2-4-D

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Greystone

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Keep hearing how everyone likes using 2-4-D to kill weeds so I went to the co-op and got a gallon. The guy there says I can not put horses on for 30 days?? I thought ya'll said a couple of days.

I am also not sure how to dilute. Do ya'll spary this time of year or wait till spring.

Thanks.
 
We use Amine 400 2-4D for all our pastures, horses and cattle. We spray in the spring when weeds are tender and coming up with our boom sprayer on the tractor and then just spot spray with a hand sprayer as needed through out the year. Not much spot spraying needed though.
 
WE HAVE USED "GRAZON" FOR YEARS ON OUR PASTURES./ IT'S A 2-4-D + AN ADDITIVE THAT MAKES IT MORE POTENT THEN JUST PLAIN 2-4-D . WE LEAVE THE HORSES OFF THE PASTURE FOR 24 HRS. AND THEN PUT THEM BACK ON IT AND WE HAVE AROUND 80 MINI'S . NO ILL EFFECT AND WE HAD A 100% BIRTH RATE THIS YEAR, SO IT HASN'T HURT OUR MARES.
 
I'd wait more than 24 hours.....just to be safe.

MA
 
Will this weed killer take care of Field Horsetail? I have that weed prevalent in an area I would like to fence in but it is poisonous to horses and won't take the chance until I know it is gone for good and I have plowed everything under and reseeded. In our other pens I pulled it ALL by hand and I cannot do that again!

Nothing kills this weed! A friend of ours has an uncle who works for a pesticide company and he laughed when we said we wanted it gone.

I am at a loss!

Denise

Silversong Farm
 
I really don't know. I have not ever seen that weed so i had to do a search and see what it was like. For us it gets everything we have here but pesky milk weeds.
 
Although we don't use herbicides any more, 2-4-D used to be our favorite.

The grazing withdrawal should be on the label; if it's not call the manufacturer to be absolutely sure. Keep in mind dogs will graze too, so they need to be kept out of it for the same amount of time as the horses.

2-4-D works well in the fall on perennial or first-year biennial broadleaf weeds, which are running sap down to the roots for winter. The chemical will carry down to the roots more effectively this time of year than in the spring. Annual weeds are going to be dying off anyway, so no sense spending the money and time spraying them. 2-4-D has no effect on seeds.

Follow the label directions for dilution. Fill your sprayer with water first, then measure the amount needed, add to the water and mix. I have a glass kitchen measuring cup just for 'outside' use. Mix up only what you'll use, it won't keep. If your weed problem isn't bad, it's cheaper and safer to spot spray individual weeds rather than just blanket spraying everything. When you are finished, triple rinse your sprayer to get all the chemical out.

Although 2-4-D is considered one of the 'safer' chemicals, please protect your animals and yourself from exposure. My vet mentioned recently that there have been recent links documented between 2-4-D and lymphosarcoma in dogs. One reason we quit using it was losing 2 dogs and a pony to lymphosarcoma in 18 months about 6 years ago.
no.gif
We don't know if it was the 2-4-D or just bad luck, but thought better to play it safe.

I do miss being able to use it; it is an effective weed killer.

Suzanne
 
Mercysmom said:
Will this weed killer take care of Field Horsetail?  Denise

Silversong Farm

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Nope, it will not. I have not heard of a herbicide available w/out a license that will. Our only luck has been digging it out. It's not gone, but it's improving.
 
Horsetail is the cockroach of the plant world -- it'll even grow through cement into garages and such.

As for chemicals, I would not believe a single thing that the chemical companies claim as to the safety of such products. Just think of all the chemicals in the past that were supposedly safe, only to be proven to cause genetic defects and other problems down the road -- DDT, Agent Orange, etc., etc...

I use vinegar or my shovel if I am removing weeds anywhere that my horses will graze or my dogs and cats will lounge about. I've used Round Up on weeds I can't eradicate, but only if I can be certain nobody has access for a good length of time AND if nothing else works, but it is a systemic poison and I don't take chances..

It's all fine and good for the manufacturer to say an herbicide is safe when they don't know or care about your animals or your children. They just want to make a profit, so they speak out of both sides of their mouths. Not to sound like a conspiracy theorist, but when their profit is involved, I trust them about as far as I can throw them.

At the very least, try the non-toxic methods FIRST. Just as with pasturing minis with big horses and other risky situations, why take the chance if you don't have to?
 
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Most of the chemicals available without a license are pretty safe to use. I spend a good amount of time helping out friends who do not have a license get their farms sprayed. We maintain an old sprayer just for pasture use and helping out our neighbors. The modern farm sprayers have ninety foot booms which are overkill for most mini pastures. My old sprayer will allow an eight, sixteen or twenty four foot spray width. 2-4-D is mainly for broad leaf weeds and does a great job on "actively growing plants" the key words being actively growing. Talk with your chemical dealer about specific weeds. If you do not have a license try and get on good terms with a local farmer who does.2-4-D has a forty eight hour hold back time. We generally allow more time than that as our pasture rotation gives us much flexibility. I can spray after taking them out of the pasture and they might not see that pasture again for three to five weeks depending on the weather. I know many people who just hold out for 24 hours and no ill effects. Many of the warnings tend to be ultra conservative just because of implied liability. One of my favorite chemicals is Round-up, It can also double as dish washing liquid (but please do not try it on my say so but thats what it was developed as).
 
Well l'm going to be differant here. l made 2 horses very sick this year with spraying Roundup. l did it on the other side of a paddocks fence line and the old bats still stuck out there heads and ate it. One got very dizzy and went down the other was staggering around and bumping into the barn walls both had no gum color the vet thought chemical posioning right of the bat and asked if anything was recently sprayed. My husband also told me that Roundup was safe after 24 hours for the horses. More then a thousand bucks later and lots of worry we sure won't spray any chemical unless the animals are kept of for the rest of the year. Like people animals can and do get reactions to chemicals people spray. Me l would think 3x before l sprayed anything and the horses were close to it. Chemical companies always say any product they sell is safe but you don't know for sure till your the one that it wasn't safe for.
 
2-4-D is one of the principle components of Agent Orange- if you wish to know the side effects of this "safe" herbicide visit their website!!!!!
 
Using logic like that water is the main component in virtually every spray we apply but we still use it. 2-4-D is one of the most widely used and most effective sprays available today. One of the reasons a license is required is to prevent the harmful effects from chemicals. Label instructions are there to prevent animals humans and adjoining fields from the toxic effects. Having a licensed sprayer apply them in a safe manner should not be circumvented.
 
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rabbitsfizz said:
2-4-D is one of the principle components of Agent Orange- if you wish to know the side effects of this "safe" herbicide visit their website!!!!!
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That was almost correct the chemical in agent orange was a 50/50 mixture of 2-4-D And 2-4-5-T So it is not quite the same some of the same chemical not quite, but close.. I use the 2-4-D and works great for getting rid of things like poison ivy and poison oak as it is a Brush Killer with 2-4-D in it that I get in a Gal can..Used it for years now to kill the weeds around the fence line on both sides. That works good and then after that I can keep it clean with just a weed eater..
 
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Just for good measure, I'll repeat myself:

Why take even a slight risk when it is unnecessary?

Use the least toxic method possible first. Vinegar works amazingly well on many weeds, so why in the world would I want to use a poisonous substance?

Herbicides are quick and easy...you don't have to break a sweat using them. But my horses, dogs, cats and the wildlife are worth a little more effort on my part.

However, this is one of those subjects on which people will never agree, so if you feel comfortable using these chemicals, that's your business.
 
This was my first year to use it and I love it! My front pasture has never looked so good! The back pasture was only treated once, but it too is looking better! I kept my horses off 24 hours. No problems.

One of the things I do like about it, put it on, after it drys, it can rain like the devil and not stop it from killing! LOL

I use a 15 gal sprayer. 4 cups 2-4-D and 1 cup cheap liquid laundry soap. That helps it stick to the plants. The place I bought it at, tried to sell me an expensive additive to make it stick. The liquid soap works just fine and LOTS cheaper!

Viki
 
I have used 2-4-D successfully for quite a few years. The main thing is to follow the label directions.

However, even though they say you can put animals back out in it within 24 hours - I wait at LEAST a week ... and usually until it has rained once after application. Never had any ill effects from it with my horses, and my yellow lab lived to 14 years of age too (very old for a lab!).

The best weed control is if you apply early in spring to catch the new annual growth and again in the fall to kill the perennials. It affects only broad-leaf weeds, thistles, and alfalfa. Worked like a charm on an old hay field that I wanted to turn into pasture but it had too much alfalfa in it yet. Left only lush, weed-free grasses. And I didn't have to respray for a couple of years.
 

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