Experiences
I am going to refer to these goats by "alternate" names only because several were ones I bought from someone else and I don't want anyone to feel criticized by their practices...we each have different ways of doing things and there are pros and cons to each.
Fanny came to me as a fairly healthy 5 year old doe, but over time she began to look less and less thrifty. Her coat was always thin and in the winter she was ALWAYS cold. She was also hard to keep weight on and birthing was especially challenging for her. She also struggled with chronic anemia. You are probably thinking that this sounds like classic parasite overload, but we keep a regular deworming schedule, that has worked well for 7 years now. We also had several fecal exams run and all were free of parasites. In fact, vets are always curious what dewormer I use that works so well...but that is a whole other story of its own!
After 1 or 2 kidding seasons with Fanny I decided to give her a year off from birthing while I worked on her health. This was in my earlier years of seriously pursuing natural methods and so I decided to experiment with a detox on her.
I began working on the liver and kidneys with a product from Fir Meadows. After two months I added a blood purifying formula to the program. I continued this for a 6 months total.
WOW! Talk about something close to a miracle! To be honest, the first 4-5 months I saw minimal improvement, but it was enough to keep me on it as I had no other ideas. Things changed around that 4 1/2 or 5 month period however. It was very interesting how quickly she suddenly started doing much better! I didn't understand why this was unfolding at the time, but now I know that the liver completely rejuvenates itself, cell for cell, every 4-6 months and that I had finely hit that tipping point.
Fanny's coat became so incredibly thick and lush! Most of my goats have slick shiny coats (not all), but Fanny was something I have never felt in her coat, even to this day. Needless to say, she had no more issues with the cold! While I never was quite able to reverse the chronic anemia she began carrying herself in a whole new way with her head up and eyes bright which was really good to see.
I think the most interesting thing I noticed from this was related to the large knot she had on her side from a vaccine she had received while on a different farm. It began to disappear! It used to be large, very hard, and easily visible, but after 7 months from the start of her cleanse, it had diminished to so much that you wouldn't know it was there if you didn't squeeze her skin in that area to find it. This was a really fascinating discovery!
Sadly, Fanny passed away in a birthing incident (a big stuck buck kid...) that spring and I was never able to find out if the vaccine spot would have completely gone away and if the anemia would have corrected itself given enough time.
Another experience I had with the power of cleansing occurred with a doe I am going to call Louise. This time I had a bit more knowledge about how cleansing worked. Louise started having fertility issues that prevented her from getting bred one year so I decided to test cleansing on her while she took a year off. She was somewhat chunky when I started, but two weeks in and she was incredibly thin! It was more than a little disconcerting how quickly she had dropped off her access body condition. I had heard a little about what a healing-crisis was but this was my first experience with it. As I began the cleansing, it stimulated her body to literally dump POUNDS of toxins from the fat layers her body had tried to store in it to protect her organs from being damaged. After that first 2 weeks she leveled out and stopped loosing weight. At about 6 weeks in she began gaining weight again and gradually increased to right were I like my goats to keep their weight at. She did noticeably better after that about maintaining her weight without the need for a lot of grain and also wasn't prone to getting overweight anymore. That fall she got bred on the first try and delivered 4 healthy doe kids the following spring!
I have 1 or 2 other stories like these two, but I will save those for another time. You are probably wondering exactly how to do cleansing by now!
Fanny came to me as a fairly healthy 5 year old doe, but over time she began to look less and less thrifty. Her coat was always thin and in the winter she was ALWAYS cold. She was also hard to keep weight on and birthing was especially challenging for her. She also struggled with chronic anemia. You are probably thinking that this sounds like classic parasite overload, but we keep a regular deworming schedule, that has worked well for 7 years now. We also had several fecal exams run and all were free of parasites. In fact, vets are always curious what dewormer I use that works so well...but that is a whole other story of its own!
After 1 or 2 kidding seasons with Fanny I decided to give her a year off from birthing while I worked on her health. This was in my earlier years of seriously pursuing natural methods and so I decided to experiment with a detox on her.
I began working on the liver and kidneys with a product from Fir Meadows. After two months I added a blood purifying formula to the program. I continued this for a 6 months total.
WOW! Talk about something close to a miracle! To be honest, the first 4-5 months I saw minimal improvement, but it was enough to keep me on it as I had no other ideas. Things changed around that 4 1/2 or 5 month period however. It was very interesting how quickly she suddenly started doing much better! I didn't understand why this was unfolding at the time, but now I know that the liver completely rejuvenates itself, cell for cell, every 4-6 months and that I had finely hit that tipping point.
Fanny's coat became so incredibly thick and lush! Most of my goats have slick shiny coats (not all), but Fanny was something I have never felt in her coat, even to this day. Needless to say, she had no more issues with the cold! While I never was quite able to reverse the chronic anemia she began carrying herself in a whole new way with her head up and eyes bright which was really good to see.
I think the most interesting thing I noticed from this was related to the large knot she had on her side from a vaccine she had received while on a different farm. It began to disappear! It used to be large, very hard, and easily visible, but after 7 months from the start of her cleanse, it had diminished to so much that you wouldn't know it was there if you didn't squeeze her skin in that area to find it. This was a really fascinating discovery!
Sadly, Fanny passed away in a birthing incident (a big stuck buck kid...) that spring and I was never able to find out if the vaccine spot would have completely gone away and if the anemia would have corrected itself given enough time.
Another experience I had with the power of cleansing occurred with a doe I am going to call Louise. This time I had a bit more knowledge about how cleansing worked. Louise started having fertility issues that prevented her from getting bred one year so I decided to test cleansing on her while she took a year off. She was somewhat chunky when I started, but two weeks in and she was incredibly thin! It was more than a little disconcerting how quickly she had dropped off her access body condition. I had heard a little about what a healing-crisis was but this was my first experience with it. As I began the cleansing, it stimulated her body to literally dump POUNDS of toxins from the fat layers her body had tried to store in it to protect her organs from being damaged. After that first 2 weeks she leveled out and stopped loosing weight. At about 6 weeks in she began gaining weight again and gradually increased to right were I like my goats to keep their weight at. She did noticeably better after that about maintaining her weight without the need for a lot of grain and also wasn't prone to getting overweight anymore. That fall she got bred on the first try and delivered 4 healthy doe kids the following spring!
I have 1 or 2 other stories like these two, but I will save those for another time. You are probably wondering exactly how to do cleansing by now!
How
Cleansing is a way of stimulating the body to break-loose, process, and remove toxins - these can be toxins that were created by the body or ones taken in by the environment.
A reasonably healthy and nourished animal can generally handle the toxins its own body produces, however, when it comes to environmental toxins which are generally manmade you may need to consider helping with detoxing.
Cleansing should always happen in this order: the bowel, the liver, the kidneys, and lastly the bloodstream. If you start cleansing the bloodstream before the liver you are bound to run into a serious problem as the bloodstream starts dumping its toxin load into the liver which is probably already having toxin issues of its own. In the words of Dr. John Christopher - "If a truck gets stuck in the middle of the road, you don't solve any problems by directing more traffic onto that road; you find a way to get the truck off the road first so the traffic can pass." This is such simple common sense, but even so, cleansing is often done in the reverse order and to the same affect as it would have if you added more vehicles to the blocked road to try and clear it without moving the stuck truck first!
With goats you can skip the bowel cleansing since they are always consuming long fiber feed (2inch+), but any non hay/forage consuming animals are going to need the bowel cleansing (that means humans would need to start with bowel cleansing too). I would plan on spending at least 4 months on bowel cleansing and I would use the Fen LB powder for this.
As mentioned, you can skip the bowel cleansing on goats and go straight for the liver cleanse, but if you are cleansing anything that doesn't live on a high fiber diet (dog, cat, human, or...even a ruminant that has lived its life solely on a grain diet which sadly is common with meat goats/meat sheep in my area) then you'll want to put at least 2 weeks of the bowel work in before diving into the liver cleansing or it can cause a serious backup of the toxins in the system. Technically, since the kidneys have their own channel for eliminating the waste material that's separate from the liver's channel (liver waste goes through the bowel) you can do both at the same time which is what I typically do to save time. Plus, several of the liver herbs cross over with the kidney herbs, so that's always a boon! For liver and kidney cleansing I highly recommend the Fir Meadows Fresh Start. The liver takes 4-6 months to fully rejuvenate itself by replacing every single cell, so you will want to plan on spending at least that much time cleansing it.
Last comes the bloodstream and heavy metals detoxing (I use the term detoxing and cleansing interchangeably by the way). Scripture states that the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). I think that's a pretty profound statement that deserves a lot more consideration than it is maybe being given in typical holistic/homeopathic teachings. You'll want to get at least 2 weeks into your liver and kidney cleansing before starting on the blood stream and heavy metals. I recommend the Red Clover Combination made by Dr. Christopher for the general detox and an equal parts combination of cilantro, bugleweed, and yellow dock root (powder form of each is easiest to work with) for the heavy metals removal. Generally, 2-3 months is enough time on the bloodstream and heavy metals.
A reasonably healthy and nourished animal can generally handle the toxins its own body produces, however, when it comes to environmental toxins which are generally manmade you may need to consider helping with detoxing.
Cleansing should always happen in this order: the bowel, the liver, the kidneys, and lastly the bloodstream. If you start cleansing the bloodstream before the liver you are bound to run into a serious problem as the bloodstream starts dumping its toxin load into the liver which is probably already having toxin issues of its own. In the words of Dr. John Christopher - "If a truck gets stuck in the middle of the road, you don't solve any problems by directing more traffic onto that road; you find a way to get the truck off the road first so the traffic can pass." This is such simple common sense, but even so, cleansing is often done in the reverse order and to the same affect as it would have if you added more vehicles to the blocked road to try and clear it without moving the stuck truck first!
With goats you can skip the bowel cleansing since they are always consuming long fiber feed (2inch+), but any non hay/forage consuming animals are going to need the bowel cleansing (that means humans would need to start with bowel cleansing too). I would plan on spending at least 4 months on bowel cleansing and I would use the Fen LB powder for this.
As mentioned, you can skip the bowel cleansing on goats and go straight for the liver cleanse, but if you are cleansing anything that doesn't live on a high fiber diet (dog, cat, human, or...even a ruminant that has lived its life solely on a grain diet which sadly is common with meat goats/meat sheep in my area) then you'll want to put at least 2 weeks of the bowel work in before diving into the liver cleansing or it can cause a serious backup of the toxins in the system. Technically, since the kidneys have their own channel for eliminating the waste material that's separate from the liver's channel (liver waste goes through the bowel) you can do both at the same time which is what I typically do to save time. Plus, several of the liver herbs cross over with the kidney herbs, so that's always a boon! For liver and kidney cleansing I highly recommend the Fir Meadows Fresh Start. The liver takes 4-6 months to fully rejuvenate itself by replacing every single cell, so you will want to plan on spending at least that much time cleansing it.
Last comes the bloodstream and heavy metals detoxing (I use the term detoxing and cleansing interchangeably by the way). Scripture states that the life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11). I think that's a pretty profound statement that deserves a lot more consideration than it is maybe being given in typical holistic/homeopathic teachings. You'll want to get at least 2 weeks into your liver and kidney cleansing before starting on the blood stream and heavy metals. I recommend the Red Clover Combination made by Dr. Christopher for the general detox and an equal parts combination of cilantro, bugleweed, and yellow dock root (powder form of each is easiest to work with) for the heavy metals removal. Generally, 2-3 months is enough time on the bloodstream and heavy metals.
Dosages and Important Points to Remember
The dosages I use are as follows for each product: 20-30 pound animals get a 1/4 tsp., 30-60 pound animals get 1/2tsp., 60-100 pound animals get 1 tsp., 100-200 pound animals get 1/2tbsp.
Adult Nigerian Dwarfs are usually between 50 and 80 pounds, so I can use the 1/2 to 1 tsp. amount. I usually start at the lower dose (1/2tsp.) and work up over several days or a week to the full amount.
Drenching is usually the fastest and easiest route for me to get the herbs into my goats. For sheep and goats you can also make these herb balls if you prefer not to drench. Most goats will gobble them right up.
Intense cleansing like this can make your animals feel sick and even nauseated the first week, so be considerate and plan accordingly so that you aren't pushing them to perform while they aren't feeling great (eg. no shows, milk tests, etc.).
Adult Nigerian Dwarfs are usually between 50 and 80 pounds, so I can use the 1/2 to 1 tsp. amount. I usually start at the lower dose (1/2tsp.) and work up over several days or a week to the full amount.
Drenching is usually the fastest and easiest route for me to get the herbs into my goats. For sheep and goats you can also make these herb balls if you prefer not to drench. Most goats will gobble them right up.
Intense cleansing like this can make your animals feel sick and even nauseated the first week, so be considerate and plan accordingly so that you aren't pushing them to perform while they aren't feeling great (eg. no shows, milk tests, etc.).
- Always cleanse in this order: bowel, liver and kidneys, blood stream.
- Always give at least 2 weeks in between the start of each new area (eg. wait 2 weeks after starting the bowel for the liver and kidneys, then another 2 weeks before starting on the bloodstream) to avoid a dangerously strong detoxing response.
- NEVER cleanse a pregnant animal unless absolutely necessary to save the dam (a situation I might consider is pregnancy toxemia). The sudden release of toxins out of the dams organs and fat can kill the babies or cause serious nervous system damage.
- You can start cleansing before your doe is pregnant and continue for her entire pregnancy, just make sure you start at least 2 weeks before she gets bred. Don't risk starting a cleanse if there's any chance that your doe is bred.
- Remember, toxins didn't build up to where they are over the course of a few weeks or months. They've been accumulating for the animals entire life and can't be completely removed overnight like some of the I day, 3 day, and 2 week cleansing programs out there tell you. Some toxins can even be inherited...sometimes from an exposure to something up to 4 generations back. It takes TIME for the cells to release their toxins and repair themselves!
- Consistency is key with any natural program!
Possible Cleansing Responses to Watch For
You might see any number of things start to happen when you start cleansing, or nothing at all. Typically, the sooner and more dramatic the response to cleansing the more profoundly astounding the result is at the end of the cleansing.
Severe weight loss at first is typical. The body tends to burry toxins in the fat layers to protect sensitive organs from being damaged by the excessive toxins, so it's not unusual for toxic animals to be your especially overweight animals (that's not a rule though, just a general observation). It's just a natural response the body was created to do for its own protection. When an animal is receiving what it needs to safely remove the toxins then it will start dumping them fast...sometimes scarry fast when they loose a lot of weight, but the alternative is to leave those toxins in the animal's body to continue causing undetected chronic illness/inflammation until it finally surfaces as any number of detectable chronic or acute illnesses (pneumonia, cancer, allergies, kidney failure, parasite overload, mastitis, etc. to name a few) wether that's directly or as a contributor.
Hering's law of cure states: "All cure starts from within out, from the head down, and in the reverse order as the symptoms appeared." With that in mind, you may see a sort of 'mini' flare up of something your animal's struggled with before you started cleansing. I recently saw an example of this in my mother who has been doing some liver detoxing. A year before now (it's November, 2024 as I write this) my mom had a horrendous shingles outbreak with debilitating nerve pain from the viral attack. Lately, she has been doing some liver detoxing and saw a kind of really miniature outbreak of shingles start again after beginning the detoxing (Following the original nerve path of the first outbreak). It only lasted about a week, but was fascinating to see nonetheless, and was a very encouraging sign that she is on the right track!
Every living thing on earth has a genetic disposition to certain weaknesses. For example; some families have generational tendencies towards heart disease, or certain cancers, or ________(fill in the blank). In other words; everybody has a weak part in their body. The stronger systems/organs tend to keep passing the toxins off to the next systems/organs and the next, until (and this is where your genetically transmitted weakness comes into play) the toxins find a resting place in an system/organ that can't move them along like the rest of your body's organs. This is most often where chronic illnesses/inflammation take hold.
You're only as strong as your weakest link. Stop. Read that statement again and think about it for a moment...
Good diet is a huge part of your health, and it can often incur significant healing all on it's own, but it can't make up for that one single organ that needs more help then the rest because of toxins it can't get rid of.
This vicious cycle often repeats itself with each generation, though it can also skip several generations. You can, however, break this cycle with cleansing. Cleansing relieves the pressure on toxin overloaded organs and gives them the chance to completely repair themselves (cell for cell). A breeder friend of mine who now lives in Portugal taught me that it takes 2-4 generations of healthy diet, avoidance of pharmaceuticals, and cleansing to fully restore your animals to the best possible health you can. In other words, when you choose to take the natural route and begin working on toxin removal and better nutrition, your herd will get stronger and stronger with each generation. This path takes hard work and dedication, naturally it's not a heavily traveled path by any means.
I've found that my fully detoxed goats have much faster weight gain after kidding, and aren't nearly as prone to becoming overweight. They have much better body temperature regulation both in summer and winter. They have far less infertility issues. They tend to develop very nice hair coats. Best of all, their attitudes radiate vibrance and happiness on a whole new level!
If you have questions or need guidance, I am always happy to help to the best that I am able. Please email me at: [email protected]
I always LOVE hearing about success stories too!
Severe weight loss at first is typical. The body tends to burry toxins in the fat layers to protect sensitive organs from being damaged by the excessive toxins, so it's not unusual for toxic animals to be your especially overweight animals (that's not a rule though, just a general observation). It's just a natural response the body was created to do for its own protection. When an animal is receiving what it needs to safely remove the toxins then it will start dumping them fast...sometimes scarry fast when they loose a lot of weight, but the alternative is to leave those toxins in the animal's body to continue causing undetected chronic illness/inflammation until it finally surfaces as any number of detectable chronic or acute illnesses (pneumonia, cancer, allergies, kidney failure, parasite overload, mastitis, etc. to name a few) wether that's directly or as a contributor.
Hering's law of cure states: "All cure starts from within out, from the head down, and in the reverse order as the symptoms appeared." With that in mind, you may see a sort of 'mini' flare up of something your animal's struggled with before you started cleansing. I recently saw an example of this in my mother who has been doing some liver detoxing. A year before now (it's November, 2024 as I write this) my mom had a horrendous shingles outbreak with debilitating nerve pain from the viral attack. Lately, she has been doing some liver detoxing and saw a kind of really miniature outbreak of shingles start again after beginning the detoxing (Following the original nerve path of the first outbreak). It only lasted about a week, but was fascinating to see nonetheless, and was a very encouraging sign that she is on the right track!
Every living thing on earth has a genetic disposition to certain weaknesses. For example; some families have generational tendencies towards heart disease, or certain cancers, or ________(fill in the blank). In other words; everybody has a weak part in their body. The stronger systems/organs tend to keep passing the toxins off to the next systems/organs and the next, until (and this is where your genetically transmitted weakness comes into play) the toxins find a resting place in an system/organ that can't move them along like the rest of your body's organs. This is most often where chronic illnesses/inflammation take hold.
You're only as strong as your weakest link. Stop. Read that statement again and think about it for a moment...
Good diet is a huge part of your health, and it can often incur significant healing all on it's own, but it can't make up for that one single organ that needs more help then the rest because of toxins it can't get rid of.
This vicious cycle often repeats itself with each generation, though it can also skip several generations. You can, however, break this cycle with cleansing. Cleansing relieves the pressure on toxin overloaded organs and gives them the chance to completely repair themselves (cell for cell). A breeder friend of mine who now lives in Portugal taught me that it takes 2-4 generations of healthy diet, avoidance of pharmaceuticals, and cleansing to fully restore your animals to the best possible health you can. In other words, when you choose to take the natural route and begin working on toxin removal and better nutrition, your herd will get stronger and stronger with each generation. This path takes hard work and dedication, naturally it's not a heavily traveled path by any means.
I've found that my fully detoxed goats have much faster weight gain after kidding, and aren't nearly as prone to becoming overweight. They have much better body temperature regulation both in summer and winter. They have far less infertility issues. They tend to develop very nice hair coats. Best of all, their attitudes radiate vibrance and happiness on a whole new level!
If you have questions or need guidance, I am always happy to help to the best that I am able. Please email me at: [email protected]
I always LOVE hearing about success stories too!
Of course, per the FDA, I have to add a disclaimer to this since I am not a medical professional or trained veterinarian.
*The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Nor are they meant to replace the advice of a trained professional in any situation. This article is meant for educational purposes only.
*The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Nor are they meant to replace the advice of a trained professional in any situation. This article is meant for educational purposes only.
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"Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the hay is removed, and the tender grass shows itself, and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field; you shall have enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household, and the nourishment of your maidservants." ~ Proverbs 27:23-27 NKJV