Pine Trees/Pine Needles

PeterO · Post by **PeterO** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 6:36 am

I asked tis question in another thread but it sank without trace. On the new farm I have a) a pine plantation with some grass and b) grazing with the odd scattered pine tree. Rumour has it stock and pine needles don't mix as it causes abortions. Anyone with any experience? Would b) be OK?

Peter

PeterO · Post by **PeterO** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 4:55 am

Just to add to the sum of human knowledge - advice from the NZ LSB site is that cypress and macrocarpa cause abortions in stock - pines are generally OK.

Peter

John C · Post by **John C** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 2:09 pm

A good few years ago our horses ate the Leylandia.Killed the trees but no apparent effect on the nags

Richard ~ · Post by **Richard ~** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:00 pm

Pine needles can cause late term abortion but your cow would have to eat a lot of them. A lot being 2 kilograms or more but the amount can vary depending on the size of the unborn calf and amount of plant toxicity. The toxic compound identified is isocupressic acid (ICA) and the level of ICA can vary with the species of pine. Most likely a few pines in your pasture wouldn't be a problem as cows would need to eat the needles during the last trimester of pregnancy and would need to eat an ample amount of needles. One sign of ICA abortion is a large percent of the cows that abort late term will have a retained placenta.

oliver1921 · Post by **oliver1921** » Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:57 am

The advice i had from our vet with regard to pine needles was no problem if their is grass to eat - if you leave them in when there is no grass and they start relying on the pine needles for sustinence is when you COULD get a problem