General poisoning notes:

Oats (Avena sativa) can cause nitrate toxicity in livestock. Cattle are more prone to toxicity, but swine and turkeys have been poisoned on oat stubble. Grass tetany also occurs during periods of lush growth when ruminants suffer from a mineral imbalance.

References:

Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., USA. 626 pp.

Newsom, I. E., Stout, E. N., Thorp, F., Barber, C. W., Groth, A. H. 1937. Oat hay poisoning. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc., 90: 66-75.

Nomenclature:

Scientific Name: Avena sativa L.

Vernacular name(s): oats

Scientific family name: Gramineae

Vernacular family name: grass

Go to ITIS*^ca for more taxonomic information on: Avena sativa

References:

Agriculture Quebec. 1975. Noms des maladies des plantes du Canada/ Names of plant diseases in Canada. , Quebec City, Que., Canada. 288 pp.

Alex, J. F., Cayouette, R., Mulligan, G. A. 1980. Common and botanical names of weeds in Canada/Noms populaire et scientifiques des plantes nuisibles du Canada. Revised. Agric. Can. Publ., Ottawa, Ont., Canada. 132 pp.

Bailey, L. H., Bailey, E. Z. 1976. Hortus third. Revised. MacMillan, New York, N.Y., USA. 1290 pp.

Scoggan, H. J. 1978, 1979. The flora of Canada. Nat. Mus. Nat. Sci. (Ottawa) Publ. Bot. 7(1)-7(4). 1711 pp.

Van Wijk, H. L. 1911. A dictionary of plant names. Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, The Netherlands. 1444 pp.

Victorin, M. 1964. Flore Laurentienne. 2nd ed. Univ. Montreal, Montreal, Que., Canada. 952 pp.

Geographic Information

Alberta
British Columbia
Manitoba
New Brunswick
Newfoundland
Nova Scotia
Ontario
Prince Edward Island
Quebec
Saskatchewan
Yukon Territory

References:

Bailey, L. H., Bailey, E. Z. 1976. Hortus third. Revised. MacMillan, New York, N.Y., USA. 1290 pp.

Boivin, B. 1966, 1967. Énumération des plantes du Canada. Provencheria 6. Nat. Can. (Que.) 93: 253-274; 371-437; 583-646; 989-1063. 94: 131-157; 471-528; 625-655.

Image or illustration

oats:

Images: images.google.com

Toxic parts:

leaves
stems

References:

Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., USA. 626 pp.

Notes on Toxic plant chemicals:

Oat hay is a common source of plant poisoning by nitrates. Evidence suggests that moisture on outdoor hay may promote bacterial reduction of nitrate to the more toxic nitrite (Kingsbury 1964).

Toxic plant chemicals:

nitrate

References:

Kingsbury, J. M. 1964. Poisonous plants of the United States and Canada. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., USA. 626 pp.

Animals/Human Poisoning:

Note: When an animal is listed without additional information, the literature (as of 1993) contained no detailed explanation.

Cattle

General symptoms of poisoning:

cyanosis
death
gait, staggering
trembling
weakness

References:

Newsom, I. E., Stout, E. N., Thorp, F., Barber, C. W., Groth, A. H. 1937. Oat hay poisoning. J. Am. Vet. Med. Assoc., 90: 66-75.

Swine

Turkeys