# Chickweed - How toxic?



## skewbaldpony (13 April 2009)

I'm sure I didn't know that chickweed is toxic to horses (I know I am old and I do forget things, so I could be wrong!) - how toxic is it exactly?


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## Ebenezer_Scrooge (13 April 2009)

I just googled it and it seems to be included in a lot of horse herbal supplements.


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## Patches (13 April 2009)

I didn't know it was!


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## mik (13 April 2009)

is it toxic?


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## Ebenezer_Scrooge (13 April 2009)

Yes it is toxic if consumed in large quanties especially in drought conditions.  Apparently it's an irritant but has no specific symptoms.


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## Fairynuff (13 April 2009)

Chickweed is full of minerals and vits and is not toxic at all. I collect it by the bucket and divide it up between my neds and my hens. Its great for healthy coats/hooves and eggshells! It can also be used as a poultice. The sad thing about CW is that it cant survive drought conditions and certainly disappears (here) when it gets hot. 
	
	
		
		
	


	




. Really good and an ecological way of adding minerals and vits. M.


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## skewbaldpony (13 April 2009)

See, I feed it to my hens, make ointment from it, and eat it in salads!!! I was horrified to see (I was looking for a picture) that it supposedly toxic to horses, then, like Lavender above, discovered it is supposedly toxic only in vast quanitities in a drought, but like you, I thought it wouldn't be there in a drought! Let alone in vast quanitities!
I mean, anything is toxic if you could eat enough of it!


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## Fairynuff (13 April 2009)

yeh! We have the same old fashioned upbringing re the use of freebies 
	
	
		
		
	


	




 As you say, anything is toxic if taken in the 'wrong' quantities 
	
	
		
		
	


	




. Have you tried nettles?. Full of iron and very nice in an omelette or risotto 
	
	
		
		
	


	




M.x 
PS, which coven are you  a member of?


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## skewbaldpony (13 April 2009)

Nettle soup is a favourite. Thickened with a crumbled rice cake or two. 
We have dandelion leaves in salad as well. And as we live on an organic farm which encorages dandelions, we are also about to make a large batch of organic dandelion wine 
	
	
		
		
	


	





More of a primitive christian me. I'm on the wrong continent, really, I ought to be Amish!


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## Ebenezer_Scrooge (13 April 2009)

I always pick cleavers for my horse as well as cow parsley and dandelions but I think people on my yard think I'm an oddball but it's good for them. I also offer him herbs from my garden.  He doesn't always eat them but there is a theory that in the wild they pick out herbs for their different properties depending on what they needed.


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## Fairynuff (13 April 2009)

Id forgotten about 'cleavers'! In Scotland theyre known as 'sticky willies'-no idea why though


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## Patches (13 April 2009)

Mine love lemon balm, smells gorgeous! 

I don't get much chickweed in my horse fields, but they do like to eat it when they come across the odd clump. They adore pineapple weed too.  Smells so sweet.

I've never fed chickweed to my hens though....will give that a go!


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## Donkeymad (13 April 2009)

Chickweed to my knowledge is good for horses, especially the hooves.


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## skewbaldpony (13 April 2009)

[ QUOTE ]
Chickweed to my knowledge is good for horses, especially the hooves. 

[/ QUOTE ]

Goodness. My chickweed doesn't HAVE hooves .....  
	
	
		
		
	


	









(try to imagine Spike Milligan (or was it Peter Sellers?)  on Goons voice .....) (if you are too young to know what I am talking about, never mind, just let me ramble. I'm harmless.)


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