# certified organic coccidia prevention



## jdavenport (Jul 19, 2012)

Does anyone have any information on the study done in Italy using steam distilled oregano oil to prevent coccidosis in goats? http://www.efeedlink.com/contents/08-29-2008/4ecd3420-6dfd-45bf-af2d-090653b6a58e-a001.html This is where I found a reference, but you have to pay to see the whole article. I also found this product  [url]http://orego-stim.com/commercial-farming/ruminant/more-ruminant/15-ruminant [/url]which seems to be the product they used in the study. I'll be getting goats this fall and would like to start them on prevention as soon as I get them. Thanks!-Jennifer Davenport


----------



## jdavenport (Jul 19, 2012)

I found another study done in Maine for MOGFA that used 4 farms with goats and sheep and dosed the animals with an oregano oil product called Regano.http://www.mofga.org/Publications/MaineOrganicFarmerGardener/Spring2010/Regano/tabid/1556/Default.aspx
Oregano oil also has a positive affect on feed conversion rates and seems to be cheaper than conventional treatments for coccidia. Seems to good to be true...Jennifer Davenport


----------



## dragonlair (Mar 24, 2009)

As someone who used to deal a lot (behind the scenes) with MOGFA, I wouldn't take their word on anything like that as gospel. They are so against anything mainstream that they would let the animals suffer rather than give them modern medications. 

At one time they wouldn't even allow coffee or regular tea on their grounds for the workers at their yearly fair. Just the question "where's the coffee?" would send curses and bolts of fire upon the asker. (Which happened to be me!) Donuts from the local coffee house was contraband and had to be smuggled in and eaten in a dark corner but at night you almost choked on the marijuana smoke and walked around with a contact high! And pot wasn't the only illegal drug being used by the organic nazi's at the Common Ground Fair.

I'm not saying it doesn't work, but just really dig into any research thoroughly before you risk damaging your animals for life.


----------



## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

Oregano essential oil is so potent it will burn your skin. I tried putting a drop of food grade in a dish once and it completely ruined the dish. I definately would not put oregano oil directly in my goat's mouths. There were a couple statements in the links that concerned me. The Orego-stim product said the animals would self limit because it was so spicey. The MOGFA study said one herd was unwilling to eat it. This is a case where I have to question if the herbal product is really gentler than the drug.


----------



## Horsehair Braider (Mar 11, 2011)

The test results were a little shaky to my way of thinking. There is probably enough there to warrant a further look, but personally I will continue to use the drugs I currently use and that are suggested by this site. This is because I have only a few animals. I would not be at all happy if, say, 40% of the animals responded really well and 60% did not. Or whatever... Even one falling through the cracks is too many at my place.


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Be it herbal wormers, or something like this. IF you are going to try alternatives that come from sources you do not know, you 'know me' in that you can easily google me or talk about me on PM's to others on this forum, you can see my goats on my website and read, From Birth to Kidding, you can then see the numbers of those who use Dimethox 40% injectable, orally, or Corid on prevention and read their success stories with it. You can also read the problems of using other sulfa's, the dosage problems with the 12.5%, really the guessing with it. The new info with Baycox sounds very appealing, but is new....not in that he hasn't been used, but Lee is the first person I 'know' who is fecal sampling, using it and having great success with it, course they are also in drought right now. So is it enough date for me to move my herd to baycox next year, and be so comfortable with it I wouldn't fecal....NO!

So my advice isn't not to use it, but learn to fecal, use a chambered slide, identify eggs and occysts, then you will KNOW if it actually works in your herd. Then share your numbers, either become a fan or debunk the hype, but don't sacrifice a kid crop for an unattainable goal....most new folks would have little problems trying to raise goats organically, but eventually as mild winters continue with climate change... the loss will be significant, you have to be willing to accept that loss. Vicki


----------



## fmg (Jul 4, 2011)

I know someone in Missouri who actually had kids with cocci and treated it and then used for prevention, cinnamon. She was fecal sampling, and so she knows for sure that it worked. No idea how that would do anything, or what the dosage was, but maybe look into it. In whatever case, you will certainly want to be vigilant in your fecalling.


----------



## jdavenport (Jul 19, 2012)

My potential future customers would like organic meat and milk, along with the veggies that I already grow, but it looks like I won't even be able to be close to organic with the goats. Sourcing feed is getting easier, but top of the line mineral mixes and worm and coccidia prevention seems to be nonexistent, at least in central ohio.


----------



## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

I feel your pain. I consider my animals to be pretty clean and healthful. They are mostly grass fed/hay fed - very little grain. I don't use many drugs, but I won't be without Corid and Cydectin. Time has to be considered too. The herbal I used before had to be given weekly and then daily every six weeks. That's alot to keep up with for me. Mature animals only need to be wormed two to three times a year if you have control with a good product. What is kinder to the animal?


----------



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I set my management for the welfare of my animals, customers always come second. There are plenty of others who will lie to them about being certified orgainic/natural or whatever the buzz word is for this decade, to get and keep customers. Taking advice from customers who have never pulled a teat in their life, doesn't happen here. Vicki


----------



## wheytogosaanens (Oct 26, 2007)

jdavenport said:


> My potential future customers would like organic meat and milk, along with the veggies that I already grow, but it looks like I won't even be able to be close to organic with the goats. Sourcing feed is getting easier, but top of the line mineral mixes and worm and coccidia prevention seems to be nonexistent, at least in central ohio.


If you want to be as "Natural" as possible, I suggest you contact Kat Drovdahl (Fir Meadow Toggs and LaManchas). She has written a book just for goats and has been a featured speaker at ADGA conferences
and conventions. Probably well worth the $50.00 investment for the book, she also does specific consultations (you pay her). Haven't used her stuff (well, actually a good salve that is great for the end of your nose/nostrils when all dried out due to winter), but her goats are beautiful, show well, appraise well and milk well.

HTH.


----------



## doublebowgoats (Mar 6, 2008)

From personal experience, oregano oil is very caustic. I was told a drop of the oil in a capsule would cure my chronic gall bladder problems. It caused tremendous abdominal discomfort and I still had to have my gb taken out. I can't imagine giving it to an animal on a regular basis. Just the smell of it now repulses me.


----------



## nlhayesp (Apr 19, 2012)

jdavenport said:


> My potential future customers would like organic meat and milk, along with the veggies that I already grow, but it looks like I won't even be able to be close to organic with the goats. Sourcing feed is getting easier, but top of the line mineral mixes and worm and coccidia prevention seems to be nonexistent, at least in central ohio.


Hi Jennifer, we're "neighbors" in Central Ohio. I live in Radnor. We are not "organic", but our customers are satisfied with our "natural" approach to raising sheep and goats as well as chickens. I have Prospect Farmers Exchange up in Prospect, OH, mix our grain for us, so it is all local grain, as well as we make our hay from our hay fields. Our "organic" customers are not truly "organic", they just want their food to be from a natural, chemical-free environment. "Organic" is just a USDA labe that is quite costly to achieve.


----------

