Buttercup question?

[CiaraPatricia]

Hi guys, I know buttercup is poisonous, but if there is a tiny bit of it growing on the grass and the guinea pigs eat a tiny bit, would it really do any harm?

See, before with my old pigs, I thought it was ok, and I used to go into the fields and pick huge armfuls of buttercup flowers and leaves and feed them to my pigs and bunnies. I now know you shouldn't, so I don't. Maybe they became used to the poison, but it really never had any bad effects on them. I did this every summer for 4 or 5 years.

But there are sometimes a few little buttercup leaves on the grass where I put the run out. I was watching them earlier and Moxie started to nibble one and then stopped, but I saw one of the rabbits eat one. Do you think it is ok? Like it never harmed my old pigs eating loads and loads of it. They love going out on the grass and I can't use weedkiller or anything, so not sure what I can do. I could try to pick every buttercup leaf before putting them on a patch, but I might miss some.

 

[Laura-CCC4]

My understanding is that a tiny amount of buttercup isn't dangerous, and neither is bits of dried buttercup that's been mixed in with hay.

But it is something that is essentially poisonous so best to avoid altogether, something to be very aware of.

Some poisonous plants are much more dangerous though,as I understand it no amount of certain plants would be safe.

 

[missy]

I have the same problem with some crocuses on my lawn. I've tried to completely remove them but it's proved impossible so far. For now I've just tried to pull out all the stems/leaves I can see (the flower heads had disappeared before I got to them) but next year I'll have to do it again, hopefully managing to get the whole bulb out next time.

Obviously with buttercups it's much harder as their leaves are smaller, they're more prolific, stick around all summer and their bulbs must be tiny. It sounds pretty much impossible to get every tiny leaf. If it's just a small patch affected, could you possibly try and dig out that area and re-turf it? A bit radical but just a thought.

I'm not confident that I've removed all traces of the crocuses (above ground) but I've been down on my hands and knees, several times, pulling out everything I can see. I'm not sure what more I can do so I just keep a look out for any bits I've missed and hope that if my pig does find, and eat, any remaining bits, it'd be such a small amount that it wouldn't do too much damage.

Hope you manage to find a way round your buttercup problem. Good luck!

 

[CiaraPatricia]

Thanks, yeah I figured that a small amount probably wouldn't do any damage. SInce my old ones used it eat loads of it every day :red
And hopefully if the guinea pigs do find a tiny bit they'll know not to eat it? I don't know if they still have those instincts of what to not eat, but hopefully.