Deworm Goats with Pine Trees — Fact or Fiction?

Deworming goats with prunings from pine trees and similar conifers is much less expensive than using chemicals. It also avoids the issue of internal parasites becoming resistant to chemical products. But can you really deworm goats with pine? Let’s find out:

Tannin

Before we take a look at pine, we need to consider tannins. Tannins are compounds with a bitter, astringent taste. They’re what make black tea and dark chocolate taste bitter. And what puckers your mouth when you drink red wine or eat an unripe apple.

The word tannin comes from the old German word for oak. It refers to the use of oak tree tannins to turn animal hides into leather. But tannins are used not just for tanning hides. They are used in a wide variety of products and processes. Some of them include medical products, skin care products, and the clarification of wine and beer.

Tannins exist in two forms: hydrolyzable and condensed. Hydrolyzable tannins are often called tannic acids. They degrade in the goat’s digestive tract to become readily absorbable. And potentially toxic. Luckily, hydrolyzable tannins are not as numerous as condensed tannins.

Condensed tannins bind with proteins and other nutrients, and are not readily absorbable. They occur in a wide variety of plants. They are especially high in many species of conifers, such as cedar, fir, pine, and spruce. (But note that some conifers, especially yew, are poisonous to goats.) Condensed tannins are also high in such forage plants as birdsfoot trefoil, chicory, plantain, and Sericea lespedeza.

Why Plants Have Tannin

Tannin is a defense mechanism plants use to ward off predators and protect against parasites. Tannins stored in tree bark protect the tree from bacterial and fungal infection.

The high tannin content of unripe fruit discourages animals from eating the fruit. As the fruit ripens, and the seeds mature until they are ready for dispersal, the tannin content goes down.

Even though animals generally avoid the unpleasant taste of tannin, sometimes they seek it out. Ruminants, given the chance, frequently nibble at plants that are high in tannin. And, indeed, livestock specialist are now realizing that tannins offer much the same benefits to animals as to plants.

Tannin as Dewormer

In two ways, condensed tannins work against such devastating nematodes as barber pole worm (Haemonchus contortus) and deer worm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis). They work directly on worm larvae by inhibiting nutrient absorption, impairing worm development and viability. Reducing the number of worms that mature inside the goat inhibits the worms’ reproductive rate and thereby decreases the number of worm eggs expelled in the goat’s poop.

Condensed tannins work indirectly by binding with protein in a goat’s rumen. More protein therefore makes it to the goat’s abomasum and small intestine. Protein in the lower digestive tract strengthens the intestinal lining to make it more resilient to parasite penetration. The extra protein also gives the goat’s immune system a boost. So over-all the goat is in better health, and better able to resist parasites.

Will goats eat conifers? You bet! My Nubians gobble down pine and cedar prunings so fast I had a hard time snapping photos for this page. I finally enlisted help doling out the prunings while I shot the photos.

Another much-discussed tannin option is Sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), either as hay or as pelleted feed. But, as we learned on our Tennessee farm, lespedeza is difficult to harvest as hay. The main reason is because it so easily shatters. So during the summer I hand cut green lespedeza shoots and feed them to my Nubians fresh. I also sometimes buy the pelleted feed, which my Nubians love. But it’s not easy to find. And when available, it’s extremely pricey. Pine and cedar, on the other hand, are freely available on our farm.

Other Benefits of Tannin

As well as working against intestinal nematodes, condensed tannin also works against the parasites that cause coccidiosis in goats. Coccidian control is especially important for recently weaned kids.

Dietary condensed tannins also increase bloat resistance. Bloat can be a problem for goats at the beginning of the grazing season. When they haven’t had much green forage over winter, they can binge on spring pasture. Protein in the rumen stabilizes foam that traps gasses, so the goat can’t belch them out. By reducing soluble protein in the rumen, condensed tannin prevents the formation of stable foam, thus preventing bloat.

Evidence suggests that ruminants fed condensed tannin produce more milk. Not much information related specifically to dairy goats is currently available. As they say in academia, more research is needed.

And, would you believe, feeding concentrated tannins improves the fertilizer benefit of goat poop. Normally some 80% of a goat’s dietary protein breaks down in the rumen to form non-protein nitrogen. Up to one-third of this non-protein nitrogen ends up in the goat’s urine. By increasing protein in the lower digestive tract, condensed tannin puts more dietary nitrogen into goat poop and less in pee. As a result of less nitrogen in pee, less evaporates as ammonia. Therefore more nitrogen is available for composting and incorporating into the soil. It’s a win all the way around.

How Much Is Too Much?

I asked a veterinary friend how much pine goats would need for parasite control. Her answer was that it’s a trade-off between “pissing off the parasites and pissing off the goat’s stomach.”

Feeding too much condensed tannin can interfere with a goat’s digestion and nutrient absorption. That’s not a common issue in temperate climates, where goats have a variety of plants to graze and browse. It can, however, be a problem in hot, dry climates where forage is sparse to start with, and what does grow is high in tannins.

Specific data is scarce on how to deworm confined goats with pine and other freshly harvested conifers. Cherrie Nolden, PhD candidate at University of Wisconsin-Madison studying goat parasites, refers to feeding Ponderosa pine needles at the rate of about 1 pound per goat per day. That’s a lot to harvest by hand.

As for Sericea lespedeza, veterinarian Lisa H. Williamson at the University of Georgia recommends feeding it at 50% or more of the goat’s diet during periods of high nematode risk. That would be during warm, wet weather. Feed the same percentage to kids starting 2 weeks before weaning until 6 weeks after weaning. Continuing to supplement kids from then until they mature can cause nutritional deficiencies. Dr. Williamson points out that even after kids are no longer getting lespedeza, their fecal oocyst count does not increase. So the effect of condensed tannins on coccidian parasites seems to be permanent.

So, Can You Deworm Goats with Pine?

If you hope to deworm goats with pine, or any other plant that’s high in condensed tannins, how do you know it really works? Well, you can do a fecal test. Or have it done by a veterinarian. Or you can learn to use the FAMACHA system. Rather than take someone else’s word for it, you then will prove it for yourself. And your goats will love you for it.