What poisonous plants does Sepp Holzer offer his animals?

As per request... 

In googling the topic all I could pick up was that poisonous plants are often medicinals.

Went searching about Lantana... found this..

Need WordWeb to decipher all the medicalese... but seems to actually be helpful in gastrointestinal disorders. I was surprised. I wonder if animals naturally seek it out at all.....

Paul is right.... this could be an utterly fascinating topic.

Anyone know what Sepp Holzer considers valuable in this regard?

BTW.... WordWeb.... found here... is a super on board dictionary and thesaurus offered as a free download.... should anyone be interested.

Chelle

there was some lovely poke weed growing in our compost pile

a friend said "yea I heard if you eat a berry it will make you live longer, old asian thing"

we all instantly popped one in our mouths

it tasted good, followed by a slight burning flavor, plus we all started spitting and our spit was vibrantly purple

kinda felt weird all day, but that could have been accounted for by other things as well!

my goats will take a bite of poke here, a bite of holly there, though they won't touch white snake root or a tomato with a ten foot poll!

Cyara wrote:

Need WordWeb to decipher all the medicalese... but seems to actually be helpful in gastrointestinal disorders. I was surprised. I wonder if animals naturally seek it out at all.....

Paul is right.... this could be an utterly fascinating topic.

Anyone know what Sepp Holzer considers valuable in this regard?

I don't know what Sepp says, but you might be interested in Juliet de Bairacli Levy's Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable.  Her thesis is precisely that - animals know what to eat and what to avoid, but moreover how to heal themselves with medicinal plants if the correct (species-specific) herbs are stocked and maintained in or on the edges (ie. in hedgerows) of their pastures. 

FWIW, I've heard of two species of holly where people drink an infusion daily. Yerba Mate is the more famous example. I bet the goats get a little caffeine buzz.

Son of Levin wrote:
I don't know what Sepp says, but you might be interested in Juliet de Bairacli Levy's Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable.  Her thesis is precisely that - animals know what to eat and what to avoid, but moreover how to heal themselves with medicinal plants if the correct (species-specific) herbs are stocked and maintained in or on the edges (ie. in hedgerows) of their pastures.   

Sounds like a fascinating read. I see she was born in 1912 and only died in May last year. What stories she could tell! She seems to have written quite a few books.... I will keep a look out now. Thanks!

Chelle

asmileisthenewak47 wrote:
there was some lovely poke weed growing in our compost pile

a friend said "yea I heard if you eat a berry it will make you live longer, old asian thing"

we all instantly popped one in our mouths

it tasted good, followed by a slight burning flavor, plus we all started spitting and our spit was vibrantly purple

kinda felt weird all day, but that could have been accounted for by other things as well!

my goats will take a bite of poke here, a bite of holly there, though they won't touch white snake root or a tomato with a ten foot poll!

I don't recognise Poke weed. Don't think we have it here. Nor holly. But I did find this interesting book online.... whole parts of the book offered to read online .... with some really astonishing plants that are used medicinally... from all over the world.

Chelle

  I think he just tosses in all sorts of plants and lets the animals decide what is best.

I think you are right about that.

But I bet by now he knows what they choose to forage and why. Would love to hear any tips anyone has picked up.

Even about poisonous plants used this way elsewhere.

Chelle

Chelle Lewis wrote:
But I bet by now he knows what they choose to forage and why. Would love to hear any tips anyone has picked up.

Sepp writes in one of his books that he observed that cows with gastritic and intesinal parasites ate lupins, Monk's-hood (Aconitum), Male-Fern (Dryopteris filix-mas), Buttercup (Ranunculus) and even poisonous mushrooms.

Generally he says that a plentiful mix of plants (including poisonous) available to his animals is important to let them choose when and what to eat to medicate themselves - so he can spare visits from the veterinarian

Stefan

Given his climate, and what little I know about the cultural history of his location, I would bet money that wormwood is among the poisonous plants he allows his animals access to.

As the name implies, it's a vermifuge.