poison ivy

goatee · #1 08/29/05, 08:11 AM

I just got two milking alpine does.I am drinking the milk raw.A friend told me you can get poison ivy if they eat it and you drink the milk.I have lots of poison ivy where they are and they like to eat it a lot.Do you get poison ivy from their milk?

GoatsRus · #2 08/29/05, 11:10 AM

My reasoning for buying goats was that I was/am extremely allergic to poison ivy. I had read that you let them eat the plants then milk them and drink it, it will then provide you with antibodies against the poison ivy. Since we ended up with a farm and pasture that has no poison ivy I haven't tested the theory. sorry I couldn't help, but may be some one else can.

mary,tx · #3 08/29/05, 11:54 AM

You won't get it from their milk. You will, however, get it from off their hair if they have been in it and you, like me, are overly susceptible to it. The oil will stay on them for a long time, and you can get it on your arms and hands when milking, or any other part of you that touches where they have touched the poison ivy. My solution was to wear long sleeves and gloves milking. You'll be glad next year, though, when the poison ivy is gone.

btw, I was glad to discover a product called Tecnu. You simply wash well with it when you think you might have come into contact with poison oak/ivy, or when you first see the sores coming up on your skin. It greatly diminishes the effects. Nothing else I've tried has helped.

mary

full sun · #4 08/29/05, 12:45 PM

I, too, am very prone to poison ivy. My dermatologist told me that water neutralizes the allergen. I have never tested it scientifically, but I always rinse off if I feel I have been exposed and I have not had a problem in years. >knock on wood<

Jennifer

TexCountryWoman · #5 08/30/05, 04:42 PM

Goats LOVE to eat Poison Ivy. I do believe that drinking raw goat milk will make you immune to certain things like that. I also read an article in one of my country-type magazines where this one lady wrote that she would take a tiny fresh spring leaf of poison ivy and place in an empty medicine capsule and she and her husband would swallow those each spring prior to poison ivy becoming rampant. She said that kept their systems immune from poison ivy. This is what my experience has been: When I first came in contact with poison ivy decades ago, I had a SEVERE reaction requiring medical attention (injections from the doc of cortizone and GG). Then after that it bothered me, but not as much. Now, after reading that article, each spring, when the first leaves sprout, and they are fairly mild with toxins, I touch them with my fingers and break the stems open to get the juice on my finger tips and innoculate myself so to speak. I have been doing this for years. Now I can brush up against a monster Poison Ivy plant and am totally unaffected. I drink raw goats milk and innoculated myself with baby poison ivy in the spring by touching mild leaves. I never get a case of it. Also, if you do brush up against it, don't wash the area with soap, that just spreads it around your skin. Use the hose with plain water right away if it bothers you, or go in the house and use rubbing alcohol. This is all just my opinion, I am not a doctor. I am a retired RN. Do not take this as medical advice.....Diane

okgoatgal2 · #6 08/30/05, 09:29 PM

drinking raw milk from goats who've been eating poison ivy/sumac helped minimize my dd's outbreaks.

goatee · #7 08/31/05, 08:46 PM

Thank everyone for the input.I have been drinking the milk and the does have been eas\ting the poison ivy.No bad effects.

okgoatgal2 · #8 09/01/05, 08:41 PM

tana, i'm so sorry to hear that. i've got some odd rash on my left shoulder that i finally decided was from skin to hair contact w/the goats while milking (i'm wearing tanks now, where i never did when i had goats in the past) so i've started wearing t's instead-or shirts that come to my elbow, at least, and it is slowly fading, but i don't know what they are in that is causing my issue.

gotta love that fresh raw goat milk, though.

Milk n' Honey · #9 09/06/05, 11:36 PM

First, I don't think that the milk will help you with antibodies if you pastuerize it, right? I have been getting poison ivy regularly since I bought my goats over a month ago. I know they love to eat it and I know we have plenty of it on our property which is 75% woods. Well, I love on them and rub their faces cuz I love em'. I didn't think about them giving poison ivy to me. I keep getting it and now have a good spot of poison oak on the underside of my arm which is rubbing against my side constantly. It is awful. I can't drink the milk right now because of the bucky flavor (repulsive). Hopefully, I will be better next year after they've eaten it down. Please remember to never us hot water to wash poison oils off because it will open up the pores in your skin and cause a worse reaction. Use cool water. I can see where soap would spread it around with all the moisturizers and such. There are soaps specifically for that though but I haven't tried them. Thank you Mary for mentioning the Tecnu. I haven't heard of it but I'm willing to try anything!! This stuff will make a person crazy!!

mary,tx · #10 09/07/05, 09:37 AM

I'm not sure Tecnu will help you if you already have a bad case. But what it does do a good job of is removing the oils so that your outbreak does not get worse. And if you use it right away after exposure or at the first sign of outbreak, it can eliminate an outbreak or make it very minimal. I suggest that you wear gloves when you handle your goats, and wash up with a little Tecnu as well. You can get it at CVS pharmacies. I don't know who else sells it.
You are spot on with the advice not to wash in hot water. I once took someone's bad advise to do just that, and it really blistered up badly. Also, just about everything I have tried except Tecnu just spreads it around and makes it worse.
mary