Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Are you speaking in terms of safe to the animals (i.e., not poisonous) or safe for the plants (the animals won't harm them)? Here is how we plan to help you, and then you can do some more detective work depending on what your answer is to our above question. This member of the Mr. Smarty Plants Team has never raised any farm animals, spent any time farming, nor gardened in New England. The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, home of Mr. Smarty Plants, is dedicated to the growth, protection and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which those plants are to be grown; in your case, Kent County, RI.

So, using several different sources of information, we will give you some plants that are native to Rhode Island (teaching you how to search our database), the names of some poisonous plants and information on what animals eat.

From Ask.com, What do Dogs Eat?

From Ask.com, What Do Horses Eat?

From Hencam com, What to Feed Your Chickens

From backyard chickens.com What Do Turkeys Like to Eat?

Next, finding specific foods for those animals. Go to our Native Plant Database and scroll down the page to Combination Search. Using the drop down menus, first, enter Rhode Island as the State, then select the Habit (grass, shrubs, etc.), you already said you wanted Perennial under Duration. Next, check the appropriate box under Light Requirements, Soil Moisture and Size. Click on "Narrow Your Search" and you will get a list of all the plants fulfilling those descriptions that are native to Rhode Island. For different Habits and/or Light Requirements you will have to run separate searches.

Now, assuming you have found a list of possible edibles for your various animals, you need to know if any of them are poisonous. Here is information from previous Mr. Smarty Plants answers to help you:

Toxic and Non-Toxic Plant List – Horses from the ASPCA.

Toxic and Non-toxic Plant List – Dogs  From the ASPCA

However, we can give you some websites you can check for whether or not a plants has poisonous parts and it is better to know the scientific name for the search.

The lists often are only plants native to North America, but ordinarily if you search on one genus name (jasminoides or mandevilla) the information on the poisonous plants will be the same for all species of that genus. Here is our list:

ASPCA

University of Arkansas

University of Illinois   

Toxic Plants of Texas 

Poisonous Plants of North Carolina

University of Pennsylvania Poisonous Plants

Canadian Poisonous Plants Information System 

California Poison Action Line 

You should also check with your veterinarian to make sure some locally available plant has  been proved to be poisonous that is not on any of the lists.