Animal Herbal Medicine

Many people come to alternative medicinal remedies with their pets and livestock, for much the same reasons as with their own health.

Either a condition they had which modern medicine was unable to cure, was dealt with by an alternative remedy, or a modern drug caused more harm than good. In both these scenarios there is a tendency to become interested in other alternatives, to see if perhaps the use of modern drugs can be kept to an absolute minimum. For some people it is a neccessity, due to having decided to opt to become an organic producer, or live an organic lifestyle.

In the wild, animals have habitats and a choice of foodstuffs that are ideal for them. Instinct tells them what to eat, and when to move on. When they are confined in buildings, or small pastures, and have our choice of feedstuffs, there will be times when their conditions actually cause problems, despite our best efforts to provide for them. Disease spreads quickly in cramped, dirty environments, and other problems such as hoof, skin, fur, and teeth disorders, can result directly from the methods we use to care for them. The first thing we need to do to understand their needs is to consider the diet and environment of their wild cousins.

Prevention is better than cure. It's usually cheaper too. The money you invest in some portable electric fencing to allow for rotation of pasture, will in the long run cost you far less than all the extra anti-parasite treatments you would otherwise need to buy.

I'll begin by telling a story of a dear friend who missed the point for a long time, until I explained something to him. For many years he spent much time and money removing "weeds" from his pastures, and then buying vitamin supplements and medicines to combat disease and deficiencies in his animals. This intelligent, educated farmer, with years of experience assumed "weeds" were bad. One evening after a terrible spring of illnesses, I was sitting suggesting herbal remedies that may help, when he asked me if he might be able to grow these herbs on his land. In the course of this conversation he realized, horrified, that many of them were the very "weeds" he had battled against half his life. Somewhere along the way education is doing farmers a disservice. (Or is it herbicide companies propaganda?).

With a renewed interest in sustainable living and working in harmony with nature, instead of fighting against it, more and more people are looking for alternatives to the downward spiral of chemical farming. Once the value of organic crops is realised the next step is to avoid filling our animals with chemicals every time they sneeze. This website is devoted to the alternatives.