Publications by authors named "A Maeschli"
Background: The demand for natural product-based treatment options for livestock is increasing by animals' owners, veterinarians and policy makers. But at the same time, the traditional knowledge about it is at risk of falling into oblivion in Europe. The present study recorded this knowledge for the linguistically and geographically interesting Swiss canton of Valais.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF[Homemade herbal remedies - tradition with practical relevance].
Tierarztl Prax Ausg G Grosstiere Nutztiere
April 2024
Article Synopsis
- Farmers in Bavaria have been making homemade herbal remedies for their animals for a long time, and a study was done from 2018 to 2021 to learn more about this practice.
- Over 700 recipes were shared by farmers, mostly using one plant and focusing on helping cows with stomach and health issues.
- This traditional way of caring for animals could be useful for veterinarians, but they have to follow specific laws about medicines and animal food.
Article Synopsis
- The study focuses on documenting traditional veterinary knowledge and herbal remedies used by farmers in Bavaria, aiming to support the future development of European veterinary herbal medicine in light of the antibiotics crisis.
- Researchers conducted 77 semi-structured interviews with 101 farmers, gathering extensive information about homemade remedies, including plant species, manufacturing processes, and the satisfaction of the farmers with these treatments.
- A total of 716 homemade remedy reports were collected, with particular attention given to 363 remedies based on single plant species for in-depth analysis and comparison with historical veterinary texts.
In contrast to natural and historical diets of wild and domesticated ruminants, the diversity of plant species is limited in diets of modern dairy cows. Are "production diseases" linked to this? We conducted a trial to test the effects of a multicomponent herbal feed additive (HFA) on health, performance and fertility traits. A dose-finding study (DF) with 62 cows on 11 commercial farms compared a low (50 g) and a high (100 g) dose of HFA (HFA-50, HFA-100) with a placebo (PL).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEthnopharmacological Relevance: In the pre-antibiotic era, a broad spectrum of medicinal plants was used to treat livestock. This knowledge was neglected in European veterinary medicine for decades but kept alive by farmers. Emergence of multidrug resistant bacterial strains requires a severely restricted use of antibiotics in veterinary medicine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF