Dewormer, Lice, and Other Bugs
Dewormer
We deworm our goats using the herbal dewormer from Land of Havilah. It is common for goats to have parasites, but it is important to manage them. The way we found to get the goats to eat the herbal dewormer was to make a paste with water, then stuff it into a pitted fresh date. The first times we had to stuff it into their mouths, but now they take them eagerly, and even want more! Unlike regular dewormers, herbal dewormers are often used as preventatives, and higher doses are used for treating.
We have purchased a high-quality microscope to do fecal tests to make sure that the dewormer is working and that our goats are healthy. It is important to do fecal tests (either yourself or through a vet) to know if a dewormer is needed, and if so, which one. Using the wrong synthetic dewormer or using them when they aren't needed can cause parasite resistance. It is also important to be sure that the dewormer you chose has done its job. Using our microscope, we have been able to confirm that the LOH dewormer works for our herd.
Any supplements they need can easily be put into the fresh date (baby goats might need the date cut in half to be able to eat it. Soaking the date can help too).
We have purchased a high-quality microscope to do fecal tests to make sure that the dewormer is working and that our goats are healthy. It is important to do fecal tests (either yourself or through a vet) to know if a dewormer is needed, and if so, which one. Using the wrong synthetic dewormer or using them when they aren't needed can cause parasite resistance. It is also important to be sure that the dewormer you chose has done its job. Using our microscope, we have been able to confirm that the LOH dewormer works for our herd.
Any supplements they need can easily be put into the fresh date (baby goats might need the date cut in half to be able to eat it. Soaking the date can help too).
Lice, Mites, Mosquitoes and Ticks
Lice
When we brought our goats home, we realized that most of them had lice. This is very common, since they can hide in straw and be moved from farm to farm. Thankfully, lice are mostly species-specific, and therefore goat lice cannot infest humans (or chickens, rabbits, etc.). There have been cases of them infesting sheep though, since they are similar species.
We first tried diatomaceous earth (DE), however, this method only reduced the numbers without completely getting rid of the lice and was very labour intensive. We had to dust all the goats every day, while checking everywhere. Powder flies everywhere, etc. The goats didn’t love it, and neither did we. It also made their fur rough from rubbing with what is essentially a fine sand.
Effective Natural Treatment :
Oil + 1% Thieves essential oil blend left on for 12-15 hours
We really wanted to avoid using the traditional pesticides treatment, so we tried using oil. Oil suffocates lice if left on for long enough. We used about 12 -15 hours (for example, oiling at 5-8pm and washing at 8am). Since we didn’t want our goats to burn in the sun, we coated them in vegetable oil in the evening, making sure to massage it in to reach their skin, and washed them the next morning.
We added a 1% dilution of Theives essential oil blend (ours is homemade, but many companies sell a ready-made blend), as the compounds found in many of the essential oils contained in the blend were found in a study to help kill lice and their eggs from the species that affects humans. Although the study used the compounds directly, and not the essential oil, we wanted to try and see if it would work. Indeed, it did. All the lice were killed by the oil and no egg hatched. We found the same results when treating chicken lice.
It is important to re-check all the goats 13 days after treatment. At this stage, even if eggs hatched the day after the treatment, they aren’t yet able to lay new eggs, and all the previous eggs have had time to hatch. If you see lice, a second treatment should eliminate it. Don't forget to re-check! With the essential oils, we never needed the second treatment, but it is still important to recheck. Since then, our goats have been lice free. Any new goats brought in are checked for lice and treated immediately, even if no lice is seen (there can be only a few hiding, especially if the new goat is young), as to make sure to not contaminate the others.
To wash, I recommend double shampooing, otherwise they stay a little oily until their fur absorbs it.
Of course, since this method involves wet goats, it would be much more difficult in the winter. Thankfully, we bought our goats while it was still warm, but if we ever had to treat them in the winter, we would blow-dry them and if needed, keep them in a warmer area for the night. In our experience this treatment only needs to be done once per goat for their whole lives instead of yearly or even more with other methods.
Make sure to change the bedding so that lice can’t hide and get back on your goats after the treatment.
Mites
For mites, this study shows that a 0.4% solution of eucalyptus oil killed 100% of mites that were in contact with it for one hour, but we haven't had any issues with mites so we haven't tried this.
Mosquitoes and Ticks
For mosquitoes, we make an essential oil repellent spray using lemon eucalyptus, citronella and lemongrass. Here are some studies regarding the efficacy of lemon eucalyptus: Study 1, Study 2 - Lemon Eucalyptus was found to be as effective or better than DEET in concentrations of 30%.
For ticks, we make a spray using rose geranium essential oil, which we spray on our legs and our goats' bodies. Rose geranium, of the species Pelargonium capitatum x radens, smells quite nice. It is a very similar smell to a rose.
To make the spray, we use:
1% rose geranium essential oil
1% polysorbate 20 (to emulsify the oil, otherwise you may end up spraying a ton of oil, or none)
1.5% optiphen plus (preservative)
96.5% water
When we brought our goats home, we realized that most of them had lice. This is very common, since they can hide in straw and be moved from farm to farm. Thankfully, lice are mostly species-specific, and therefore goat lice cannot infest humans (or chickens, rabbits, etc.). There have been cases of them infesting sheep though, since they are similar species.
We first tried diatomaceous earth (DE), however, this method only reduced the numbers without completely getting rid of the lice and was very labour intensive. We had to dust all the goats every day, while checking everywhere. Powder flies everywhere, etc. The goats didn’t love it, and neither did we. It also made their fur rough from rubbing with what is essentially a fine sand.
Effective Natural Treatment :
Oil + 1% Thieves essential oil blend left on for 12-15 hours
We really wanted to avoid using the traditional pesticides treatment, so we tried using oil. Oil suffocates lice if left on for long enough. We used about 12 -15 hours (for example, oiling at 5-8pm and washing at 8am). Since we didn’t want our goats to burn in the sun, we coated them in vegetable oil in the evening, making sure to massage it in to reach their skin, and washed them the next morning.
We added a 1% dilution of Theives essential oil blend (ours is homemade, but many companies sell a ready-made blend), as the compounds found in many of the essential oils contained in the blend were found in a study to help kill lice and their eggs from the species that affects humans. Although the study used the compounds directly, and not the essential oil, we wanted to try and see if it would work. Indeed, it did. All the lice were killed by the oil and no egg hatched. We found the same results when treating chicken lice.
It is important to re-check all the goats 13 days after treatment. At this stage, even if eggs hatched the day after the treatment, they aren’t yet able to lay new eggs, and all the previous eggs have had time to hatch. If you see lice, a second treatment should eliminate it. Don't forget to re-check! With the essential oils, we never needed the second treatment, but it is still important to recheck. Since then, our goats have been lice free. Any new goats brought in are checked for lice and treated immediately, even if no lice is seen (there can be only a few hiding, especially if the new goat is young), as to make sure to not contaminate the others.
To wash, I recommend double shampooing, otherwise they stay a little oily until their fur absorbs it.
Of course, since this method involves wet goats, it would be much more difficult in the winter. Thankfully, we bought our goats while it was still warm, but if we ever had to treat them in the winter, we would blow-dry them and if needed, keep them in a warmer area for the night. In our experience this treatment only needs to be done once per goat for their whole lives instead of yearly or even more with other methods.
Make sure to change the bedding so that lice can’t hide and get back on your goats after the treatment.
Mites
For mites, this study shows that a 0.4% solution of eucalyptus oil killed 100% of mites that were in contact with it for one hour, but we haven't had any issues with mites so we haven't tried this.
Mosquitoes and Ticks
For mosquitoes, we make an essential oil repellent spray using lemon eucalyptus, citronella and lemongrass. Here are some studies regarding the efficacy of lemon eucalyptus: Study 1, Study 2 - Lemon Eucalyptus was found to be as effective or better than DEET in concentrations of 30%.
For ticks, we make a spray using rose geranium essential oil, which we spray on our legs and our goats' bodies. Rose geranium, of the species Pelargonium capitatum x radens, smells quite nice. It is a very similar smell to a rose.
To make the spray, we use:
1% rose geranium essential oil
1% polysorbate 20 (to emulsify the oil, otherwise you may end up spraying a ton of oil, or none)
1.5% optiphen plus (preservative)
96.5% water