Detailed description

The continued abuse of antibiotics in animal husbandry was the result of the practice of systematic preventive mass treatment in intensive animal husbandry. There are pressures for veterinary formulations, particularly antibiotics, not to be used as growth promoters or to compensate for inadequate hygiene conditions and to restrict their use to individual animals and only when fully justified by the veterinarian rather than as a preventive measure.

The practice of using veterinary medicinal products only for the treatment of diseases is a given only for organic farming. The non-preventive use of veterinary medicines has serious consequences, such as significantly reduced growth performance, more diseases and higher mortality, negatively affecting the economic profitability of livestock farms, especially organic farms. However, it is expected that the pressure to restrict antibiotics will redefine the future of livestock farming in general. The aim of the business plan is to investigate the use of essential oils as additives in the diet of organically reared goats and their effect on production and product quality.

By exploiting the wide range of these bioactive compounds, as well as their biologically active properties (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and digestive process enhancement), it is intended to be used preventively to enhance the health and increase the productivity of the animals. It is expected that their use will prevent the growth of pathogenic bacteria, prevent tissue oxidation and therefore improve growth performance and quality of animal products.

The pilot project is implemented on Maria Kakoglepi's livestock farm which has 300 milking goats and produces around 90 tonnes of milk per year.

The size of the farm is sufficient to draw conclusions as the goats on the farm are divided into small groups of 7-10 goats. These groups are reared on different rations and their milk is collected separately, analysed and the effect of the ration on its quality and the quality and yield of the respective dairy products is studied. The experiments are repeated for 2 or 3 years.