Yum? Well, maybe not....

If you were to look in my livestock medicine drawer, you probably wouldn't find any 'Safeguard' dewormer in there; or any 'Ivermectin' for that matter. A few years back (last time I had dairy goats), I stopped using store-bought dewormers. Tired of the havoc they were playing on my animals, annoyed with withdrawal times, and frustrated that they really didn't work, I began using an herbal dewormer.

The difference is amazing! A test was done once on 29 goats (can't remember who did the test, right now) divided into two groups including milkers, wethers, dry does and bucks. The types of parasites that were being observed were thread worms, tapeworms and lung worms.

After treating one group with an herbal dewormer, and the second group with a chemical dewormer the following results were found:

1. Thread worms and tapeworms were found in 0% of the herbal test group, but 29% to 33% in the chemical group.

2. Lung worms were found in 33% of the herbal group, and 50% in the chemical group.

I have been really happy using my herbal dewormer; and so have my goats!! There is no withdrawal time, I can continue drinking the milk, and the herbs are overall very beneficial to my animals. But enough talk! Here's the recipe that many people besides myself have used and received good results from....

1 cup mustard seed powder

2 cups Thyme leaf

2 cups Wormwood leaf*

1 cup black walnut hull (powder, or just finely crushed)*

2 cups sage leaf

1 cup garlic*

2 cups Rosemary leaf

1/2 cup cloves

1 cup psyllium seed powder

2 cups Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.)*

The most crucial ingredients are marked by an asterisk (*).

My favorite place to buy herbs from would have to be from here.

Now! Directions! :)

Step #1: gather ingredients. Okay, that's obvious, but still...

I made a new batch of dewormer today, and ended up doing a simplified version of the above recipe. All I did was the black walnut hull, mustard seed, garlic and wormwood. But it still works very effectively!

Step #2: Dump all ingredients into a bowl and enjoy the nice layered look that results. ;)



Step #3: Mix it all up.

Step #4: put it into a container and then take it to the barn, or wherever you store your livestock medicine.


Step #5: Sprinkle this mixture onto their feed morning and evening for 7 days straight. A mature sheep, goat or alpaca gets 1 tablespoon per feeding; a mature pony, or llama, gets 1/4 cup per feeding, and a mature horse, or cow, recieves 3/4 cup per feeding. I usually do about 1/3 of the adult dosage for young animals, but I would suggest using your best judgment. you can also use this dewormer for dogs, rabbits... Really any animal. With dogs I can't really give a set amount, as they vary so much, but with rabbits just a pinch twice a day will do!

One more note:

Black walnut hulls can contain a fungus which is deadly to horses, so horse owners should probably omit this one ingredient if making and using. It should be noted that black walnut does not always contain this fungus. It just depends, and there is no good way to tell if it does or doesn't. Everything else in the recipe is perfectly safe for horses. and the dangers of the fungus apply ONLY to horses. The rest of the recipe is perfectly safe for other animals.

Are you asleep yet? I could do another post about all the latin names of herbs if you're not bored enough yet! ;D

~Caitlyn