Plants for controlling parasites in goats

Abstract

Parasitism is a prime issue within the goat enterprise. Infection and infestation of goat herds cause health problems which compromise animal performance, resulting in economic loss. The control of internal and external parasites is widely dependent on the use of chemical anthelmintics and acaricides. However, challenges stemming from the use of these commercial drugs such as the development of resistance, ever-increasing cost of drugs, environmental toxicity of chemicals and residuals in animal products have increased interest in the use of plant-based parasite control methods. The practice of using plant-derived ethnoveterinary medicines to control parasites is an important intervention for improving goat productivity. Therefore, the focus of this chapter is on the exploitation and potential thereof of ethnoveterinary medicines for controlling parasites in goats.