Bracken fern poisoning

Extract

Poisoning of cattle by bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) has long been a serious problem on some of the poorer land where eradication of bracken is difficult or uneconomic. The problem occurs also on some better-class land since not infrequently cattle are used to crush out the bracken in the first stages of development of the land or to control regrowth of bracken after burning and sowing down pasture. Grazing horses have also been affected and both cattle and horses have at times heen poisoned whell stall fed on hay which contains bracken.