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Show I I . Sheepmen Watch Out For Bur Buttercup "Sheepmen should be on the lookout for Bur Buttercup" advises Clell Bagley, USU extension., veterv inarian, he went on to say ''unless' precautionary steps are taken when sheep are allowed to feed n, pastures where Buttercup Is present there is a possibility that sheep could be poisoned from consuming this weed." Two years ago there were about ISO ewes killed as a result of grazing' on Bur Buttercup. This spring here has been one sheepman who has lost over 100 ewes from pasture that is infected with Bur Buttercup. One of our early spring plants is the Bur Buttercup, it is not just restricted to' road sides, but also grows on sagebrush slopes, open fields and is scattered almost throughout the county In non crop land areas. You probably will notice a close mat of green plants growing. If you examine this mat closely you will find it is made up of hundreds of individual plants, with few of them being much over one inch tall. Most of these plants will have a yellow flower that resembles a buttercup. The most distinctive features of Bur Buttercup are associated with its fruiting head. The prickly looking structure is far larger than the flower, often becoming more than one inch long and slightly less than one-half inch in diameter at maturity. The prickle head often hardens and matures very early in the spring, therefore control of it is very difficult.. It can be controlled chemically with a couple of herbicides: 1) Roundup that can' be applied in non crop land where no vegetation will be damaged from use of the spray. 2) This herbicide is a mixture of 2-4-D and Dicamba (Banvil). This can be sprayed in grassy areas which will control Bur Buttercup and broad leaf weeds, but will not harm the grasses. One of the problems in controlling Bur Buttercup is that it starts growing very early and is mature by the time we realize that the Bur Buttercup is present. Most often when we get around to spraying it the burs have already started to mature and will finish maturing and will produce seed the next year. The USU Extension Service has made the following conclusions from field observations and experimental studies. These are areas that the sheepman should heed if they are grazing sheep in pastures that are infested with the Bur Buttercup. 1) The primary clinical signs of Bur Buttercup poisoning are weakness, depression, diarrhea, labored breathing, off feed and occasionally fever. 2) Bur Buttercup can be highly toxic to sheep, with a lethal dose getting as little as 1.1 pounds of green plant for 100-pound sheep. .k. m m. 3) When hungry sheep are put onto range with over 50 percent Bur Buttercup forage, a lethal dose can easily be consumed in less than five hours. It seems likely that animals on a normal grazing regimen or receiving some supplemental feed would seldom eat enough Bur Buttercup to be poisoned. 4) The primary postmortem findings in Bur Buttercup poisoning, were varying degrees of edema of the re men, hemorrhage in the left ventricle of the heart, congestion of the lungs, liver, and kidneys, and excessive fluid in the thoracic and abdominal cavities, |
