Content
- Is ragwort also toxic to rabbits?
- Rabbits like to eat the plant
- Why are rodents resistant?
- Toxins in the liver are broken down
- Rabbits keep the ragwort stocks small
- Tips
Like many other meadow herbs, rabbits and rabbits are very fond of eating ragwort
Is ragwort also toxic to rabbits?
The ragwort, which is poisonous for horses, cattle and humans, is found in many hay mixes that are fed to rabbits. Since the dried herb is barely identifiable in the hay, many rabbit owners worry, if their darlings could also be harmed by the cockatoo.
Rabbits like to eat the plant
Numerous rabbit owners report that their animals love eating ragwort and prefer the plant to other grasses. You do not have to worry about your rabbits, because in the mixture, the herb is completely compatible with the animals. The livers of the animals show no changes, even if they are fed one-sidedly with cockatiel. Also other rodents like:
the Jakobsgreiskraut tolerate easily.
Why are rodents resistant?
The effect of the poison of the ragwort is not fully understood. 40 to 80 grams of the plant can already cause death in horses. If cattle and horses repeatedly eat ragwort from the ragwort, the toxins accumulate in the liver and lead to a gradual poisoning.
It may be that the venom of the pinaceae in the gastrointestinal tract is inactivated by rodents and thus does not enter the organism. Studies show that animals that ate the herb for several months were absolutely healthy. However, if the poison was injected to the animals, they died within a few days.
Toxins in the liver are broken down
Although small amounts of the toxins are deposited in rabbits in the liver, the animals are extremely insensitive. Since the liver is an extremely regenerative organ, the pyrrolizidine alkaloids are slowly degraded like many other substances.
Rabbits keep the ragwort stocks small
The ragwort also spreads so much because the number of wild rabbits has dropped noticeably in recent years. The wild rabbit seems to be the only natural enemy of the plant in our latitudes.
Tips
The rabbit as a specialized herbivore benefits from as varied a feeding as possible. In small quantities, the animals themselves may eat the ragwort and take no damage from it.