About Us

We strongly believe that one of the greatest values of feeding herbs and spices routinely to animals is the role that they can play in preventative medicine, and helping pets to achieve optimal health. Feeding health maintenance herbs increases nutritional variety in a pure bio-available form, and will help to fulfil your pet’s natural requirements for highly beneficial phyto-nutrients (otherwise known as plant nutrients). These phyto-nutrients are typically overwhelmingly deficient in the modern “balanced” processed diets available for pets.

Our modern world of monoculture farming has created a stark absence of diversity in pasture, and Jennie van der Byl grew up seeing first-hand the incredible benefits of adding herbs to her animals diets which boosted their nutritional variety and helped to counteract this. It became a passionate interest for her since age fourteen. Her interest in herbs sprung up from when she watched one of her talented young showjumpers self-medicate on herbs, after he’d suffered a potentially career ending leg injury. Over the next decade she studied extensively into animal herbalism and qualified in traditional herbalism, and thereafter founded Honeyvale Herbs and pioneered registering equine herbal blends with the Department of Agriculture in South Africa in 2003. From there, happy clients soon also requested herbal blends for their dogs, cats and poultry, and the Honeyvale Herbs team expanded in order to meet the demand. Word spread countrywide and abroad, and Jennie was requested to formulate specialist blends for many species; including baboons, elephant, camels, giraffe, buffalo and various types of antelope! Provided the herbal blends are adapted to suit the animals differing physiologies, providing them with a wholefood diet with wide variety (which is increased by adding herbs) is safe and greatly benefits ALL types of life.

Later Jennie qualified as an Equine Herbalist and Iridologist in France. Having qualified previously as a Permaculture Design Consultant, it further reinforced how all things need to be kept in balance with each other and working together harmoniously… be it diet, training, environment or medical treatment…the aim is always to provide the body whatever it needs to heal fully and completely, and not just to treat the symptoms. The body is truly incredible at healing itself, provided you feed the organ systems and tissues with what they NEED in order to heal. The Honeyvale Herbs Team spends a great deal of time providing free advice in order to ensure animals are on the most appropriate herbs and best managed in order to facilitate complete healing.

Over and over again it’s been an absolute joy to see the transformation in animals who’ve been given a second chance in life to do that – through the incredible healing power of the wide variety of phytonutrients that herbs provide – both safely and effectively!

Our Team

Jennie van der Byl

Owner and Founder

I’ve had the pleasure of enjoying a life and career immersed in two of my greatest loves – animals and plants.

Through painstaking observation and hard-earned experience my father learnt the benefits of organic farming principles, and applied them early on in his successful nursery business. This was during the time when organic farming was very unpopular and frowned upon as being “inferior” and “unscientific”, so he bravely withstood a great deal of pressure, but through mindful observation he had the courage of his convictions and knew he was on the right track. During my school years,my father and I set our own plant-growing trials to compare inorganic fertilisers to natural manures and composts. These observations set the foundation to my comprehension of holistic health, be it for plants or for animals.

Managing the feeding for my horses, and working with them competitively and successfully in eventing, dressage and show jumping, along with managing a Thoroughbred pre-training, breeding and rehabilitation yard also taught me what was required to achieve glowing, healthy horses from the inside-out. I recognised that both plants and animals need a broad spectrum of nutrients in a natural, bio-available form to achieve optimum health and longevity.

Melissa Maeder

Sales and Distributions Manager

“I have happily been part of Honeyvale Herbs since 2015. I absolutely love, and always have loved, the herbal approach to all things living and am so enthusiastic about it; and even more so after seeing how dramatically my horse has benefited positively from it! I liaise with all clients, manage orders and deliveries, and ensure our clients are happy with their requested products. In my spare time I enjoy being with my horse, taking my whippet for walks on the beach, doing yoga, and just generally being in and around nature.”

Megan Mulholland

Social Media Manager

“Hi Im Megan, Social Media manager at Honeyvale Herbs and mom to a little hurricane (and 5 dogs). I have a passion for creating relationships of quality with our clients and I love the creative outlet my job gives me. I’m able to create beautiful content with visually delicious herbs! I worked for Honeyvale Herbs from 2011 till 2015, and after having a baby, I am very excited to be back on board. In my downtime I try to be consistently active in charity projects and spend quality time with my family (including the multiple fur babies)”

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