuff and at least two fields that I saw with horses in them.
It's obviously a big problem up there.
PL. |
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arabic
Platinum Member
England
4562 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 10:16:27 PM
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Thanks Alix
That clears up the query. The blood test shows liver damage then a biopsy would determine if the damage was caused by ragwort. I will pass that on.
Many thanks
Sandie |
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gossy
Platinum Member
England
3639 Posts |
Posted - 10 Aug 2008 : 10:29:24 PM
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| you ought to complain because the councils can be fined for having ragwort growing, as it effects crops and grazing!! |
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moatside
Platinum Member
England
3224 Posts |
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Tahir
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4572 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 08:56:33 AM
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The amount of ragwort on crop fields and grass verges has completely amazed me this year, it just seems to be getting worse and worse. It definitely looks like some fields are used to grow the nasty stuff on purpose???? I really don't understand.
My OH and his family have been farming on 98 acres at the same site for over 20 years, you would have to try very hard to find a piece of ragwort anywhere. OH and myself moved next door (on 40 acres) to his family 13 years ago. We hand pick the odd plant, and possibly find 4 - 5 a year on 'our' land. It's most definitely a labour of love as we have cattle, sheep, pigs and horses (amongst other things!!!).
OH has just been asked to 'mow' 3 acres of shoulder high weeds in a paddock to be used to graze horses. 90% of the weed is ragwort!!! OH will definitely hand-pull all the ragwort before he cuts the rest down, he is too responsible to do otherwise. They will probably faint when they get the bill, but their horses will (hopefully) survive!!!
Carla, xx. |
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NatH
Platinum Member
England
2695 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 09:10:18 AM
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I'm in the West Midlands and there is far too much of the 'yellow stuff' growing by us too.
My boyfriend used to work on the Council & they never, ever heard Ragwort mentioned You would have thought that if the Council were responsible for keeping it under control in Public areas, that their men would have it on their job sheets from time to time? |
Natalie
Chapel Lane Arabians
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 09:33:03 AM
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I agree natalie, the councils are not interested at all! the motorway island near to us is just covered with the stuff all nicely blowing seeds everywhere  if the seeds don`t manage to reach you airborne they are easily carried on the coats of foxes passing through! it is spreading at an alarming rate countrywide and is making it backbreaking to keep the grazing paddocks clear! up to three tears ago i never ever got even one plant on my place now i have to check it all the time and find it popping up on a regular basis, even tucked in hedgerows as the council do not give a damn about how it affects animals perhaps we should go public and draw there attention to how toxic this weed is to being handled by humans as many people are unaware of the dangers that lurk behind what looks like a pretty yellow daisy, the council might be more worried if the truth got out!!!! |
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Jingo
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3632 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 1:00:23 PM
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You can report Ragwort under the Weeds Act 1959. You have to complete a form and forward to Natural England, Burghill Road, Westbury-on-Trym, Bristol BS10 6NJ. Maybe different address for different regions. The form can be downloaded from the DEFRA website.
try: www.defra.gov.uk/farm/wildlife/weeds
I urge everyone to report this horrible weed - like you we dig ours up as soon as any appears.
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Jude
www.auchmillanarabians.org.uk
      
photos:Anthony Reynolds,Sweet,Deano,Real Time Imaging |
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ashabarab
Gold Member
England
1378 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 4:29:38 PM
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l live in surrey and the amount of ragwort around is frightening...however much we pull up there seems to be more and untill the local council's adress this issue we will be forced to keep pulling it up
my own local council say they do not have the funds to deal with it..so nothing gets done....even though they know they are susposed to get rid of it they don't...
sussex apears to be the same, and hampshire not much better...some fields look like they have nothing else growing....hate to think how many seeds in those fields!
ash
ps corrected spelling...obviously when l get annoyed fingers go at different speed to brain...l let you work out which goes faster!] |
Edited by - ashabarab on 22 Aug 2008 3:39:51 PM |
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
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tamila
Platinum Member
England
2532 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 6:43:14 PM
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| I was about quote the same Act as Jingo. There is lady a few doors away from me with two small children who has loads of the stuff in her garden. I have told her about it but she has done nothing about it. I am ery concerned the children will be attracted to the yellow flowers. I am going to offer her the use of my ragfork. |
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mogwai
Platinum Member
England
2717 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 6:48:08 PM
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| Yup, i can vouch for the fact that in Derbyshire it's appalling. This year is the worst ever. Even fields that have been clear previously seem to have sprung loads this year. And yet when we went on holiday to Anglesey, there were council vans all over the roads and piles of the blinking stuff ready to burn. If they're doing their job, why is it so impossible everywhere else! |
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Jingo
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3632 Posts |
Posted - 11 Aug 2008 : 8:53:58 PM
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I think we all have to report Councils, neighbours etc - the more we use the act to sort this problem out the better for humans and animals. Sorry but Councils and the Highways Agency have a duty to eradicate this lethal weed.
We've just reported some neighbours - I find them irresponsible, can you believe it they topped the field of ragwort earlier in the year with the horses still in it 
For years we never had any ragwort in our grazing fields but recently we have found small amounts. I believe the seeds can lay dormant in the ground for years - same as dock
It seems they get four weeks to take action and if nothing happens they are given the offical four weeks notice - hope it doesn't seed before then. |
Jude
www.auchmillanarabians.org.uk
photos:Anthony Reynolds,Sweet,Deano,Real Time Imaging |
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Cate
Platinum Member
Scotland
1785 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 03:46:40 AM
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| Scotland is the same. Everywhere I look there is Ragwort. Its poisonous to every animal including ourselves, so those with sheep who let them eat it are allowing it into the human food chain! Some professor did tests, cant remember his name, but getting into the food chain is his worry. |
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vjc
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
4952 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 11:26:58 AM
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| yes you are right, it was proffesor knottenbelt i believe. |
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arabic
Platinum Member
England
4562 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 12:21:21 PM
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| Well, on the local news last week it reported how prolific ragwort is this year due to all the rain. It also stressed that it was particulaly dangerous to horses and that councils were sending out convoys on a regular basis to beat it!! Ummmm, havent seen any yet and no sign of the yellow stuff vanishing either.............. |
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pat ww
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
3459 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 2:45:24 PM
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The general public are blissfully ignroant and there is an attitude that who cares if it affects horses, they are owned by toffs anyway.
Getting the public to wake up by pushing the human food chain angle might be the way forward to get people to wake up to their responsibilities. |
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kimzi
Gold Member
865 Posts |
Posted - 12 Aug 2008 : 3:27:45 PM
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| Sorry can i just remind everybody to wear gloves when pulling it up as we can absorb the toxins through our skin also. Essex is no better than other places, the general populace who find the little flowers so pretty could do with re - education. |
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Pixie
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
6586 Posts |
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