Many people in Ireland use homeopathy to treat ailments - but some farmers claim that animals can also benefit from the practice.

Homeopathy is an alternative medicine that seeks to treat diseases and illnesses through natural remedies.

Farmer Pat Aherne told Moncrieff that he has seen a huge reduction in vet calls since engaging with homeopathy.

“The vet will still be called at the odd time for, should we say, funny incidents – but no, the majority of instances the vet wouldn’t be called,” he said.

“The majority of farmers down this road, they would say [they have seen] anything over an 80% reduction in veterinary call outs for themselves.

“If the vet is called and they’ve given drugs, homeopathy would also be used in conjunction with that to help with the recovery and to help the animal to emotionally get through her incidents that she’s had – it could have been a shock, it could have been a fall, she could have been bullied in the herd.

“So, you’re looking at that like, my herd is like a finely tuned orchestra, and I am their conductor.”

Farmer in Ireland walking behind a herd of cows on a narrow country road on Valentia Island in County Kerry, Ireland.

According to Mr Aherne, he takes a cows emotional and psychological well-being into account when considering a treatment.

“Homeopathy is energy, it’s a signal, it’s quantum physics,” he said.

“So, literally it can be either a herd of one hundred cows or a herd of one thousand cows, and 90% of the remedies go through the drinking water... We don’t treat it physically.

“You’re not going after the disease, you look at the animal, and you stand back, and you assess the situation.”

Evidence

Mr Aherne said that there was plenty of scientific evidence to back up this way of thinking.

“At the end of the day, it if wasn’t working, I wouldn’t be using it,” he said.

“I mean, I’m guessing 90% of my heard is in calf in six weeks.

"This past year, I was 5% empty, and the national average would have been around 12%, and I’m consistently under 10% with cows not holding their pregnancy.”

Mr Aherne said he would treat his cows based off their individual personalities and feelings.