Feeding flatweed/catears to rabbits

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This topic has 2sd replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 5 months ago by Azerane.

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- 11/13/2017 at 4:05 AM
  Shantel
  Participant
  20 posts
  I’ve been collecting dandelions for my two bunnies and have come across these weeds which look like dandelion but arent. I think they are called flat weed, catsear or Hypochaeris radicatake. Could u guys please tell me if these plants can be fed to rabbits or a really edible pls.
- 11/14/2017 at 2:16 AM
  Bam
  Moderator
  17033 posts
  I looked it up, it seems it’s edible for humans.
  
  Wikipedia says: “This species is suspected of causing stringhalt in horses if consumed in excess.”
  
  Stringhalt is a neuromuscular condition that affects the hind legs of horses. I looked that up, and found a study where flatweed extract was shown to be toxic to nerve cells of mammals: http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/learning/departments/centres-research/equine-research-centre/projects/does-flatweed-cause-stringhalt.cfm
  
  The plant seems to be toxic mostly if it has grown during a drought. And the animal needs to consume quite a lot of it. It affects horses that have been grazing pastures that have lots of flatweed.
  
  So the odd flower or leaf is probably ok.
- 11/14/2017 at 3:28 AM
  Azerane
  Moderator
  4691 posts
  I feed catsear quite frequently. Leaves and flowers. I don’t feed a lot at once cause I don’t have that much, but a leaf or two mixed in with their daily salad
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