Regarding natural anthelmintics and other parasite controls... As with other natural treatments like those for cancer, viruses, bacteria, etc, they most certainly do exist and do work. There's quite a few verified, peer reviewed studies on them.
'Chemicals' exist all throughout the world and the only reason wildlife in plant and animal form persists is because there are natural controls against disease and parasites. Unfortunately some people think it has to be put into a bottle before it works, but that's just incorrect.
'Chemical' pesticides, referring to things that treat everything from agricultural pests to parasitic pests, are mostly derived from natural sources that work in natural form as well, after all.
Here's some links if you're interested, which I found on the first two pages of a google search, only took me a few minutes... I found this last year, skimmed it, and just saved it to share and read thoroughly later on, but I've since found many more, and better studies too. If you actually want to learn this stuff, it's out there.
Note: none of these are what I've based my practices or beliefs on, in fact I'd never seen these studies until last year when I did a casual search for this sort of info, whereas I've been keeping animals of many species for most of my life now and naturally treating them with success.
These are just a sample of the sort of studies which you can find in which herbal products have been tested against parasites. As I'm sure we both agree, though, you can find studies pro or anti anything. The proof is in the testing and every time I've tested natural treatments I've been amazed at the success rate. It's why I moved off chemical treatments and onto natural ones. I tested first, didn't just decide on a whim and leap in headfirst.
Results vary between studies, this isn't a definitive anything much, but it's some decent info on the topic anyway. Studies on the topic have been in existence for decades, but methodology is sometimes either questionable or incorrect and often biased.
Some PubMed studies finding herbs 'don't work' only list 'herbal product' and not species, dosage, form, nothing else.
So for all we know they 'extracted' the skins off garlic and threw it at the chickens, lol.
Other PubMed studies finding they do work list species and the relevant and necessary additional information.
Kinda strange discrepancy there, I don't get it...
Anyway, main point being such studies do exist, herbal anthelmintics and other parasite controls DO work. Application, product potency, and ignorance are the main weaknesses in herbal medicine as far as I've seen, people use the wrong things or the right things in the wrong form, or not enough or too much of them. Too many herbs share a common name with useless or even dangerous plants, or have useless commercial, 'culinary', or ornamental cultivars and not enough people know that. Education is key and if you lack it and choose to use 'chemical'/artificial wormers etc in the meantime, so what? Don't beat yourself up about it, the survival of the animal is the most important thing here.
Here's one where they tested sheep and goats with both conventional and herbal therapies. It's relevant to poultry because the very same herbs are used.
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Here's another study, on pigs this time... Again relevant to poultry because the same herbs are also used to kill worms in poultry:
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Here's a PubMed study on liver fluke treatment using 3 different herbs which again are also used in poultry:
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Here's a study (long read though) about infectious diseases caused by parasites in humans (many of which are similar to, or identical to the animal counterparts) and the herbs they found worked or didn't work against them. Again, the herbs can be used in poultry for the same or similar issues.
Quote: Here's a quote from that article above listing plants they found worked... Again, many are used by wild animals, and by/on domestic animals, including poultry.
There were more plants listed but this will do for now. Many of these herbs aren't commonly known to the modern farmer but used to be used by our ancestors and have been used for thousands of years, but each country has an almost entirely untapped lore of knowledge on the properties of herbs.
Most modern plant extracts used in chemical wormers etc were developed based on exploration into old knowledge bases of different countries and cultures; in fact this is still ongoing; one example of old herbal treatments being permethrin/pyrethrum family chemicals, aka 'Persian Gold' or 'Persian Pellitory' --- ancient farmers used that as a broad-spectrum insecticide long before it was put into a bottle, and it still works in natural form as well.
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As that shows, naturally occurring chemicals in plants can even treat worms that never come into contact with the actual plant matter itself, i.e. worms that do not live in or visit the digestive system to breed etc.
My experiences and personal research are what I base my methods on, I don't trust any claims about herbs or whatever without testing thoroughly, my animals are too important to me to gamble them on a theory. I'm pretty skeptical of things I've not proven for myself. But I test it before I dismiss it. Makes no sense to dismiss things one knows nothing about, after all!
There are uncounted other studies on this subject out there if you're willing to spend the time, and if you're not that's understandable and best wishes with your choices. Whatever works for you. Different strokes for different folks.
Best wishes.
