One of the reasons we created our farm homestead is to allow us to have a choice on the chemical elements present in our food supply. I’m not saying all chemicals are bad. I think there is a time and place for almost everything. There are a number of herbal formulas and pre-mixes online but the two I am using are from Molly’s Herbals and The Land of Havilah. I have used Molly’s formulas for years and I continue to be very happy with it. Recently however, I came across the concept of feeding the herbal dewormer free-choice or as a tea outlined by Land of Havilah and the idea has me intrigued. I am absolutely NOT an educated herbalist but I have been raising my animals for more than 5 years on primarily herbal supplements and rotational grazing.

There are times when I like to use hand made herbal treats or dose balls, for example when I want to condition my younger animals to eat from my hand or coax someone over for closer inspection. But when I am dealing with a loose herd of 50 animals all jostling and shoving each other aside to get to the goat treats, I need a way to stay on my feet longer and not get trampled. This is where the concept of free-choice gets interesting. I will keep you posted on my herbal supplement experiment.

Interesting related reading from OnPasture’s website: Can Animals Figure Out What Minerals They Need?