As I said in my earlier post on this subject (Homemade Herbal Dewormer Part 1), I am currently trying out a homemade herbal wormer recipe. The herbs arrived on Monday the 1st, and I mixed up the dewormer that afternoon. Because of the cayenne pepper, ginger, and cinnamon (among others) the herbal dewormer is rather spicy and the diatomaceous earth makes it “poof” when disturbed (when the ziploc bag is opened). All of this combined causes sneezing when you sniff it. Because of that effect, several of the goats (9) were less than enthusiastic about the new dewormer. To make it more palatable I mixed up some dosage balls. I got the recipe from Molly’s Herbals and tweaked it a bit to fit my needs. Here it is:

Herbal Dosage Balls For Livestock:

Mix together:

• 1/2 cup (8 Tablespoons) powdered or finely crushed herb
• 1/4 cup (4 Tablespoons) flour (flour acts as a binding agent to hold the herb mixture together.)

Add:

• 1/4 cup Molasses OR 1/2-2/3 cup Peanut Butter

With your fingers (or in a food processor), mix and kneed into a dough. Break into 12 even pieces, shape into balls and then roll the balls in a little bit of flour just to coat. Each ball equals a 2 Teaspoon dose. Offer an herbal dosage ball to the animal first, and he may eat it right out of your hand. If he won’t, shove it in his mouth. Often, the animal realizes the balls taste good and wants more. If he spits it out, just shove further back in the mouth next time. (For goat kids, or other smaller animals, I break the balls into smaller pieces to administer.)

**WARNING** The rear teeth of a goat are EXTREMELY sharp and can give a very nasty cut. Be super careful during force feeding dosage balls!!

A picture of herbal dosage balls can be found here: http://fiascofarm.com/herbs/herbimages/balls-1.jpg

After making the dosage balls, only 4 of the goats refused them; force feeding dewormer in this form is MUCH easier than force feeding dry herbs (almost impossible). For Dixie, the pigs, and the chickens, I just used the dry herbs as a top dressing on their food as they aren’t near as picky as the goats. For those who get wormwood in their dewormer, I used the wormwood as a top dressing as well because it is fed in such small amounts so as to be indiscernible.

Just after almost a week of dosing, I am already seeing results! Coats are shinier, the animals are more active, and have GREAT appetites! As I continue using this recipe over the next few months, I will monitor each animal’s health closely to see how well the dewormer is working.