# Are Black Spruce and white pine trees toxic to cattle?



## Farmerboy16 (Dec 4, 2012)

Like what my topic says, are they? I have heard of people giving their goats and cattle their christmas trees, so I gave my cow and the steers the Black Hills Spruce after Christmas that I had cut from our yard(It was growing too close to the apple tree), and my neighbor have a very large strand of White pine, and I had set up the fence right next to it last year. The cattle like to use the pine's shade in the summer. But I was telling my friend that how my cow likes the christmas tree, he told me that its toxic to them and it cause abortion in goats, and I took it out of the pen right away, but she had nibble a lot of it. I am concerned about her since she is 2 months along for her calf. Any info is appreciated. Thanks.


----------



## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

I think Ponderosa pine can be a problem....not sure about the ones you're asing about. Maybe this website will tell you; it lists locations as well:

http://www.ansci.colostate.edu/beef/info/cattlemanslibrary/636%20COLOR.pdf

It's generally not a good idea to put anything in your cow's pasture that you are unsure of, including grass clippings. I mean, why take the chance?


----------



## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

I think Black Hills Spruce is different from Black Spruce. I have a lot of White Spruce and horses and cattle nibble on it a lot, just as they do with most things, fence posts, oak trees, etc. Black Spruce grows in swampy areas and has slow growth, so I doubt they'd be used for Christmas trees.
I always throw my old Christmas tree into the cattle and horses. They play with it and might get them away from the hay feeder for a few moments, ha.


----------



## tinknal (May 21, 2004)

I think this is only a problem when they are underfed and eat large amounts. The ranch I worked on in Montana had a variety of pine trees and it was never a problem.


----------



## jbo9 (Oct 30, 2012)

What tinknal said.
Ponderosa Pine will cause cows to abort their calves if eaten at a specific time and in sufficient quantities. Your federal government spent money on researching this in the 80s and 90s. They might still be trying it, for all I know.

In order for their study to work, they would pay some poor shmuck (like me) to pull the needles from old logging slash piles, so that they could grind and feed the needles in a ration at a prescribed amount. For their studies, they would go through tons of needles, if they could get them. In real life, it could be a problem for some ranchers, but my guess is that they were a bit slow to provide the hay.


----------

