Favorite teat treatment?

[mammabooh]

Do any of you make a lotion or something similar to apply to your doe's teats when you are done milking every day? I have tried Bag Balm and hate that stuff. Snicket's teats are getting a bit tougher and I feel like she needs something to soften the skin. Any recipes or brand suggestions?

[Alice In TX/MO]

In general, avoid applying anything that will cause dirt/bacteria to adhere to the skin.

[IndyGardenGal]

I use Fight Bac spray.

[mammabooh]

Originally Posted by IndyGardenGal

I use Fight Bac spray.

That seems to dry my girls out. Does it have the opposite effect on your girls?

[Sherry in Iowa]

I use Fight Bac spray too. Doesn't seem to dry them out.

[mammabooh]

Hmmm...maybe it's the teat wash that is drying them out and not the Fight Bac.

[Awnry Abe]

I hope my darling bride chimes in on this one for the name. We just this week started using some herbal salves designed for dairy teets that smell good enough to spread on a salami sandwich. They have different formulations for different problems. I hear what you are saying, though, Alice. Too much of this stuff would definately not be a good thing. My hands don't have much of a sheen after applying it, so it probably is 'ok'.

[LoneStrChic23]

For dry skin I treat my girls udders like I did my hairless dogs.....Coconut oil Great moisturizer and it didn't clog the dogs pores and cause breakouts.

I make sure the udder is clean and dry, then massage coconut oil on and after I've rubbed it in a bit I use my udder wash and spray down the udder and dry

Star got really dry, chapped skin this year....Couldn't understand why until I saw her belly sliding down a huge sand pile! She would do it over and over and was rubbing herself raw!

With her, I washed her udder well, put on gloves, then just saturated her udder in coconut oil, and milked with it on (was a bit slippery, lol). Her udder was so chapped that trying to milk it dry was causing bleeding....Hence the nitrile gloves and oil....Anywho, by the 3rd milking like that she was looking great so I was able to milk normally again and just do an oil massage after each milking.

For whatever reason she's not belly sliding down the hill anymore and her udder is back to it's normal silky softness

I also use my own home made udder wash and teat spray that doesn't dry them out so thankfully I only need to break out the coconut oil for random cases

[prairiedog]

We have used coconut oil or and hand lotion I have around. Doesn't seem to need it once the weather warms up

[IndyGardenGal]

It doesn't dry our girls out. We use the teat wash/dip concentrate from TSC, and I put some in a restaurant squirt bottle (like the old style ketchup bottles with the cone tip) and squirt a bit on a baby wipe (I use the pampers sensitive wipes because I use them on the baby and they don't have alcohol or fragrance). No issues with them drying out at all.

[Sherry in Iowa]

I'll probably get scolded for this..but I use Palmolive dishsoap in really warm water. Wash and dry teats/bag before and after milking. Spray with Fight Bac. So far, they are not chapped or dried out..but I'm not promising anything..lol.

[Alice In TX/MO]

http://store.firmeadowllc.com/index....0fc9dd18f1f5b5

Fir Meadow has a variety of skin salves.

[mammabooh]

Originally Posted by Sherry in Iowa

I'll probably get scolded for this..but I use Palmolive dishsoap in really warm water. Wash and dry teats/bag before and after milking. Spray with Fight Bac. So far, they are not chapped or dried out..but I'm not promising anything..lol.

I use Dawn...just a tiny drop. I wonder if it would help to switch to Dawn Hand Renewal.

[bluefish]

I will get royally reamed for this, but I quit the udder wash and teat dip/spray. Aside from the first few weeks post kidding when the girls get chapped from the babies nursing, I have had no more chapping, no more staph, no more weird teat infections, etc. I used to have all a sorts of issues, especially in winter. Now, I just brush the udder/belly area off really well and have a cheesecloth stretched over the milk bucket. I always feed at the same time I milk so the girls stand and eat after milking for at least 15-20 minutes, which gives the teat orifices plenty of time to close up.

About a week post kidding, I start locking the babies up at night. When I do, I use a homemade ointment on the teats to help with the chapping from the babies nursing. I usually only have to do that for another week or two. The ointment depends on what I have around, but this year I've been using pine salve and really liking it. Coconut oil seems to work very well, too.

[mammabooh]

Originally Posted by thermopkt

I will get royally reamed for this, but I quit the udder wash and teat dip/spray. Aside from the first few weeks post kidding when the girls get chapped from the babies nursing, I have had no more chapping, no more staph, no more weird teat infections, etc. I used to have all a sorts of issues, especially in winter. Now, I just brush the udder/belly area off really well and have a cheesecloth stretched over the milk bucket. I always feed at the same time I milk so the girls stand and eat after milking for at least 15-20 minutes, which gives the teat orifices plenty of time to close up.

About a week post kidding, I start locking the babies up at night. When I do, I use a homemade ointment on the teats to help with the chapping from the babies nursing. I usually only have to do that for another week or two. The ointment depends on what I have around, but this year I've been using pine salve and really liking it. Coconut oil seems to work very well, too.

Ha! Yes, I'm sure folks will read this and be utterly repulsed, while others will think it sounds perfectly normal.

[bluefish]

Originally Posted by mammabooh

Ha! Yes, I'm sure folks will ready this and be utterly repulsed, while others will think it sounds perfectly normal.

Fortunately nobody but us drinks our milk. I figure the goats are all tested and I keep the pen pretty clean. If the girls are muddy or poopy, they do get washed first.

[mammabooh]

Oh, I'd love to have your recipe, if you don't mind sharing it. I have a recipe from the breeder I got my girls from, but it calls for 7 ingredients, and I only have one of them!

[bluefish]

Mine? I don't quite have a recipe. I use what oil I have on hand with a bit of beeswax til it's the texture/consistency I like. I tend to use heavier oil because DD has dry skin/eczema, but if you didn't want it that heavy you could just us a lighter oil like grapeseed or apricot.

A basic would be olive oil, maybe 1 to 1 1/2 c. Then 1/2-1 oz of beeswax. I add the beeswax to heated oil a bit at a time. Take a bit in a spoon at put in the fridge or freezer to harden to check consistency. If I want herbs in it, I put them in the olive oil and heat in a double boiler til the oil smells very fragrant and is changed in color, depending on what herbs are in there. Usually about 1/2 an hour at the least.

My favorite herbs for skin are calendula, st. johns wort, comfrey. pine sap, and tea tree oil and lavender oil. Chickweed and plantain are also good if they grow around you. Any combination or single herb will work. You can also take any of the herbs and use coconut oil in place of the olive oil, without beeswax. Long as the temps are below 76? degrees, the coconut oil will stay solid.

Sorry I don't have an exact recipe. I've been doing it long enough, I just throw stuff together.

[Sherry in Iowa]

Mammabooth..LOL..I was using Dawn regular before..I quit using it because it dried out my hands..I wasn't milking then..but the Palmolive orginal doesn't do that to me or the girls.

[Awnry Abe]

Originally Posted by Alice In TX/MO

http://store.firmeadowllc.com/index....0fc9dd18f1f5b5

Fir Meadow has a variety of skin salves.

That was the stuff I was talking about. We have 3 different types for different uses. I know they make the hands feel good, too.