Natural Dewormer Recipe for Goats, Sheep, Horses and Cattle

It’s one thing to use chemical dewormers on an animal that is just used for farm work, fun or show, such as a horse. But when you are using your animals for meat or dairy, a natural dewormer is important!

This natural dewormer recipe is what I use for my horses, cattle, goats and sheep. I’m not a veterinarian, I am just sharing the recipe I have come up with and had success with with my own animals!

This natural dewormer is safe to use on producing dairy animals as well as animals destined for slaughter. Unlike chemical dewormers, there is no withdrawal period for natural dewormer.

Natural Dewormer

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When I originally came us with this dewormer recipe, I based it on the ingredients in commercially available natural dewormers. I did some research on my own as well to try to come with something that was safe and effective!

Since this dewormer is not as strong as a chemical dewormer, it works best as a maintenance dewormer. If you have a serious parasite problem, you might want to use a chemical dewormer. Alternatively, the addition of wormwood to this recipe makes it more effective. I only use wormwood for serious parasite problems, however, as it is a strong herb that can have side effects. Wormwood is not recommended for animals that are pregnant.

One benefit of using a natural dewormer is that parasites are less likely to become resistant, even with frequent use. In the same way that bacteria become resistant to regular antibiotics but not to natural ones like garlic, parasites don’t seem to develop resistance to natural dewormers the way they do with chemical ones.

I try to deworm my animals at least every other month. If I miss a dose or suspect a heavy worm load, I’ll do two doses in a row, one week apart.

Natural Dewormer Recipe

• 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 1/3 cup molasses
• 2 bulbs garlic
• 1 T cloves
• Water

In a blender, puree all ingredients until smooth, adding water as needed to make a paste consistency.

Store extra in the fridge.

Some animals will willingly eat the dewormer on their own, but I usually use a syringe so I know that it actually gets eaten by the animal it was intended for.

You’ll need a 2oz (60ml) syringe, which can be purchased on Amazon or at veterinary supply stores.

Dosage for Natural Dewormer

This is the dosage I use for my animals, based on the directions for similar commercial natural dewormers.

Horses: 2 oz (60ml) for a 1,000lb animal

Cattle: 2 oz (60ml) for a 1,000lb animal

Goats: 3/4 oz (22ml) for a 150lb animal

Sheep: 1/2oz (15ml) for a 100lb animal

Finding Dewormer Ingredients

I grow my own pumpkin seeds and garlic for my natural dewormer recipe. But before I grew my own I purchased all the ingredients from Azure. I still get the molasses and cloves from Azure.  Azure Standard is a natural foods co-op that delivers for free to most of the United States. They offer a huge selection of bulk foods, animal supplies, garden supplies, natural toiletries and more. It’s a great resource for homesteaders!

You can also find raw pumpkin seeds and cloves in the bulk food section of many stores.

This year I used chemical dewormers on my sheep because they were pastured with someone else’s animals. Some of my sheep got sick and one actually died a few days after deworming. Our animals seem much healthier with this natural dewormer recipe as long as we keep up on deworming. So it’s back to natural dewormers for us!

Checking to Make Sure the Natural Dewormer is Working

Finally, I recommend checking occasionally to make sure that your deworming routine is working, since the types and amounts of parasites are different in every herd.

You can take a manure sample into your veterinarian (at the time of this writing mine charges $20). For horses you can also mail a sample to The Natural Vet, which is a bit cheaper ($15.95 at the time of this writing).

How to Send In a Mail Order Worm Sample

To do a mail-order parasite check, search for “worm check exam” on The Natural Vet website. Purchase the exam, print your receipt and send it in with a thimbleful of fresh manure in a plastic baggie. They will email you the results. It’s a really easy way to check for worms and something I routinely do for my own animals.

An at-home diagnostic some of the farmers I know use is to check the animal’s eyelid color to see if they are anemic. This method isn’t as accurate, but it is free!