Pumpkin as a dewormer?

[Carla D]

ive really recently discovered my baby goats have a big problem with worms and at this age they shouldn’t. I’ve been looking back and thinking about this. When we first brought them home we put them in our only vacant area we had left. It’s the pen we used to farrow two pig in early this spring. We had cleaned it up, and had been vacant since April. But, we did not disinfect the area. That was stupid. I’m thinking this is the only possible place they could have picked up worms. If that’s the case we need to worry about our pigs as well. Two of which have given birth within the last two weeks. I mentioned it to my husband. We have a large pile of pumpkins that we collected after Halloween and have been feeding them to the pigs. They think it’s candy. My husband told me that the pumpkins should take care of the worms. My questions are, is pumpkin really an effective dewormer for pigs? I’ve heard that it takes a really big amount of pumpkin to work for goats as a dewormer. More than they are probably willing to eat. Is that the case with pigs as well? We are currently dealing with round worms and barberpole worms. Will pumpkin do the job or should we get prepared to give 20+ pigs deworming medication?

 

[GypsyG]

I feed pumpkin seeds to my chickens and rabbits as a worm preventative and have never had a problems with worms. I don't know if they would work to deworm goats or pigs. I know this thread is kinda old, but the question deserves an answer and I am curious as to what that answer will be, so I am bumping it back up to the top of the list.

 

[Baymule]

I only keep feeder pigs, so never have more than 3 at a time. I worm them with horse apple flavored ivermectin. It takes care of worms and pig lice. I put the ivermectin on a piece of bread, fold it over and smush the edges together so it seals. Then I just toss them over the fence to the pigs. I toss treats widely apart so the pigs and not in one clump, so I can toss the wormer to a specific pig to make sure they all get their dose. I repeat in 10 days.

Pumpkin seeds are said to be a wormer. I would use the ivermectin first to make sure then give them all the pumpkin treats they desire. A regular maintenance of natural products is a good thing, but not always enough.

 

[greybeard]

Regarding anecdotal evidence...
Correlation does not equal causation.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-truth-about-chickens-pumpkin-seeds/

https://www.doctorramey.com/natural-dewormers/

Keep in mind, that everything we write (submit) here will be read for years to come, and not just by members. BYH is being read by people doing research to find real answers that work. There are currently only a few (less than 10) members logged on but there are 142 guests reading this board. It is incumbent upon us to be as factual as possible in all things livestock related.

 

[GypsyG]

Regarding anecdotal evidence...
Correlation does not equal causation.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-truth-about-chickens-pumpkin-seeds/

https://www.doctorramey.com/natural-dewormers/

Keep in mind, that everything we write (submit) here will be read for years to come, and not just by members. BYH is being read by people doing research to find real answers that work. There are currently only a few (less than 10) members logged on but there are 142 guests reading this board. It is incumbent upon us to be as factual as possible in all things livestock related.

Thank you for the correction, @greybeard ! I had never studied that deeply into it. I just knew my grandma and my mother had always done it, so I do it too. I grow an heirloom pumpkin that my grandma has been saving seeds from for years. It is a white and green pumpkin with hulless seeds.

I am a bit of a synthetic chemicalphobe. Unfortunately, more tests are conducted on such products because there is more money to be made from commercial products than from natural remedies, so much information on natural remedies is indeed based on untested anecdotal evidence.

 

[greybeard]

My grandfather swore Brown Mule chewing tobacco was the best dewormer for cattle in the world. (His cows often looked like death warmed over...walking bags of bones)

so much information on natural remedies is indeed based on untested anecdotal evidence.

I also believe that 'absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence' so if and when real scientific evidence is produced, I may change my mind on the use of 'natural' medication.

 

[Carla D]

Tha

I feed pumpkin seeds to my chickens and rabbits as a worm preventative and have never had a problems with worms. I don't know if they would work to deworm goats or pigs. I know this thread is kinda old, but the question deserves an answer and I am curious as to what that answer will be, so I am bumping it back up to the top of the list.

Thank you for responding to my post. Better late than never.

 

[Carla D]

I only keep feeder pigs, so never have more than 3 at a time. I worm them with horse apple flavored ivermectin. It takes care of worms and pig lice. I put the ivermectin on a piece of bread, fold it over and smush the edges together so it seals. Then I just toss them over the fence to the pigs. I toss treats widely apart so the pigs and not in one clump, so I can toss the wormer to a specific pig to make sure they all get their dose. I repeat in 10 days.

Pumpkin seeds are said to be a wormer. I would use the ivermectin first to make sure then give them all the pumpkin treats they desire. A regular maintenance of natural products is a good thing, but not always enough.

Thank you.thats good advice.

 

[Carla D]

Regarding anecdotal evidence...
Correlation does not equal causation.
https://the-chicken-chick.com/the-truth-about-chickens-pumpkin-seeds/

https://www.doctorramey.com/natural-dewormers/

Keep in mind, that everything we write (submit) here will be read for years to come, and not just by members. BYH is being read by people doing research to find real answers that work. There are currently only a few (less than 10) members logged on but there are 142 guests reading this board. It is incumbent upon us to be as factual as possible in all things livestock related.

Thank you for the articles. Another very wise point made about the information inhere being read years from now.

 

[Carla D]

My grandfather swore Brown Mule chewing tobacco was the best dewormer for cattle in the world. (His cows often looked like death warmed over...walking bags of bones)


I also believe that 'absence of evidence does not equal evidence of absence' so if and when real scientific evidence is produced, I may change my mind on the use of 'natural' medication.

Interesting choice of dewormer. I wonder if Longhorn Mint would have that effect on our pigs. It works for my husband. Hasn’t has had worms for over thirty years.