You’ve no doubt heard the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”. Nowhere is this more true than in the health of dairy animals. The foundation of organic/natural farming is to prevent the problem so you don’t have to treat it. So lets first take a look at some preventative measures you can take. The two most important things are nutrition and cleanliness.
One of the ways to prevent mastitis is having cows with strong immune systems. Minerals, vitamins and trace elements are very important for healthy immune systems in dairy animals. Organic mineral packages, kelp meal and Redmond salt are good sources of minerals and trace elements. We feed all these on our farm, both in our grain mix and top dressed at feeding time. Remember that most dairy grain rations are calculated for higher feeding rates than most homestead cows receive, this means that if you are relying on it for your mineral source the cows are probably being short changed. Some people feed kelp and minerals free choice. At first the cows eat a large amount and it seems as though you’ll go broke feeding it, but eventually as the cows requirements are met they eat much less.
Another very important aspect of mastitis prevention is cleanliness. Cows need to be kept well bedded and dry. Wet and dirty stalls and pens are breeding grounds for bacteria which cause mastitis. Mud is another place mastitis “bugs” love to live. Keep their udders out of the mud whenever possible and by all means use adequate amounts bedding. Proper udder prep at milking time can really cut back your cases of mastitis. I try not to use water when cleaning teats unless they are very dirty. Pre dip with an iodine teat dip. Leave it on for at least 30 seconds and wipe it off with a clean paper towel or clean cloth towel. Never use a towel on more than one cow. The most important thing to do is cleaning the teat ends. This is the most overlooked area, but the most important. The end of a cow’s teat is recessed and mud and manure builds up there. If using a machine, don’t leave it on too long. As soon as you’re done, dip the teats with the iodine dip again, making sure that you get good coverage.
OK, so you did all those things and your cow got mastitis anyway. It happens. You can’t always prevent every case. The good news is there are many ways to treat mastitis naturally and without the use of antibiotics. As an organic dairyman, I’ve found a few things that work pretty well. Here is what we do or have done on our farm when mastitis hits one of our cows.
Using salves and creams that have essential oils in them can work quite well. Essential oils of peppermint, tea tree and oregano all help. Superior Cow Cream is one commercially available cream with all these ingredients. You just rub it on the udder after each milking. On some cases, this alone will take care of it.
Of course, it goes without saying that one should try to keep the quarter stripped out. This will starve the bacteria that might be causing the problem.
Garlic Tinctures work very well also. We give 3 cc in the cow’s vulva twice a day. This is best done with a syringe with a little piece of plastic tubing on the end. They can be purchased from Crystal Creek.
Aloe Vera in the liquid form can be given orally at a dose of 300 cc twice a day for three days. Aloe is an immune booster and will help the cow fight off the infection.
Kelp can be fed at 2 oz. once a day to help boost the immune system.
In the past we had good results using pasteurized whey. It can be given orally or sub-q near the tail head. You can give 30 cc every day for 3 days. After seven days do it all over again. This is another immune booster that has been used for many years.
On stubborn cases we do the whey, garlic and kelp treatments all at once. While these treatments might not cure every case, we have had good results from them.
Here are two good books on natural cattle care, Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals by Paul Dettloff, DVM and Treating Dairy Cows Naturally by Hubert J. Karreman, V.M.D.
Also these two radio show episodes that I did might be helpful. Episode 2 covers mastitis treatments and Episode 4 covers feeding, fencing and choosing a family cow.
Legal Disclaimer
Note~ This blog post dose not constitute veterinary advise. It is for education purposes, always consult your vet when treating your cattle.
Here is the 3lb package of honeybees on the way home from the post office
