Oak leaves - poisoning our bun?

Hi,

Well Ive done the research and accept that amongst many leaves *Oak* leaves seems to be toxic to buns.
Sadly our Hector, loves them! Since they have been falling, he seems to get in every and any corner to munch away along with the stalks.
We let the buns have free range of the garden when we are in. It would be a mammoth job to clear the leaves, the tree is about 40ft high with a massive canopy and directly over our garden, we have drifts of them.....but we do endeavour to keep on top of things. when the acorns start to fall its squirrel heaven.....

Has anyone experienced this before? We have only had our resuce buns since mid summer, and upto now they have been absolute little treasures with healthy appetites, very active, and getting to trust us beautifully.....now this.....

Should we remove the bunnies completely from the garden? keep them in their metal 8x6 meatal with all their bunny comforts including hutch, broody cop, hideaway, blankets etc.........

Will he recover? At the moment he seems to be a little lethargic, and not so keen on his food. As for his wife, Gracie, its business as usual. Hector eats mosts of the garden plants, and has also munched away at the remaining poppy leaves which are also on the toxic list.

What do we do..........Will be getting him checked over at the vets tomorrow.......

Hope someone can advise, Sharron

I would be worried if my buns were eating oak leaves. There is a possibility that when the leaves fall off the tree they have lost their toxicity but we just don't know and by allowing them to eat these leaves you could be shortening their life considerably. What would probably happen is that in 2, 3 or 4 years time they will start to get ill and die. Maybe sooner.

Hi. Is it your tree or a neighbour's? If it's yours, personally I would get rid of it ASAP if you can afford to. Have you only just found out that the leaves are poisonous? Do not allow the bunnies to eat any more AT ALL. If that means not letting them out then that is what you'll have to do for now. There is an oak tree in our neighbours garden, and we do get leaves blowing over sometimes. I always check the garden for them before letting the buns out, and after a particularly windy night sometimes we spend half an hour raking up the leaves before letting them out. Personally I would worry if they even ate one leaf, never mind eating loads every day!! I hope the vet can help Hector.

Be careful when it comes to cutting oak trees,
We have the one in the garden that backs onto our front garden cut back yearly, around this time of year, but it has to be done by a qualified tree surgeon, oak trees can have preservation orders on them, where the tree has to be replaced and a fine of up to £50,000

With regards to oak toxicity, I cant help, some good advise so far though

Right now I'd be more concerned about his being lethargic and not keen on his food. Is he eating at all? Pooing? I think he may need to see the vet tonight.

As for the leaves, can you build a run either with a solid roof to keep the leaves out or away from any poisonous trees?

Thankyou so much for the sensible advise and concern.

YES- He is pooing, and eating, mainly his hay n grass, and some pellets. Hector will be going to the vets first thing in the morning and both buns will remain in their house until we've got all this under control.

YES-we only found out this past day or so that oak leaves are poisonous, having know about this we would never have rescued the buns!

NO- the oak tree is rooted/positioned a metre from our boundary fence into park land, but its canopy is spread all over our garden, its over 100yrs old, and does have a preservation order.The coucil recently removed the dead wood from higher up.

YES- we do rake them up, and as from tomorrow, will will be purchasing a vacuum/blower to assist more methodically. We are also going to fix up a net, so the bulk of the leaves can fall directly onto it until we can dispose of them

Many thanks, will update this post, Sharron

Looking at it from a different angle oak leaves are a centuries old remedy for gastric complaints, indeed I deliberately feed them to sheep and goats with scours (never done so with a bun as never had one scour).
Now I'm not saying to let him carry on eating them but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't assume it is this causing his tummy troubles.
I would take the fact he is choosing to eat them (and poppy leaves are an ancient STRONG analgesic) as a huge indication that something is a miss. He could in fact be trying to heal himself. You don't want to miss an accurate diagnosis on the assumption that is was the leaves.
It could be the leaves, but it could be something else and you need to know for sure:thumb:
If my buns were to choose either poppies or oak leaves for themselves they would be straight in for a check up

Geoff's people said:

Looking at it from a different angle oak leaves are a centuries old remedy for gastric complaints, indeed I deliberately feed them to sheep and goats with scours (never done so with a bun as never had one scour).
Now I'm not saying to let him carry on eating them but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't assume it is this causing his tummy troubles.
I would take the fact he is choosing to eat them (and poppy leaves are an ancient STRONG analgesic) as a huge indication that something is a miss. He could in fact be trying to heal himself. You don't want to miss an accurate diagnosis on the assumption that is was the leaves.
It could be the leaves, but it could be something else and you need to know for sure:thumb:
If my buns were to choose either poppies or oak leaves for themselves they would be straight in for a check up

Click to expand...

That is exactly what I wanted to say but was contemplating how to word it!!! Thank you Geoffs people - I have been working with words far too long today . . . . !!!!

My buns mop up all sorts of leaf fall with no problems - and stay away from the poisonous stuff.

parsnipbun said:

That is exactly what I wanted to say but was contemplating how to word it!!! Thank you Geoffs people - I have been working with words far too long today . . . . !!!!

My buns mop up all sorts of leaf fall with no problems - and stay away from the poisonous stuff.

Click to expand...

It took me 3 attempts before I thought it was understandable:lol:
Animals self selected herbal medicine is facinating, they can teach us so much if we let them

I agree that your bun needs a check up. From my experience with tree leaves I think he's self medicating against gastrointestinal slow down (stasis).
I wonder whether he has any other choice of fallen leaves?

Mature oak leaves have quite a high tannin content which is why they are deemed to be inadvisable for buns. If tannin levels are too high, they reduce the absorption of iron & proteins, but symptoms would take much longer to develop. However wild buns & both my pet buns eat Blackthorn leaves avidly at this time of year. The tannin content is lower than mature oak leaves, & at these levels very beneficial.

A good replacement would be bramble (blackberry) leaves, known to be completely safe, & again eaten avidly by wild buns.

Hi everyone,

Well a few days on and Hector is happily running around his garden once again. He certainly perked up when we both spent the entire day out in the garden, hoovering leaves up with the newly acquired vacuum!!

His appetite is back to normal, his usual inquisitve and social behaviour is also back on track. He looks far more interested in everything! He did make me smile, and a little cross if I'm honest.......after six hours of getting up the oak leaves, he found a solitary leaf under the shed, and proceeded to munch. I scooped him up immediately......and gave him a cuddle which he couldnt wait to get away from

There are a variety of fallen leaves in the garden, and its only Hector who seems to scour the leaf fall. His wife, Gracie, much prefers hay n sweetcorn cobettes. Plus when I call the chickens to feed them some treats Gracie comes a bounding in the hope she gets included.....BLESS.......

Thankyou all so much for your invaluable advice, and genuine concern.

Sharron x