Bracken

[Penny]

I have been asked to put some dexters on an area requiring conservation grazing. My concern is that there is a large amount of bracken, with lots of fresh young shoots.

Does anyone else graze dexters in areas with a significant amount of bracken? If so, have you ever had any problems with bracken poisoning? There is plenty of other types of vegetation there for them to eat, so it will not be a case of being hungry enough to eat the bracken, but will they be tempted by the shoots?

Penny

[Sylvia]

I'm fighting a battle with bracken in several of my fields but the Dexters seem to graze round it OK as do my other animals. I hope if anyone has had a problem they'll let us both know!

[Duncan MacIntyre]

Cattle and sheep will generally graze happily around bracken and only tend to eat significant quantities if grass is in short supply - sometimes this happens quite suddenly in dry weather in light soils. The usual bracken poisoning seen in cattle shows up as sudden deaths with low white cell counts and almost negligible platelets allowing overwhelming infection and bleeding to ocur. Although it shows suddenly it needs exposure for some weeks for that to happen.Indeed it can be up to 6 weeks after withdrawal from the bracken before things happen. But bracken is also a carcinogen and increases the liklihood of cancer of gastrointestinal tract and bladder. We were told at university in the early 1970's that in certain areas there was a measurable increase in human cancers where either bracken was eaten (Japan!), or cows producing milk for human consumption had access to bracken. So whilst it may be comparatively safe for the cattle from the point of view of direct bracken poisoning I don't think I would want my milk cow to have too much exposure.

Duncan