Black Walnut Trees & Chestnut Trees

[leighbo009]

We have an area we are wanting to fence for the horses to stay in.

We tried to ID the trees & it came back as black walnut and chestnut trees. Both of which are listed as poisoness to horses. Should we remove these trees? (One or the other or both?) Can’t really fence off the trees from the pasture area.

All the trees in the middle of the blue box are the chestnut & black walnut trees, so as you can see, can’t fence them out of the pasture. Blue line will be roughly the area of the pasture we are wanting to fence in.

[Posting_Trot]

If you have mature chestnuts, they’re incredibly rare!

American chestnut

I didn’t know that chestnuts were considered poisonous to horses, but I know that black walnuts are. The black walnuts you could harvest for the wood, although that blue box appears to have a lot of trees in it. Getting rid of all of those trees would be quite a project and could take a long time (to do it properly).

[JB]

Leave the black walnuts. The risk of taking down a black walnut is far, far greater than leaving it, as you’d have to block off the entire area to keep horses away from all potential sawdust. 1000s and 1000s of horses graze in pasture with BW without issues. Just take care of broken branches, and if a tree does come down badly enough, you’ll want to block it off until you can assess the issue. It’s the wood itself which can cause laminitis if a horse stands on it long enough (which isn’t terribly long, but not instantaneous)

What kind of chestnut? There’s American chestnut (Castanea sp), there’s horse chestnut (Aesculus sp).

Castanea isn’t toxic, though I suppose it might be if a horse really chowed down, something they typically won’t do if there’s enough hay/grass.

Horse chestnut is much more of an issue, but it’s like oaks in that most horses have to eat more than a nibble or 3. These nuts aren’t safe for people to eat either, but American chestnuts are.

I’d be inclined to remove the Horse Chestnuts if it’s a feasible amount of work and cost.

How many acres is that?

[ParadoxFarm]

I do have a few black walnut trees in my paddock. They do provide a lot of shade, which is one good thing for my horses.

[Janet]

My understanding is that living Black Walnuts are not dangerous to horses. The poisoning occurs when they stand in black walnut sawdust, shavings (and maybe dead branches).

I don’t know anything about chestnut trees, though they have largely been wiped out. Are you SURE you have chestnut trees?

[MapleFarm]

I have many black walnuts. If your horses start chewing on them, they can be an issue, but I would guess that that is VERY rare. My horses are both dedicated tree chewers, and they don’t care about the walnut trees. Like others said - the cutting of them and leaving shavings/sawdust are the problem (standing on them - laminitis). I have one that provides a lot of shade on my arena and I appreciate it! But I do have to clean up the nuts.

Chestnuts the biggest issue with them is that they still get the blight eventually, then you have to deal with them. If they are mature and blight free - maybe call your extension to look at them, because that’s remarkable!

[leighbo009]

On the question of the chestnut trees, no I am not 100% positive. We tried to use a google ID of the leaves of the tree & chestnut came back on some and black walnut on the others.

Looking at the photos of the fruit/nut, yes, they currently have something similar to the green spikey fruit on them. Next time I’m at the property, I’ll try to take some photos. Maybe yall can positive ID for me.

@JB

How many acres is that?

Its around 1.5 acres total for this area defined by driveways.

This is a old family farm that we visit 2 times a month or more on weekends. We just want to be able to bring the horses to trail ride around the farm. There is 120+ acres total, but some of it is flood prone & other is mountainous, so we where thinking this area, “the orchard” maybe the best place to fence for some turnout for my 2 guys to come on occasion.

[Simkie]

Definitely send some pics of your possible chestnut trees to your extension office or department of environment & parks (or whatever it’s called in your state.)

American chestnut trees are really gone. They’ll grow from old stumps, but blight will kill them before they get old enough to put out nuts. Here’s one we have, it’s maybe 10’ tall. And dying of blight

There are several hybrid varieties that are “disease resistant” marketed for deer plots or as timber trees. Not terribly common, but definitely out there. We’ve planted several of those, too. Here’s one of those. (Damage is from those stupid Japanese beetles but it’ll be fine.)

Then there are Chinese chestnut. It’s my understanding that they don’t get very tall and are kind of scrubby. No pictures of those here unfortunately.

[B_and_B]

Chestnuts and walnuts I would keep, useful shade for one thing. And the real issue with walnuts is if they are cut down, as others have said. They are unlikely to be true American chestnuts, but there are a number of hybrids out there. And many have been planted as chestnuts are a valuable timber, ag., and wildlife tree.
The spacing of those trees look like they were deliberately planted. I might be worried if it was going to be a heavily used dry lot, but in a pasture that is used irregularly, I would keep them. If you do decide to remove them, ask around for a local mill that might want them. Both chestnut and walnut can be valuable.
Horse chestnuts (aesculus) and chestnuts look remarkably similar at first glance. But the spikes on the nuts are different. Black walnut nuts are smooth, true chestnuts look like sea urchins, horse chestnuts have ‘nubbier’, widely spaced spikes.

[poltroon]

We can grow American Chestnuts in the west, so OP’s location may be relevant.

[B_and_B]

Good point! I hope it stays that way, as that has been a useful genetic reservoir.

[leighbo009]

@poltroon

We can grow American Chestnuts in the west, so OP’s location may be relevant.

Location is N. Georgia

[leighbo009]

As long as I’m not going to poison my horses, the trees will stay! Just got worried that I was going to poison my horses & didn’t want that!

[Equibrit]

My horses snack on the chestnut trees (Chinese/American variety) if they can reach the leaves - all are healthy and live in N Georgia. Horses will eat the chestnuts if you don’t pick them up. They are very high in carbs, and can make them gassy. However they are very good for roasting, stuffing, and sauces. My hay guy eats them raw. I give tons of them to friends and neighbours,
They killed the walnut tree by ripping the bark off. It is now a jump.

Horse chestnut. Toxic. Never seen one around here.

[JB]

@Equibrit

They killed the walnut tree by ripping the bark off.

This is probably the biggest risk - horses killing the trees, rather than the other way around

Not all horses will eat all trees, some trees just aren’t tasty at all. But you’ll want to keep an eye on bark and see if someone’s nibbling, and if so, you’ll want to protect the tree or they can girdle it quickly and while it might take a few years, the tree WILL die.

[Amberley]

@B_and_B

The spacing of those trees look like they were deliberately planted. I might be worried if it was going to be a heavily used dry lot, but in a pasture that is used irregularly, I would keep them. If you do decide to remove them, ask around for a local mill that might want them. Both chestnut and walnut can be valuable.

I was just thinking that if those are mature black walnut that were planted and managed for timber/ veneer then they could be worth quite a lot. A stand of black walnut was a lot of old farmers retirement plan.