Yeo Valley uses Alternative Treatment

The company, Yeo Valley Organic, takes pride in having a proactive approach to animal welfare and minimising the stress to livestock which may result in illness. The routine use of antibiotics as a preventative measure to treat the ailments of its cows is not permitted at Yeo Valley Organic. The Herd Manager has invested time and money in studying a course on homeopathic treatments, which he believes has been enormously beneficial to the company.

On conventionally run farms, the administration of antibiotics always results in withdrawal periods for milk and meat during treatment, but homeopathy has no such effect. The cows do not build up immunity to homeopathic remedies - a major consideration; in fact, homeopathy appears to encourage the cows’ immune systems to fight ‘bugs’ for themselves, so the cows stay healthy naturally.

Homeopathic treatment is used in a number of different ways; including to ward off flies, to ease the cows’ stress levels when they have their feet clipped, and to help them during a difficult calving. Yeo Valley Organic are keen to increase the homeopathic care they offer to their animals in the future, and aim to continue to treat their herd homeopathically, whenever appropriate.

This article was first published in Homeopathy Health Medicine, March 2011