Natural remedies for fleas?

[Thatdaywewokeupasfarmers]

Does anyone have a good natural fix for fleas on young goats? Maggie and June are about three months old now and covered with fleas. I have a can of Y•Tex Python Dust, but after reading the back I grew a little concerned about dusting actual poison all over my babies! They are pretty miserable right now, all they ever do is scratch!

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day,its been almost 30 years since we kept goats ,but during the time we had them we never came across "fleas" they do have "lice" though which results in scratching and they are visible although very small in good light to the naked eye.If you are opposed to chemicals ,I would try a "good" dusting with Yellow Sulfur power,its natural and I think will deter them,or a pyre-them powder similar to the ones they recommend for Chickens.Hope that helps...T.O.R.

 

[Alaskan]

I would bathe them in flea and tick puppy shampoo.

 

[tindi]

I would try a "good" dusting with Yellow Sulfur power,its natural and I think will deter them

Where would I buy this powder? I've never heard of it, I'd like to use it as a preventative.

 

[lcertuche]

We spent $20 for one dose of a chewable flea treatment and it lasted about 2 weeks. Fleas are so bad right now. I use to dip my critters once a week in a 5 gallon bucket or pour over (soaking) the large dogs and it worked good. It really stunk but I don't remember what it was. Use to be the local feed store would let you dip your dogs for $5 a piece in their vat. I don't think they do that anymore and it could be inconvenient to haul all the critters dogs to town every week.

Okay, I know none of these are natural solutions. Mama has a flea comb and combs her little ankle biters but then again she always has fleas. Diatomaceous Earth has been used but not all that effective. I know people that use sevin dust but it just kills ticks and once again it is poison. For the carpet borax or salt sprinkled and vacuum often (2 or 3 times daily). I suspect that vacuuming up the fleas probably does the best job.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day Tindi,I would think "any" rural supply or lge garden supply store would carry it.In horticulture they refer to it as "dusting sulfur".
Do you feed a mineral supplement to your goats? we use it at the rate of about 10% in our mix which we have used for over 35 years on all manner of stock (sheep ,goats and cattle).I would get someone to clearly identify what it is you are dealing with first ,before I embarked on "any" treatments...T.O.R.

 

[tindi]

Thanks for the reply, I've been dealing with mites again this year not fleas. I've been treating with ivermectin SQ the last few weeks but I am not sure it is 100% gone. I just find it interesting that you read about treatments of parasites but not much about preventative. I know with my dog I use a monthly dose of revolution from June-Nov here and have never had fleas etc but it isn't a natural remedy that is for sure. I've dusted my goats down weekly with DE but found it didn't work and just dried their skin out. I used Nu-stock which worked amazing but I cannot buy it here and it somes in such a small tube that it isn't enough to treat the problem. That is why the mention of a sulphur powder in your post caught my attention. From what I have been reading sulphur does amazing things and bugs hate it! The thing with fleas and most parasites is that you need to break their life cycle and stop them from rehatching. I have a friend that adds garlic to her dogs food and says it keeps fleas and mosquitos away. I guess its just a matter of trying different treatments and seeing what works. I found the sulphur powder yesterday so I will give it a try.
Yes I do feed loose minerals but was thinking of dusting them with it.

 

[Baymule]

You can dust them with it and make available a small container of it. They will eat what they need.

 

[lcertuche]

I saw somewhere someone was using oils like eucalyptus, peppermint, tea tree and such to treat this type of problem but I would think that would be expensive to rub a large animal with something like that. Pest like ants are suppose to hate the smell of dryer sheets so maybe rub them down and see what happens. I think the worst thing to happen is maybe they might smell better.

 

[Baymule]

I saw somewhere someone was using oils like eucalyptus, peppermint, tea tree and such to treat this type of problem but I would think that would be expensive to rub a large animal with something like that. Pest like ants are suppose to hate the smell of dryer sheets so maybe rub them down and see what happens. I think the worst thing to happen is maybe they might smell better.

I hats dryer sheets too! The smell makes my face feel like needles are sticking in it.