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Natural Goat Medicine

This page contains information that is familiar to those of you who have attended Dr. Waltz's lectures and classes, including the 2006 Langston University Goat Field Day and the 2007 Alberta Goat Breeders Association Goats West Convention.

The information within is not intended to diagnose, treat, or in any way replace the advice of a licensed veterinarian. This information is here to help you understand some basic concepts in raising goats naturally without chemical intervention. If you are looking for further assistance, please be sure to visit the Natural Goat Production Clinics page that will help you to secure a place in one of Dr. Waltz's clinics at Waltz's Ark or to bring her to your goat clinic or workshop.

Dr. Waltz is not able to assist you individually as there is too much information required to teach you how to take care of your herd. It is not possible to learn natural goat production in an hour, from reading this page, nor from a short email answer from the doctor. Dr. Waltz cannot prescribe nor diagnose for you as that would be illegal, so please don't ask.

There are many ways to care for your goat herd naturally, without chemical intervention. There are many tools that can be employed to transition your herd to natural methods, the most important of which are things you should already be doing as a goat producer, regardless of your market - tools such as quarantine, culling for health, parasite resistance, overall vigor, mothering abilities; observing your animals and taking a pro-active approach to something that looks a little "off"; these would be two valuable tools in any production method. I will briefly touch here on the top concerns for most of you which are natural wormers and natural medicines to help with the most common illnesses.

Let's start with natural wormers. There are some commercial products out there on the market, but I do not use them. Most are listed as "homeopathic" wormers, and as I mentioned in the morning session, that is a bit different than you may think. Homeopathic remedies are not "home remedies" and are made from the "essence" of something. So, for example, if one was making a homeopathic remedy for a roundworm, you would take a roundworm, soak it in the liquid being used, also called "menstrum", shake that mixture several times a day, remove the roundworm, add liquid, shake several times a day, and do that for many days until what is left is a liquid that has the essence of the roundworm. This is called a "succussion". If it is a remedy for an illness, cells from an animal with that infection, whether it be skin scrapings or mucous or whatever depending on the ailment, would be prepared in the same manner. While homeopathy can be very effective in many instances, I am not convinced as a professional in the field of natural medicine that this would be a most effective way of worming a goat. Parasites of the same type vary from location to location, whether it be size or whatever, and so to be truly effective for your herd the succussion would have to be made from parasites that are from your specific herd in your specific location. This is not something easily undertaken by a beginner without training in homeopathy and making homeopathic remedies. Homeopathic remedies are, however, very good for replacements for vaccines and for prevention of certain diseases in livestock.

Instead I use plant medicines, as they are readily available, and many can be grown in your own fields for free choice use. What can't be grown in your area is easy to purchase from many available sources in bulk, which reduces costs and keeps plenty on hand for use as needed.

There are many plants that have anthelmintic and vermifugal properties (both of those words mean the plant's active constituents can clear out parasites), enough of them that there should be a few choices that can be grown in your area wherever you may raise goats. Some very popular and easy to grow items would be pumpkin seed, black walnut, garlic, wormwood, wild mustard, carrots, and parsley. I often also use quassia chips and pau d' arco, also known as taheebo, as these also have other medicinal qualities I may need to employ. These aren't grown in the US as they are tropical, so I purchase in bulk through herb distributors. Attend one of my clinics for more in depth information on how to properly use these herbs and others mentioned in this article.

I don't rely on just one herb to clear out parasites unless I am dealing with something very simple. Medicinal herbs work best when combined with similar and supporting herbs, and that applies to worming as well. I give gentle worming herbs to pregnant does and kids, stronger herbs when the need arises, such as following sudden very wet weather, or when bringing in new stock to be sure they are not dropping strange parasites and parasite eggs from another locale where they will be infesting my herd. I may use just garlic and parsley combined for my pregnant does and weanling kids unless I note a problem through FAMACHA or fecals, when I would add something a bit stronger, or add one more item to the combination. For an incoming new purchase, I would put quassia chips in the water and allow it to stay there for at least a week, while feeding a combination of wormwood, black walnut, and pau d' arco. Pau d' arco is also a strong antibiotic and antiviral herb, so it would be most useful for a new arrival in case of harboring any illness. If the stress of kidding has a doe looking anemic or she has been exposed to a goat that is not well, then she too may get some of this same herb. Natural worming and combining herbs correctly is a matter of learning what parasites are most active in your herd, when they are most likely to strike your herd, and administering accordingly.

I also often use neem in my worm formulas, but, I am listing it in here separately because it is NOT something you want to give to your bucks during breeding season(s). Neem will naturally drop semen count as a side effect – it is used in India and other countries as a contraceptive of sorts for human men, so be careful with large amounts of this with bucks! Also be aware that any estrogenic herbs given for medicinal treatments, such as red clover, soy, fenugreek, kudzu, can also lower sperm counts. Choose your herbs carefully!

These natural wormers can be offered to your goats for ingestion in many different ways, making it very convenient for you to administer. Handfuls of the dried herbs can be dropped directly into their drinking water, thereby making a sort of medicinal tea. Handfuls of the dried or fresh herbs can be added to their grain or offered freely in feed pans. A tincture can be made using apple cider vinegar as the liquid menstrum (apple cider vinegar having its own nutritional values), which can then be used in the drinking water, as a drench, on food, etc. Measured amounts of the dried herbs can be added to their mineral mix and offered free choice. A sick goat or one needing immediate attention can be fed a bolus of the dried herb mixed with molasses or honey. You are only limited by your own abilities and creativity in getting these herbs into the goats.

If you are using these items regularly, since most of these natural worming herbs also have many other medicinal qualities, you should be noticing a decrease in illness in your herd. Kids will have fewer problems, new moms will have fewer problems, your bucks will become more fertile, and you will be noticing a change in the appearance of your goats as well. They should look more lively, have a prettier coat, and just overall look healthy as their energy is now going into meat and dairy production, rather than fending off parasites and microscopic invaders or trying to repair themselves from chemical damages.

I mentioned apple cider vinegar. That again is a controversial item for goats, but, I do use it on all livestock on my place and I like the results. True apple cider vinegar is brown, not clear. It has many nutritional qualities all by itself. It is high in potassium, which aids in keeping the blood flowing properly – very important in our pregnant does, most especially when she is carrying multiples. I add ACV to livestock water to assist in keeping down the algae growth, assist in preventing hatching of mosquito larvae, as well as help my bucks keep from getting urinary calculi and kidney stones. This works for humans, too, by the way.

There is also an old farmer's tale that ACV added to the water of bucks and does can help you get a kidding season of more does than bucks, and with horses can get you more fillies than stallions. Whether or not this is actually true has yet to be studied, as it probably is not something anyone is going to get a study grant for, but as a general rule I find that it works somewhat for me. In the 2004 breeding season I did not add ACV to my stallion's water and ended up with a foal crop of nothing but boys, in previous years my stallion had only given me fillies with the ACV added to mares and stallion water. I've noted the same sort of response with my goat population. But, not always, as it also depends on how much is used, how often, and of course all of the other environmental factors. So whether or not that holds true for you, well, I say it may be worth a try over a few kidding seasons in your own herd to see what happens. Certainly I would encourage you to use it in your bucks' water if he is prone to urinary problems, and it certainly can't hurt as a preventative for any of your bucks or wethers.

Learn to rotate your pasture and grazing areas. Rotate your hay growing areas. Rotate even your dry lots and pens if you don't have areas for your herd to roam. This will first of all reduce by a wide margin your parasite load, and when rotating fields and pastures will provide a more natural level of nutritional values. Have a field or small area or two where you can grow medicinal plants, shrubs, forbs, all the good things that goats love to nibble on. You can cut and harvest these for pen-kept animals, or move them in and out of these areas as part of your rotational grazing. This way you can observe what your goats are seeking out for treats and make adjustments to their care based on what they are ingesting. Remember goats are used to ranging over their territory to nibble here and there, so simulating that as much as possible will contribute to herd health as well.

Free choice minerals are important in the diet of naturally raised animals. Often times our soils are lacking in important vital nutrients so the plants our goats are nibbling don't have enough to support vital bodily functions, including reproductive abilities. I offer a goat mineral mixed with natural kelp to provide a wide range of nutrients and micro-nutrients. This helps the animals' bodies keep up resistance to disease and parasites by providing what all the vital systems need for proper function. A minerally deficient goat will exhibit a range of odd symptoms often attributed to many exotic things (to which I often hear “worm that goat!” when the poor thing really just needs some nutrients) that clear up as soon as the goat is able to process what minerals it ingested. If you live in an area where the soil is lacking in important items such as selenium or copper, you will need to provide free choice mineral mixes formulated specifically for your area rather than a general commercial mix. Copper is important in helping parasite resistance in goats! Also choose a mineral mix that is formulated for goats, not sheep or cattle - goats are not sheep and goats are not cows and their nutritional needs are not the same!

There are some particular problems common to goats that you may want to try natural medicine for treating.

Kidding: Barring the malpresented kid, if the doe has been fed adequate nutrition through her gestation, she delivers a healthy kid or two or four. We can make that kidding a bit easier by providing items that help her uterus, such as raspberry leaf and nettle. Fresh or dried, these herbs help to tone the uterus a couple of weeks before and after parturition, and can help strengthen her contractions, shortening labor time. These are also well known herbs for helping increase milk supply. Shortly after kidding would be a good time to offer her some worming herbs and to be certain that she has plenty of access to minerals and fresh water. There is no substitute for good nutrition and adequate exercise during gestation, that alone will prevent most kidding problems, including ketosis, or milk fever.

For those kids that are born weak, or mother abandons on a very cold day, and must be handfed to get started, I use colostrum, preferably from the mother, mixed with a wee bit of natural molasses and a bit of kelp and/or spirulina. If the kid was particularly cold or lethargic, I may give a small syringe full of coffee by mouth to help the blood get pumping and warm the kid a bit faster, or add a bit of coffee to the warm colostrum. The seaweeds and algaes have a concentrated content of minerals and nutrients that can get the kid up and running faster than plain colostrum in these situations.

Mastitis: Garlic, echinacea, and ginger given frequently is the best treatment. Hot compresses can help when applied directly to the udder, afterwards rub in some peppermint oil to stimulate the blood vessels within. Again, good nutrition prior to freshening will prevent this from occurring. To avoid the painful swollen udder that might occur when trying to dry off or wean the does, sage given dry or fresh, free choice or added to the water, will help a great deal to dry up the milk. If you have a set weaning date for your kids, it would be wise to add sage to the water for those mothers a few days in advance of that date.

Respiratory ailments: Pau d' arco (taheebo), echinacea, peppermint, horehound, combined and given frequently. I use equal parts of each. Garlic and ginger are also useful in this combination, again, equal parts.

Diarrhea: Usually I let this go for a day or two if it has no accompanying symptoms, as it generally means the goat has eaten something it shouldn't have, or way too much of something. If it is accompanied by lethargy, fever, chills, etc. or if in young kids then I intervene immediately with slippery elm bark, blackberry leaf, and dill for a day, followed by garlic and pau d' arco and/ or echinacea for several days. If it proves to be coccidiosis, then I treat for a week with a mixture of antibiotic and antiviral herbs, such as oregon grape root, olive leaf, mrryh, and echinacea to both clear up the coccidiosis and prevent any other illness from taking hold while the goat is weakened from the diarrhea. Once the diarrhea has passed, some good natural yogurt will help get the rumen running well again. Yogurt is also good to give during and after any necessary chemical antibiotic or worm treatments, as those will kill beneficial bacteria in the digestive system where natural herbal antibiotics and antivirals will not.

Remember that many does come into their first heat cycle a few days to a few weeks after birthing, and the hormonal changes within her can cause scours in the kids as well, so be sure what you are treating.

Keep in mind also that sometimes a quick change in feed will cause diarrhea in varying numbers within the herd, so if you just had to change hay or rotated pastures, for example, that too may cause diarrhea, so don't panic if it happens; just watch and it will pass usually within the first 24 to 36 hours as the rumen adjusts to digesting the new feed.

Wounds: I generally mix together apple cider vinegar, aloe vera juice, tea tree oil, and tea made from calendula and echinacea, put it in a spray bottle, and spray the affected area several times a day. If the wound already looks infected by the time it is noted, such as the goat has been out to pasture for a while and escaped close inspection, I will give echinacea and garlic and probably pau d' aro, in equal parts, directly to the goat for internal immune system support.

Since so many class members asked for this information I will add it in here:

CL Treatment (this is what I would do for my own goats if they had CL)
3 cups kelp
1 cup sea salt (NOT table salt!!)
4 cups dried nettles
2 cups dried pau d' arco (taheebo)
1 cup dried olive leaf
1 cup dried and crushed rosehips
1 cup dried burdock leaf and 1 cup dried roots, mixed
1 cup dried dandelion leaf and 1 cup dried root, mixed
1/2 cup dried rosemary
Mix all dry ingredients together. Give at ¼ to ½ cup per day per affected goat (you can add it to a small amount of a favorite grain mix to encourage them to eat it). The affected goat(s) should be isolated from the rest of the herd for the duration of treatment. When the lump(s) can be lanced, or after they have burst (but DO try to get them before they burst!), first lance the lump (please wear surgical gloves and try to keep the liquid from reaching the ground). Flush it with peroxide every day for three days. Add together 3 cups olive oil, 1/2 cup dried calendula flowers, 1/4 cup dried lavender flowers, and ½ cup dried olive leaf and let stand for three days, shaking occasionally. Use this after the three days of peroxide treatment, rubbing it into the lance site. Again, be sure to wear gloves! There are other things that can be added to this mixture for CL treatment, please attend one of the clinics to learn more.

For some places to buy medicinal herbs in bulk, try:
Starwest Botanicals at http://www.starwest-botanicals.com
Penn Herbs at http://www.pennherb.com
Frontier Herbs at http://www.frontiercoop.com/products/herbs.html
Mountain Rose Herbs at http://www.mountainroseherbs.com

Besides my own herb book for your reference use, I would also recommend the book The Complete Herbal Handbook For Farm And Stable by Juliette de Bairacli Levy. It's a wonderful reference, this woman has gleaned tidbits of the "old ways" from around the world. Her treatments mainly come from farmers in Britain and France, but most of the herbs are available here, and the treatments do work. I got my copy from Amazon.com a few years ago.

Don't let natural treatments for your goats confuse or frustrate you. Most are very simple yet very effective. Most are also very cost effective when you are wise and buy in bulk and mix your own treatments based on what your goat, or your herd, needs. If you have had no training in medicinal herbs, there are plenty of books out there, including my own, which can guide you to choosing the best herbs for the situation. If you are interested in my book, The Herbal Encyclopedia - A Practical Guide to the Many Uses of Herbs, you will find the information you need to order it through any book store that doesn't have it on the shelf right here on my web site. For more in depth information including how to properly use medicinal herbs for goats and hands-on training, please do attend a clinic!

To view the 2006 Langston University Field Day morning lecture go here: Transitioning from "Traditional" to Organic Meat Production