I give herbs to my stock several ways. For my horses, I mix them with a mash. For my livestock guardian dogs and chickens we mix them with extra goat milk. And for my sometimes picky goats, I mix some of them in kelp (kop-sel), sometimes drench (usual method I use for HerBiotic -viral/bacterial stuff) with a liquid like raw goat milk or fresh carrot juice , or put in the kids milk lam-bar - often GI Soother, DWorm A and/or Better Daze. And sometimes I will mix a bit of olive oil with them and mix that with their grain. But for the milkers, bucks and weaned kids when it comes to DWorm A and sometimes other herbs or products (MMune, Better Daze, etc) I often pull out my apron and chef hat to make herb balls. First you will want to collect a mixing bowl, mixing spoon, 1 cup and 1/2 cup measuring cups, a teaspoon, a knife, spatula, clean work surface, a labelled ziplock bag or storage container and about a tablespoon of olive oil in a small container. You will also want your herb mix and something to roll the balls into such as sprouted grain, herb powder, cinnamon or in my case I grabbed a handful of rolled oats. To make 32 doses for a 100 to 200 lb animal (48 for a 75 to 100 lb animal) I take 1 cup of herb powder and mix in 1/2 cup of the molasses until well mixed. Then I drop my oats onto the work surface before placing my herbs onto that. I oil my hands a bit and pat down the mix before oiling my knife or spoon to cut it for approximate dose sizes. With 32 doses it's easy- just half it to 16 doses, half each section again for 8 doses per section, again for 4, 2 then a single dose. With 48 doses you can half it down to the three dose size then cut that last segment into thirds. Then I oil my hands again and roll them into balls, then roll in the mix and put in my labelled container. I can now go out and feed them, put them with their grain at feed or milking time, or store them in the fridge for a week or freezer for up to a year. Some goats take time getting used to them, but many will take them after a couple of tries. If I go in my doe pen with them I get MOBBED! Happy Herbing! Products mentioned can all be purchased under the herb mixes section of this website. |
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