The history of animal husbandry is as old
as the civilization of mankind. Our dependence
on animals for ploughing, milk products, manure,
meat, wool etc. is well known. Man developed
his own methods for management, feeding and
health protection of his domestic animals.
Naturally the animals know some self medication.
Dogs and cats eat green grass and vomit in
case of indigestation. Man observed the nature
and formulated the herbal medicines in trial
and error method. Ayurveda has the collection
of such medicines and practices for human
beings. Even the traditional herbal medicines
which have no documentation are also equally
important.
Ayurveda explains the human health science
in depth. But there is no such documentation
for the treatment of animals. We can find
few references in the literatures of our folk
cultures. In recent years the dairying has
taken commercial shape with exotic milk breeds.
Allopathic medicines have become more popular.
Ethnic herbal medicines are at the verge of
extinction along with the local breeds of
dairy animals. Due to lack of demand and respect
for this traditional practice the new generation
of the farmers did not learn and practice
the same. Most of these herbal practitioners
do not reveal the secret combination of medicines
to anybody outside to their family. Thus,
the incredible knowledge is being washed off
with the generation. This secrecy policy contributes
a lot for the loss of this valuable medicines
and practices.
Of course, there are some exceptions. This
old gentle man is Mr. Krishna Naik from Western
Ghats of Karnataka. He has got a huge collection
of herbal veterinary medicines and he practices
till today. He shares his knowledge with all
interested people. His son Mr. Anand Naik
is fully trained in this and is continuing
these traditional treatments. Their opinion
is that the cost of locally available herbal
medicine is negligible compared to English
medicines. Even the side effects are very
less. Some diseases not yet understood fully
by the modern veterinary science have got
effective treatments with this traditional
practice.
Documentation and conservation of these ethno
veterinary medicines and practices is the
primary concern of this effort by your Shramajeevi
Agri Films. We have not interfered in the
content collected from the traditional practitioners.
Scientific and systematic presentation after
careful documentation is the only effort from
our side. Veterinary doctors of our team have
tried many of these medicines and got encouraging
results. Their experience shows that the effect
of these medicines is not uniform on all the
animals. Unavailability of the herbs in the
vicinity due to the destruction of forest
is one more major problem. Systematic validation
of these medicines by clinical trials has
not taken place on large scale yet anywhere.
No doubt these time-tested practices is applicable
and useful for ever. Even then we cannot give
any guarantee for these medicines. Shramajeevi
Agri Films will not entertain any claim of
loss or inconvenience with these ethnic practices.
Documentation and thereby conserving the same
for future validation from farmers and veterinary
scientists is our primary concern.
We have a request for you. The huge task of
survey and documentation of these herbal veterinary
medicines is not possible only with Shramajeevi.
Interested and enlightened people have to
start documenting the available information
in their vicinity. Educate others and try
to conserve the medicinal plants. If possible
try to grow and protect them. Do not damage
the medicinal herbs and trees while collecting
the leaves, stems, roots and bark. Practice
these ethnic medicines at least for preliminary
treatments. For serious illness and emergencies,
one may go for fast acting Allopathic medicines.
Medicine dosage given in this document is
for grown up animals. Calves, sheep and goat
need the half of this dosage. Our important
observation is that some plants are useful
for many medicines. At the same time many
herbal combinations are available for the
same disease. Most of them are region specific.
We are giving many alternates to enable you
to practice it with the herbs available in
your locality.
Now let us start with the disease symptoms
and the herbal medicine combinations for its
treatments. First one is Inflammation. Symptoms:
Inflammatory swelling may be seen on any part
of the body. For example, swelling of jaws.
Pus may come out if opened, sometimes with
bad smell.
Treatment: Ingredients: Tubers of Greater
Galangal leaves of Cow Vine, sour orange and
lime water. Method: Crush the tubers of greater
galangal and leaves of cow vine in sour orange
juice. Warm the mixture and apply it on the
swelling portion. OR crush the tubers in water
or lime water and apply. Lime water means
the transparent supernatant liquid collected
above the soaked edible lime.
2nd medicine: Ingredients: Indian Aloe and
lime. Method: crush 2-3 leaves of aloe with
50 grams of lime. Keep it for 2-3 days in
an earthen pot. Apply this mixture on the
swelling part once a day for 5 days.
3rd medicine: Ingredients: 2 handful of Indian
Ipecae, 1 handful of inner bark of Coral Tree,
10-15 white pepper and 1 bulb of Garlic. Method:
Crush all these items in water, squeeze and
collect the liquid. Drench 250 ml twice a
day in the morning and evening for two days.
Apply the remnant of the herbs to the swelling
portion.
4th medicine: Ingredients: Leaves of Thorn
Apple, Garlic, Jaggary, Copra, white pepper,
lemon fruit, clove, leaves of Dronapushpi
and Black Nightshade. Method: Crush handful
of all these items and extract the liquid.
Drench 250 ml of the preparation twice a day
in the morning and evening for 2 days.
Mastitis: Symptoms: Inflammatory swelling
in the udder and it becomes warm, sometimes
hard also. Acute pain and fever are also common.
Milk spoils by becoming watery or curdy. Milk
yield drops drastically. Reasons: Mastitis
is result of microorganism infection. This
problem is common in high yielding cows. Lack
of cleanliness on the floor of the cow shed
and incomplete milking leads to the entry
of pathogens from the orifices of the teats.
Even the sudden change in the climate and
infected cattle feed results in mastitis.
To prevent this problem, keep the shed clean.
Milk the cow completely. Start the treatment
immediately after noticing the symptoms. Now
let us study the herbal remedies.
Ingredients: Leaves of Aloe and Sensitive
plant, Turmeric and lime. Method: Take half
kilograms of aloe leaves, 2 handful of sensitive
plant leaves, 1 spoon of Turmeric powder and
10 grams of lime. Crush the items nicely.
Apply this mixture to the udder twice a day
for a week. Milk the cow, clean the udder
with warm water and swab with cloth before
applying the medicine.
2nd Medicine: Ingredients: Leaves of Memecylon,
Bandicoot berry, Vatangi, Cow vine, Indian
Snowberry and sour orange. Method: Take Memecyion
and Bandicoot berry leaves- 1 handful each
and crush it in rice wash water. Drench the
preparation to the animal. Make rice along
with Vatangi leaves and feed. Crush the leaves
of Cow vine and Indian snowberry in sour orange
juice, warm it and apply to the udder. Wash
the raw rice twice, drain and collect the
water from third wash for medicinal use. Always
boil the rice and dry the water in an open
bowl to use for medicine.
3rd Medicine: Ingredients: White Fig, Hill
mango, white pepper and garlic. Method: Take
the bark of White Fig and Hill mango each
2 pieces of palm size, 10 white pepper and
1 bulb of garlic. Crush it and extract the
liquid. Drench 250 ml liquid twice a day for
1 week. Apply the remnant of the herbs to
the udder.
4th Medicine: Ingredients: Indian Birthwort,
Giant Milk Weed, five leaved Chaste tree and
Sweet Indrajao. Mtd: Take one and half feet
length vine of Indian Birthwort, 2-3 leaves
of Giant milk weed, 1 handful leaves of Chaste
tree and Sweet Indrajao, 1 garlic bulb, 3
spoons of Cumin seeds and 4 white pepper.
Crush all these in rice wash water. Apply
this preparation twice a day till the mastitis
cures.
Mammitis: This problem is more in buffalos.
Teats swell and appear red. Acute pain and
reduced size of milk stream is seen. But the
milk remains normal. Teats may drop after
decaying if not treated.
Treatment: Ingredients: Tubers of Hainan Resurrection
Lily, leaves of Vatangi and Caricature plant.
Method: Crush the lily tubers in water and
apply to the affected teats. Cook the rice
with Vatangi leaves and feed. OR Crush the
leaves of Caricature plant in rice wash water
and drench.
2nd Medicine: Ingredients: Thorn Apple and
wheat flour. Method: Crush 8-10 leaves of
Thorn apple plant with 10 grams of wheat flour
with enough water. Apply this paste to the
affected teats twice a day for 3-4 days.
Lack of Appetite: Symptoms: Animal does not
feed and masticate. Dry nose, solid dung etc.
are the other symptoms. Reasons: Fever, indigestion,
liver problem, worm multiplication, change
in the food, inactive digestive system etc.
may result in this problem.
Treatment: Ingredients: False black pepper
plant roots and white pepper. Method: Crush
the roots and the pepper. Boil it with water
to make decoction. Drench 250 ml this preparation
once. To prepare decoction boil the ingredients
in 4 liters of water till it comes down to
1 liter.
2nd Medicine: Take the leaves of Malabar nut,
Thorn apple, Bael tree, Portia tree � 1
handful each, 1 garlic bulb, 10-15 white pepper
and 2 spoons of Mustard. Churn all the ingredients
together. Feed 1 ball size of the mixture
twice a day for 4 days.
3rd Medicine: Feed 1 fruit of black Thorn
apple in cooked finger millet ball in the
night for 4 days. Put enough fodder after
giving this medicine. Do not give thorn apple
fruit to the calves.
4th Medicine: Crush 300 grams of Gmelina leaves,
50 grams of Turmeric powder and 50 grams of
white pepper in buttermilk. Drench this preparation
once a day for 2 days.
Bloat: Symptoms: Gas accumulates in left stomach.
Sounds Dub-Dub if beaten. Excess salivation,
no feed intake, fast respiration, discomfort
etc. are the other symptoms of bloat. Bloat
in excess will put pressure on lungs and heart
leading to the death of the animal. Reasons:
Eating succulent green grass or grass sprayed
with poisons, more of dicot seeds, polluted
drinking water, blockade in the digestive
tract, constipation, swallowing plastic etc.
will lead to bloat problem. To avoid this
feed succulent grass after wilting. Do not
give water immediately after the fodder. Avoid
excess fodder. Give dry fodder after greens
in the rainy season. Provide clean drinking
water.
Treatment: Take the leaves of Indian Madder,
Dronapushpi, Black Holy Basil and Malabar
nut- one handful each, 10 grams of white pepper,
2 garlic bulbs and 2 spoons of Wild Celery.
Churn the ingredients and feed.
2nd Medicine: Take 1 handful of Malabar nut
leaves, 10 grams of pepper, 2 garlic bulbs,
ting of Asafetida and 50 grams of Jaggary.
Crush all the ingredients and mix it with
600 ml of goat milk. Divide the mixture in
to 3 parts. Drench it in the morning, afternoon
and by night. Provide the animal with warm
water for drinking.
3rd Medicine: Feed 2 kilograms of Radish in
case of medium bloat. If the bloat is severe
give 3 kilograms. Feed the radish as it is
or by crushing. Feed twice in 6 hours interval.
4th Medicine: Take 5 to 10 grams of Sweet
Flag roots, 50 grams of Zinger, 10-15 grams
of pepper and 50 grams of Mustard. Crush all
these in 200 ml of castor oil. One drench
of this mixture will cure the Bloat.
5th Medicine: Take 50 grams of Zinger, 1 garlic
bulb, 3-4 cardamom, 5-6 cloves and 1 spoon
of opium poppy seeds. Crush all these, put
little bit of Jaggary, boil and prepare decoction.
Drench 250 ml once a day for 2 days. Walk
the animal in open ground.
Common Fever: Symptoms: Excess body temperature,
less urination, erect hairs, less or no feeding,
dry nose, weakness in the eyes etc. are the
symptoms of common fever. Reasons: Sudden
change in the climate, microbial infection
or physiological disorders may result in fever.
Treatment: Ingredients: Dronapushpi, bitter
gourd, lemon fruit and finger millet flour.
Take 2 handful of Dronapushpi leaves, 3 bitter
gourd fruits, juice of 1 lemon fruit and 200
grams of finger millet flour. Crush all these
in water. Drench this twice a day for 3 days.
2nd Medicine: Boil 200 grams of five leaved
Chaste tree leaves in water. Drench 200 ml
of the decoction thrice a day till the fever
is cured.
3rd Medicine: Take Mustard, Turmeric powder,
dry Zinger powder- 1 spoon each and 25 grams
of Creat with roots. Crush all these and prepare
decoction. Drench once in a day for 4-5 days.
4th Medicine: Take 10 grams of pepper, 10
grams of zinger, juice of 1 lemon fruit and
1 garlic bulb. Crush all these and prepare
decoction. Drench twice a day for two days.
5th Medicine: Take Dronapushpi leaves, bitter
gourd leaves and Creat- one handful each.
Crush all these in buttermilk and drench once.
Then put 5 grams of edible Camphor in a banana
and feed. Continue this twice a day till the
fever is cured.
Repeat Fever: This is not the continuous fever.
To cure this, crush 1 handful of Moonbeam
leaves in buttermilk and drench once in a
day for 4 days. Take the bark of Indian Trumpet,
wild Celery seeds, Zinger and pepper. Churn
all these and feed 1 ball size of the mixture
for 4 days.
Cow Pox: Symptoms: Boils appear on the udder,
teats and on other parts of the body.
Treatment: Take Memecylon and Bandicoot berry
leaves � one handful each. Crush it in rice
wash water and drench twice a day for 10 days.
And rub Rauwolfia root in lemon juice. Drench
2 spoon quantity for 2 days.
2nd Medicine: Take 250 grams of Aloe leaves,
2 spoons of Turmeric powder and 10 grams of
lime. Crush and apply it to the udder twice
a day for 4-5 days.
Matritis: Symptoms: White slimy discharge
from vigena is seen sometimes with blood and
foul smell. This animal will not milk properly.
Reasons: Incomplete discharge of foetal membrane,
dirty cattle shed, infection during natural
insemination, abortion etc. will result in
Matritis.
Treatment: Crush 1 handful of Wild Jujube
leaves in rice wash water and drench it for
5-6 days.
2nd Medicine: Crush 1 piece of Zinger, 1 spoon
of Wild Celery, 5-6 pepper and little bit
of Jaggary. Boil this crush with rice and
feed once in a day for 2 days.
3rd Medicine: Take 250 grams of Bael tree
leaves and 50 grams of Tinospora Gulancha
leaves with stem. Crush it in water and drench
once a day for 5 days.
4th Medicine: Take Cumin seeds, Crystal Sugar
and gum of Sacred Fig � 10 grams each. Crush
these together and feed once a day for 5 days.
5th Medicine: Crush 2 handful of Darnel grown
on Indian Beach tree and make it a ball. Feed
one ball size per day for 1 week.
6th Medicine: Take Dhub grass and Phyllanthus
amarus one handful each. Boil it in water
and drench the decoction once in a day for
one week.
Copious Lacrimation: Like us even the animals
suffer with stress. Copious lacrimation is
the indication.
Treatment: Crush 1 handful of Cclea barbata
leaves in water. Put it on the head portion
of the animal. OR Crush 1 handful of wild
Jujube leaves in rice wash water and drench.
OR Put Sesame oil to the head portion of the
animal.
Soft Hoof: Symptoms: Limping and difficulty
in walking on stony ground. Lower surface
of the hoof becomes soft and white. Pus may
come out if pressed. This problem is seen
commonly in hind legs. The cow suffering with
soft hoof will not stand.
Treatment: Crush the bark of wild mango tree
in rice wash water and drench once. Wet a
cloth in the same liquid and tie it to the
hooves.
Yoke Gall: Symptoms: Wound and swelling is
seen on in the hump. The bull cannot hold
the yoke for long time. Bleeding may also
be seen. Maggots of flies appear in the wound.
Bull gets disturbed due to pain if the yoke
is put. Continuous work for long time and
negligence of the wound on the hump are the
reasons for yoke gall.
Treatment: Crush the leaves of five leaved
Chast tree in sour orange juice. Warm the
mixture and apply to the hump for 3 days.
OR Apply the pulp of boiled wild mango fruit.
2nd Medicine: Crush 1 leaf of Aloe with 10
grams of lime. Apply twice a day till the
yoke gall cures.
3rd Medicine: Grind 1 handful of Mustard in
warm water. Apply the paste once a day till
the yoke gall heals.
4th Medicine: Crush 250 grams of bark of Indian
Elm tree with 1 spoon of Turmeric. Apply this
paste once in a day for 1 week.
5th Medicine: Mix 100 grams of cow butter
with half spoon of Turmeric. Apply it once
a day for one week.
Prolapse of Uterus: Symptoms: Entire uterus
or part of it comes out from vegina in pregnant
or calved animal. Reasons: This is more common
in buffalos due to the defect in the body
structure. Genetic problem, malnutrition at
the time of pregnancy, rough pulling of calf
in assisted delivery etc. are the other reasons
for prolapsed of uterus. To minimize the problem
do not put the fodder at a time if the preliminary
symptoms are seen. Do not send the animal
for grazing to the hilly tract. Tie the animal
in slope towards the front side.
Treatment: Crush Sensitive plant and boil
with cumin seeds to prepare decoction. Drench
it to the animal with prolapsed uterus. If
the problem is severe take more quantity of
sensitive plant, crush it with rice and feed.
OR Crush the herb in rice wash water and drench.
2nd Medicine: Treatment to prevent the prolapsed
of uterus: Treat the animal with the history
of this problem in advance. Drench half quarter
of Cashew Fenny once at 4th or 5th month stage
of pregnancy and once after 1 month. It is
better if the leaves of red Crossandra is
ground in the Fenny.
3rd Medicine: Crush 50 grams of Sensitive
plant and extract the liquid. Apply it on
the prolapsed uterus. Make a ball of the remnant
of the herb and feed it twice a day for 3
days. Push the uterus inside by an experienced
person and walk the animal. Tie the animal
in slope towards front.
4th Medicine: Take 200 grams of the tubers
of Asparagus and grind it nicely. Apply the
paste on the prolapsed uterus. Push the uterus
slowly with the hand applied with ground nut
oil. Always put wet white cloth on the prolapsed
uterus to keep it moist.
Problem of Letting down of Milk: Few animals,
especially the buffalos trouble a lot in letting
down of milk even though the udder is full
of milk. This problem is common if the calf
dies or the animal is shifted to the new shed.
Treatment: Feed the animal with 2 leaves of
Aloe one hour before milking. OR crush a small
piece of Rhaphidophora and feed. OR grind
10 grams of copper sulfate; mix it with cooked
rice and feed. But do not continue any of
these treatments for more than 2 days.
2nd Medicine: Cook 1 Thorne Apple fruit in
hot ash. Crush it with rice bran and make
it a ball. Feed this only once. Do not leave
the animal for grazing after this medication.
Reliving Pain: Pain due to slipping, fighting
each other etc. is common in animals.
Treatment: Take Aporosa leaves, black termite
mound and wild pepper vine- one handful each.
Crush these in sour orange juice and warm
the mixture. Apply this medicine to the portion
with pain.
2nd Medicine: Take black termite mound and
leaves of five leaved Chaste tree, Atalantia
vine and Emetic nut- one handful each. Crush
these with 10 grams of pepper. Mix it with
rice wash water and apply to the portion with
pain.
Gangrenous Tail: Symptoms: Hairs at the tip
of the tail drops. Tail depreciates slowly
and becomes blunt. Skin of the tail becomes
brittle and develops cracks. The entire tail
may go off if not treated. This is a fungal
disease.
Treatment: Boil the ground nut oil with a
ting of turmeric powder and garlic. Dip the
affected tail in hot oil. Animal gets disturbed
when the hot oil touches the live portion
of the tail. Leave it then. Later the dead
portion of the tail dries up and drops.
2nd Medicine: Ingredients: Indian Beech tree
seed oil and ghee. Method: Scrape the gangrenous
tail with a knife. Boil Indian Beech tree
seed oil and apply to the affected portion
of the tail. OR apply the hot ghee. Continue
this treatment till the gangrene cures completely.
Start the treatments immediately after noticing
the symptoms.
3rd Medicine: Take 1 handful of Indian Elm
leaves, 1 spoon milk of white Giant milk weed
and 10 grams of Camphor. Crush all these together
and apply. Cover the tail with cloth and tie.
4th Medicine: Scrape the gangrenous portion
of the tail with the thorn of Emetic nut plant.
Dip the tail in hot oil or ghee after the
bleeding stops.
Anoestrus: Symptoms: Heapers do not come in
to oestrus even after attaining maturity.
The cow may not come in to oestrus even after
2-3 months of calving. Reasons: Malnutrition,
genetic problem, silent heat, suffering from
contagious diseases like FMD, worm problem,
deficiency of essential minerals etc. are
the reasons for anoestrus. To avoid this,
nourish the animal with nutritious feed.
Treatment: Ingredients: Chickpea, Black gram,
Remusatia, bitter cucumber and long brinjal.
Method: soak chickpea and black gram � 200
gram each to get the sprouts. Add the tubers
of Remusatia and crush these with raw rice.
Then feed the mixture to the animal. OR crush
bitter cucumber in rice and feed. OR dip the
long brinjal in fried oil and wilt it by putting
it on the flame of a lamp. Feed 3-4 fruits
for 2 days to bring the animal in to oestrus.
2nd Medicine: Wash 1 Aloe leaf of medium size
in water. Feed one leaf a day for 5-6 days.
3rd Medicine: Gring 1 handful of Leptadenia
leaves with 10-15 grams of pigeon excreta.
Mix it with half liter of water and drench
it once in 3 days for 3 to 4 weeks.
4th Medicine: Ingredients: Black gram, Onion,
Cumin seeds and Jaggary. Method: Feed 100
grams of sprouted black gram for 3 days. If
the oestrus is not seen, cut 3 onion bulbs,
add little bit of Jaggary and feed. Then prepare
a decoction of cumin seeds and Jaggary and
drench it for 3 days.
5th Medicine: Ingredients: Niger and Horse
gram. Crush 200 grams of Niger seeds and make
it a ball. Feed 1 ball per day for 3-4 days.
OR sprout 1 kilogram of horse gram and mix
it with 100 grams of ghee. Feed it twice a
day for 3 days. Use buffalo ghee for cow and
cow ghee for buffalos. Apply remaining ghee
in the vessel to the vigena.
6th Medicine: Ingredients: oil of Huccellu,
drumstick leaves, horse gram and finger millet.
Method: Sprout 250 grams of horse gram. Add
20 ml of Huccellu oil and 300 grams of drumstick
leaves. Grind it and drench once in a day
for 21 days. Along with this feed cooked finger
millet with buttermilk.
7th Medicine: Ingredients: Bael Tree and Brinjal.
Method: Feed 1 kilogram of fresh Bael tree
leaves once in a day for 21 days. OR feed
1 kilogram of ripened brinjal once a day for
1 week to bring the animal in to oestrus.
8th Medicine: Ingredients: Coconut inflorescence,
unfolded leaves of Areca nut palm or Fish
tail palm. Method: Crush 1 just opened inflorescence
of coconut palm and extract the liquid. Mix
it with tender coconut water and drench once
a day for 3-4 days. OR Soak and ferment half
kilogram of raw rice in water for two days.
Cut the tender unopened leaf of areca nut
palm or fish tail palm. Crush it with fermented
raw rice with the soaked water. Drench it
once in 3 days for 2-3 times. But confirm
that the animal is not yet conceived while
giving this medicine.
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