# TOPPING FIELDS, BUTTERCUP QUESTION



## blueberry (16 May 2008)

Today we are getting our fields 'topped'. 
There are quite a lot of buttercups in the fields at the mo,does anyone know if buttercups are harmful if the heads are cut and drying on the ground in the field.
I know ragwort is more harmful during this process but is it the same for buttercups?

Thanks in advance!


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## Toby_Zaphod (16 May 2008)

Buttercups
This yellow flowered weed is very common throughout North America, particularly in wet areas. Buttercups include tall (2.5 feet), creeping, meadow and celery leafed varieties.

Buttercups contain irritant juices that severely injure the digestive system. Sap from stems can cause inflammation and blistering on skin or mucous membranes and even around the hooves of horses used to harvest. Note:  <font color="red">poison is inactive when buttercup is dried and included in hay.   </font> 

Symptoms from ingestion include: 

mouth blisters cause drooling and loss of appetite 
colic 
bloody urine 
diarrhea 
colic 
twitching of the eyelids 
loud breathing 
weak pulse 
There is no known antidote for the poison ranunculin found in the buttercup varieties. Efforts should be concentrated on prevention through pasture management.

A veterinarian should be consulted immediately for supportive treatment to reduce the damage caused by ingestion of poisonous


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## Maesfen (16 May 2008)

As Toby has said obviously and it would be better not to turn out until they are dried and dead, otherwise I'm afraid they should be collected and burnt.
Eradication of buttercups is a nightmare on fields particularly those that hold the wet, they're very hard to shift; we've used all the sprays available at one time or the other and none of them have been much good if your land is prone to them.  We find topping and clearing is the best method for us.


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## Morrigan_Lady (16 May 2008)

This is worrying to read as our boys are turned out in a 9 acre field FULL of buttercups!


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## Maizy (16 May 2008)

Mine too I am afraid.  I presume from the above that they are ok if in the field so long as alive and not eaten?  It just reduces the amount of good grass for them?

We have tried sprays in the past and also reseeding but they are still there.  I am relocating in the late summer so I feel I can not ask the farmer to do much more about it - to then move yards, especially as everything else about the yard is fab...I just hope they are ok alive.  To be honest I did not realise the extent of the damage they can do, I just knew that the horses have less decent grass.  thanks for the information.


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## Thistle (16 May 2008)

even contact with the plants can cause a rash on sensitive horses.


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## fairhill (16 May 2008)

[ QUOTE ]
even contact with the plants can cause a rash on sensitive horses. 

[/ QUOTE ]

My mare gets a rash on her legs once the buttercups are in full flower  
	
	
		
		
	


	




It's similar to mudfever, but on her cannon bones (so level with the flowers) and went septic the first time she got it as I thought it was mud rash. It needed antibiotics and steroid creams to get it to heal


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## Mooch (16 May 2008)

My old lad Jerry is very sensitive to them. 

When I first had him we thought he had very bad sunburn on his nose, but he had also got sores on his legs with white socks. 

I sorted it out with Sudocreme and he has never had sunburn again, but his nose and white bits did flair up the following year. 

I then worked out it was the buttercups! 

Since then, I have got rid of most of them with Grazon 90 and no flare ups since.


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## blueberry (16 May 2008)

Thanks for the advice-im not sure if the farmer can take away the grass and topped heads and i dont think i will get far with a rake.

I wonder if having the head topped will cause the sap to be released from the stem?

What do you think?


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## luckilotti (16 May 2008)

would sheep eat buttercups?  i know we have had some of our fields sprayed in the past but this year, bam, they are back in force!  i'm not sure if its the weather as i have noticed them everywhere this year, the grass verges near my parents house are covered.


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## Fantasy_World (16 May 2008)

Mmm I can remember a thread about buttercups last year and I posted some information about it then. At the time the weed was of little concern to me as we had very few of them on the land that we grazed our horses on as the landowners were very good at eradicating weeds. However I have since moved yards and my horses' summer fields has a fair few of them in it.
The field does have a few marshy areas and I am guessing that that the buttercups will be the marsh variety. I have not been across to have a look though yet as my boys are still in another field. But you can see the yellow patches from quite a distance so obviously there is a high concentration of them in areas. I may even consider fencing some bad areas off but will obviously have to discuss this with the horse owners who will be sharing the field. 
I am worried about two things one is the toxins they contain and if my horses eat them. Secondly one of our horses has a pink muzzle and we apply suncream to guard against sunburn and I am pretty confident that his skin will be sensitive to the plant.
There is also an oak tree that overhangs the field as well so I will be making sure I am vigilant when it comes to the acorns dropping as well.
I don't know moving yards can sometimes pose a new set of problems to be sorted but I guess that is the joys of owning horses.
Caz


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## Maizy (16 May 2008)

Would a day or two of cattle grazing clear them up - at least the flowers? or am i being stupid?  Only now I am starting to get concerned...

I could ask for the cattle to come in for a day or two.  Interestingly they have lovely lush grass in the next field with no buttercups in.


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## flyingfeet (16 May 2008)

Not just wet fields our dry brash is full of creeping buttercup!!!

Sheep and cows will help, but neither really like them as they are bitter (which is just as well otherwise horses would eat them!). So if there is plenty of grass the cows and sheep will eat around them. 

You will see field of lush grass without them as they will either be new lays (buttercups won't tolerate ploughing) or they've had fertiliser as then the grass can outcompete the buttercups. 

There isn't an easy way of controlling them unless you dose twice a year with broadleaf herbicides.


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## ticobay831 (19 May 2008)

The buttercups in my field have gone crazy this year there everywhere 
	
	
		
		
	


	




Ive sprayed a few with graze on and they have started to droop. 
I rang the company up that makes graze on and they have bought out a new chemicel called Banish its espesially for buttercups, so ive orederd a bottle and will fence field off and do bits at a time and hope it works
Failing that you could always give a local farmer a call and see if he will come and spray it for you, think thats the only way you'll get shut of them


Debs x


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## kate081 (21 May 2008)

Need to rid the buttercups from my field. Do you know who makes Graze on &amp; Banish? Where did you buy it from? Thanks


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## ponyqueen (21 May 2008)

the problem with getting rid of buttercups can be that a lot of people don't do so - we spray our field every year, sometimes twice a year, which keeps the ragwort, nettles and dock at bay, but the field next door is unsprayed...they diligently remove ragwort by hand, but leave the buttercups, which immediately respread to our field. it is an uphill battle, and one that i try to keep on top of, but equally i try not to panic about because over the last decade or so a dozen or more horses and ponies have lived on both fields with no problems.

lots and lots of horses don't suffer any ill-effects from buttercups so it might be better not to get stressed until it is apparent there is a problem


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## TURBOBERT (21 May 2008)

Out of choice horses dont eat buttercups - or living ragwort for that matter (they like dead ragwort - a real worry).  It is only when there is a shortage of grass.

I dont have ragwort (yet!) but every year I chip away at the buttercups.  Our field is wet and really needs new drains - but the expense of that precludes that option


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## ticobay831 (28 May 2008)

got it from country wide store, you'll probaly have to give them a call and order it first  
	
	
		
		
	


	




Debs x


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