Friday, July 5, 2013

Got your goat



Natural way to purge goat parasites

According to the article in Southeast Farm Press (SFP), 2013, improper use of commercial medicines has helped make parasites resistant to many deworming drugs used in the farm industry. Goat farming is becoming the fastest growing sector of agricultural industry. It is however, plagued by intestinal parasites. The most common being the barber’s pole worm (Haemonchus contortus). This parasite is threatening the goat farming industry.

Researchers in at the University of Florida’s Animal Sciences department may have found a solution.  They have found that papaya seeds are a very affective and cheap method for getting rid of the parasites. They remove both the eggs and adult worms. Ground papaya seed fed in small amounts daily to the goats, has found to purge them.

“The study, part of a master’s thesis by Miguel Zarate under Adesogan’s supervision, compared supplementary lespedeza hay, peanut hay, mucuna seed and papaya seeds in varied proportions for their deworming properties. Just 10 grams of ground papaya seed added to a base diet of bahiagrass removed 78 percent of adult parasites and 72 percent of their eggs. The next most effective treatment, a half-and-half mixture of lespedeza and bahiagrass, reduced the adult worm count by 52 percent” (SFP, 2013).

The study looks promising for this treatment in other livestock, but further research is needed. The study indicates that a minimum of two weeks is needed to reduce parasitic populations in the infected goats.
Implications for the study are good for developing nations who can not rely on expensive medicine treatments or expensive equipment to process papaya seeds.

To read more about the study, you can refer to the original article below in the references.

References:

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