Garlic benefits sheep by acting as a natural antibiotic and anthelmintic (dewormer), improving gut health, boosting immunity, controlling internal parasites like coccidia and worms, deterring flies, and enhancing nutrient absorption, thanks to its sulfur compounds, vitamins, and antioxidants. It's used in various forms, from garlic juice to garlic-infused minerals, to support overall health and performance.
Garlic stalk silage fed to sheep has the potential to improve the nutritional value of mutton by increasing the concentrations of linoleic and linolenic acids and essential amino acids.
Several times a year, we feed the lambs a natural dewormer, which is nothing more than garlic, black walnut hull powder and diatomaceous earth (which is just finely ground up sea-shells). This produces a miserable condition for the worms in the gut but causes nothing worse than 'bad breath' in the lambs.
The major sources of feed for fattening sheep are roughages, agro-industrial by-products, local brewery by-products, household food leftovers and screenings from cereals. Roughages: These are bulky feeds containing relatively large amounts of poorly digestible material, that is, more than 18% crude fiber.
Garlic is a natural antibiotic
In addition to being a great natural vermifuge, garlic also has antibiotic properties. Many livestock producers use it regularly and successfully. I have used the same garlic recipe described in the Parasite Control page as part of a regimen to treat mastitis (infected udder) in ewes.
Rural Feeds Boswellia Extra is a natural painkiller and anti-inflammatory, providing significant support for joints.
Which Natural Antibiotics Are the Most Effective?
Baking Soda - sheep will eat this if they feel an upset stomach coming on. It is BEST to purchase a “mineral feeder” and keep one side filled with baking soda and loose salt, and the other side filled with the sheep minerals.
Salt and Lime: Another common practice is mixing salt and lime to create a loose lick. This provides a few basic nutrients, such as calcium and sodium. We also recommend adding Causmag, or Magnesium Oxide, to help with magnesium deficiencies – but only around lambing.
What should you not feed sheep? You should not overfeed sheep grains, alfalfa, and other fibrous plant materials. Sheep can easily get gaseous and bloated, which can be fatal. Sheep are herbivores and should not be fed meat or animal products like eggs, dog food, or cat food.
Worms - The signs to look out for
A worm problem often (but not always) results in sheep scouring and becoming daggy. In severe cases, affected sheep may scour profusely. Other conditions can however produce these signs. Young sheep are far more susceptible to worms than older sheep.
Garlic has a special ability to fight parasites such as nematodes. It is considered best to consume garlic in raw form early in the morning as it gets absorbed by our body best at that time.
Pale skin and eyes, bottle-jaw, weight loss, a tail in the mob, and deaths may mean that your sheep need drenching. If so, these signs occur well after production losses from worms are already occurring in the mob. WormTests give early warning of significant production losses.
The "10-minute garlic rule" means you should chop, crush, or mince garlic and let it sit for about 10 minutes before cooking to maximize its health benefits and flavor, allowing the beneficial compound allicin to fully form from its precursors (alliin and alliinase) before heat deactivates the enzyme. This resting time creates more allicin, enhancing garlic's potential anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties, even if cooked later.
TREATMENT OF BARBER POLE WORM
The most common anthelmitics used include Cydectin, Prohibit, Safe-guard, Valbazen and Ivomec. Producers also have found that copper boluses are effective in controlling barber pole worms. Check with your local Extension office or veterinarian for dewormers that work best in your area.
Grass, clover, and forbs
Mostly sheep eat grass, legumes, forbs, and other pasture plants. They especially love forbs. In fact, it is usually their first choice of food in a pasture.
Adding salt helps the animals to increase their appetite and they eat and drink more. Buy male animals from local farmers. Select sheep of 6 to 12 months or use goats of 2 to 4 years old. Select animals that show no physical defects.
Hot lime sulfur spray or dip is labeled for use against sarcoptic, psoroptic, and chorioptic mites in sheep. Treatment should be repeated every 12 days if needed.
Signs of salt deficiency in livestock include licking stones or other objects and ingesting soil, while symptoms of salt poisoning include nervousness, diarrhoea, blindness, and, in extreme cases, death.
If added to sheep and lamb drinking water apple cider vinegar will assist in keeping waterers free of algae and mosquito larvae. Improves the quality and yield of wool. Reduces the incidence of urinary calculi and kidney stones. It has powerful healing, cleansing, and natural antibiotic and antiseptic qualities.
Treating sheep
Traditional treatments include drenching with 50–60 mL of vegetable oil or paraffin oil. An oil or surfactant anti-bloat preparation registered for cattle may be used under written veterinary recommendation, usually at one-fifth of the cattle dose.
goat magic (a jump start of energy and glucose for the doe that has not been eating well) recipe has: 2 parts corn syrup, 1 part molasses, 1 part corn oil. Give slowly and carefully by mouth. Some goats suck it out of the syringe.
Herbs instead of antibiotics
Phages are currently being used therapeutically to treat bacterial infections that do not respond to conventional antibiotics, particularly in Russia and Georgia.
One such remedy, commonly referred to as “Amish Amoxicillin” (AA), is a homemade mixture of aromatic vegetables, acidic fruits, and spices blended in apple cider vinegar. Despite claims of its effectiveness, there is little to no scientific research evaluating its antimicrobial potential.