Is there something I can put on my milk doe's udder to repel mosquitoes? Poor thing is getting chewed up. Skiters are making me very angry. :veryangry:
I found an interesting article about herbal mosquito repellents, and sent it to my local witch doctor (who takes my extra goat milk to make cheese :thumb: ) http://www.seattlepi.com/nwgardens/9041 ... oy10.shtml We are going to brew up a batch of 'Catnip Rosemary Mosquito Chasing oil' to try. How fun will that be?
I will look at my Emails and see if I can find the article on it but I use (don't laugh). Listerine mouth wash. It works great and it is cheap.
I am not suprised Listerine would work. Bet I could throw some catnip into it to distill out the essential oils.
That's awesome! Does it work for humans too? I know Downy dryer sheets work for repelling bees, just rub them on fur or skin.
Lori - that is fascinating and I'd like to try it but I'm concerned... when I use Listerine it 'burns' (not literally but spicy like) my mouth.. do you notice your goats showing any discomfort after you put it on? I will admit that I'm a wimp when it comes to anything spicy hot. What other people say is really mild feels hot to me.
my goats licked the cayenne pepper off of our lilac...I think they can handle some listerine on their hair. :wink:
Not at all. I squirt it on my hands then rub it on her udder where the gnats were sucking on her (that big chewed up spot by the medial lig has healed up now - YAY!). It doesn't bother my hands and it doesn't seem to bother her udder, certainly it bothers her less than the gnats. I thought the alcohol content might make it sting, but it doesn't seem to. Also if there is a bug flying around when I'm getting ready to milk, the Listerine seems to knock them out of the air which works better than me swiping at them & missing. For endurance horses, there is a leg linament recipe that I used for quite a while that included listerine, witch hazel, and green alcohol. It's supposed to be a soothing wash. I thought that Listerine might be soothing for the udder, too.
Would like to know when ya'll apply? Before ya'll milk, after ya'll milk, or both. Please do tell me!
I have been spritzing some at the back of her udder before I milk so she's not kicking at bugs while I milk, and then after milking, splash more of it on.
Thank you, I'm new to this. I milk mine in the morning, then put her back with the babies. They say that they get matitis from bacteria getting in the orffics. I don't want to cause that. I just want to do this correctly. It seems that the listerine may help with her udder. It is rough and like little patches of bites on her. I don't see them biting her, but when I put her in the stall at night to keep the babies from her I thought the bugs[maybe lice] were biting her. I will try this . Thanks again.
