jodief100
True BYH Addict
I am one who likes to stick with proven remedies and most of the herbs are not proven. That being said, I am finding out a lot of the chemicals are not really either.
What you said about the herbs not being meant to unload a lot of worms makes sense. They really arent meant to do anything, they are natural substances and that is what they DO. My understanding is that the way the herbals are believed to work is they poison the worms. In many cases, the herbs would poison the goats too, at high doses. So you give regular, low doses. I suspect a dose large enough to kill off a large load of worms would be detrimental to the goat.
That is where the chemicals supposedly differ from the herbs. The pharmaceuticals are designed to be targeting whereas the herbs are just doing what they do naturally.
Even though I am an herbal wormer skeptic, I like to see discussions like this. None of us will ever know what works until we try it. This allows everyone to share their data. I am much more inclined to believe herbs may work when someone says I have used them for 5 years and never lost a goat than I am when someone who is trying to sell me their herbal says it works and has no empirical data to back up their statement.
All of this is far from a scientific double blind test. Just because it worked for one person doesnt guarantee the herbals work, just that persons goats under those conditions do not have worm problems. They might just have worm resistant goats. Also remember what CM said- if it works all winter but not in the summer, it might not be doing anything at all.
I do know someone who swears that he keeps his goats healthy by turning them out periodically in a field of plants that are supposedly poisonous. He says the goats will eat just enough to kill the worms and not themselves. He says he hasnt wormed a goat in 10 years. Maybe he is onto something; maybe all of his susceptible goats have already died and are out of his herd.
Keep sharing your experiences. Eventually we will get this figured out or we will get the wormy goats out of the gene pool trying.
What you said about the herbs not being meant to unload a lot of worms makes sense. They really arent meant to do anything, they are natural substances and that is what they DO. My understanding is that the way the herbals are believed to work is they poison the worms. In many cases, the herbs would poison the goats too, at high doses. So you give regular, low doses. I suspect a dose large enough to kill off a large load of worms would be detrimental to the goat.
That is where the chemicals supposedly differ from the herbs. The pharmaceuticals are designed to be targeting whereas the herbs are just doing what they do naturally.
Even though I am an herbal wormer skeptic, I like to see discussions like this. None of us will ever know what works until we try it. This allows everyone to share their data. I am much more inclined to believe herbs may work when someone says I have used them for 5 years and never lost a goat than I am when someone who is trying to sell me their herbal says it works and has no empirical data to back up their statement.
All of this is far from a scientific double blind test. Just because it worked for one person doesnt guarantee the herbals work, just that persons goats under those conditions do not have worm problems. They might just have worm resistant goats. Also remember what CM said- if it works all winter but not in the summer, it might not be doing anything at all.
I do know someone who swears that he keeps his goats healthy by turning them out periodically in a field of plants that are supposedly poisonous. He says the goats will eat just enough to kill the worms and not themselves. He says he hasnt wormed a goat in 10 years. Maybe he is onto something; maybe all of his susceptible goats have already died and are out of his herd.
Keep sharing your experiences. Eventually we will get this figured out or we will get the wormy goats out of the gene pool trying.
. We have chickens, turkeys, a couple cows...and I try to be all organic. Mostly due to the fact I am cheap and it works. There is a LOT more work involved and I am NOT afraid to use commercial if I have to...but I do like knowing I can grow most of my critters "well being"...and did I mention it is cheap?
