| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| maryjane |
Posted - Mar 30 2015 : 5:12:40 PM
Anyone ever seen a cow react to a tick like this? I pulled three ticks off Sweetheart (they were still small with hardly any blood in them yet) and what a reaction she's having (the other site is on the other side of her neck). My other cows aren't having a reaction at all. Another thing I should just chalk up to pregnancy?
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| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Sydney2015 |
Posted - Apr 17 2016 : 3:03:24 PM
Thank you! I love essential oils and use them all the time when I need to! |
| CloversMum |
Posted - Apr 12 2016 : 08:39:27 AM
I have a goat milk lotion that I put several different essential oils in and the lotion repels ticks, bugs and mosquitoes. My goat friend who hikes every day with her goats uses the lotion and has not gotten a tick yet while using it. A few times she forgot to use the lotion before her hike and those times she has gotten a tick or two.
I just may need to add some lemon eucalyptus ... I like the smell myself anyway! |
| farmlife |
Posted - Apr 11 2016 : 8:39:37 PM
Lemon eucalyptus is a wonderful mosquito repellant too. I use it in MJ's recipe for fly spray with good luck as well. |
| maryjane |
Posted - Apr 09 2016 : 06:18:30 AM
Sydney, good pick for a State Fair project. No wonder you got a purple ribbon. Thanks for the recipes. Fortunately for us here in N. Idaho, we don't have the ticks that carry Lyme disease, but we do have the Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever tick. |
| Sydney2015 |
Posted - Apr 09 2016 : 05:51:36 AM
Yes, it is! You are supposed to spray it on your clothes, but I'm sure the animals could use it too! |
| CloversMum |
Posted - Apr 07 2016 : 11:10:20 AM
Sydney, is this to help prevent ticks? Seems so easy! Thank you for posting. |
| Sydney2015 |
Posted - Apr 07 2016 : 08:31:51 AM
Hi MaryJane! I finally got the potion recipe! It is:
20-25 drops of Tea Tree Essential Oil
20-25 drops of Lemongrass Essential Oil
4 oz. water
Combine in a spray bottle and spray on clothes, socks, or pant cuffs. |
| CloversMum |
Posted - Apr 01 2016 : 5:46:35 PM
Just your description, Janet, helps a lot! Thank you. That's the sort of "recipe" I was looking for. I wanted something to spray around the barn and shelters, not on the animals.
I've ordered lots through Mountain Rose Herbs and The Sage. I'll have to look up From Plantlife.
The one essential oil that I love, especially during the cold/flu season, is Thieves blend from Young Living. I also use it for general household cleaning. |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Apr 01 2016 : 07:13:04 AM
Cindy, I use essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs for years, as MaryJane mentioned above. I have also purchased From Plantlife, The Sage, Prairieland Herbs (local) I use in daily cleansers for household, I use others for soap and then of course for use on animals, and the barn. I use some on plants, no end for uses. |
| txbikergirl |
Posted - Apr 01 2016 : 06:41:24 AM
in the tub this morning that was the first place i thought to try, they have purdy adds in MJF mag. i'll spend more time on their website. thanks!
yes, after last nights escapades i both ended last night and started this morning in the tub. woke up at 5am bright eyed and bushy tailed and thought a warm soak with a little reading would start the day nicely. |
| maryjane |
Posted - Apr 01 2016 : 06:37:13 AM
Good morning Cindy. We swear by the essential oils from https://www.mountainroseherbs.com/ |
| txbikergirl |
Posted - Apr 01 2016 : 06:28:22 AM
janet, where do you get your essential oils? i have used them for awhile around the house and such, but never paid much attention to strength, etc. it always seemed like i had to use a lot. so recently i started reading up on the efficacy of essential oils and how greatly they differ - which makes sense of course. i got a few samples from someone and the difference is amazing, and of course they are more expensive. but 1-2 drops of these is like 10 drops of the other... so in the end they won't be more expensive, just more money up front. any brand suggestions or anything else? |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Apr 01 2016 : 04:27:43 AM
Well, I'm afraid I can't help you with that Charlene. I follow recipes pretty close but when it comes to the spray, I used a 16 oz. bottle with nozzle, water, and a few drops of essential oil. Pennyroyal, lemon grass, oregano. Probably 5-6 drops of each. I don't count. (this is not sprayed on the cows, just around the barn). When making MaryJane's recipe for spray I follow her recipe. Also, I sometimes just take the essential oil bottle out and release a few drops here and there in the barn. May be lavender one time, pennyroyal the next, oregano... |
| CloversMum |
Posted - Mar 31 2016 : 7:16:06 PM
OK, Janet, you know I'm more of a "follow the recipe exactly" type of girl ... so how many drops of those oils did you put into how much warm water? Any other essential oils other than the three that you mentioned?
And, I'll be mixing up more of MaryJane's organic spray again shortly. Thanks for the tip about the Dynamint. That will make everything smell good too! |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Mar 31 2016 : 1:06:35 PM
I did use some Wondercide, but it was too expensive to use with any frequency. I still use MaryJane's organic recipe spray, and I used Dynamint too. I found that if I put Dynamint in my hands and smoothed it onto their back, ears, etc. the flies didn't bother. So I may try that again this year. I also dripped Pennyroyal/lemongrass/oregano etc. essential oil in some warm water and sprayed on the boards in barn, which gave it a nice scent and I didn't have problems with mosquitoes, gnats, flies etc. When the fragrance got weak, I did it again. |
| Sydney2015 |
Posted - Mar 31 2016 : 12:52:21 PM
My first thought is Lyme disease. When people get Lyme disease they get the "bulls eye" rash, which can look like that.
I did a project on Lyme Disease last year that went to the State Fair(I got a purple), the project was focused on dogs, but I'm sure it is pretty similar for cows. On my board I have a natural remedy for ticks(I think it's natural, but I'm not sure) I'll check and post it tonight. |
| CloversMum |
Posted - Mar 31 2016 : 11:46:07 AM
Janet, did you ever use the wondercide on your cows? Thoughts?
I realized that this was all posted almost exactly a year ago! Time to start watching for ticks again...
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| farmlife |
Posted - Mar 31 2015 : 6:16:47 PM
I totally remember feeling like that at the end of my pregnancies, MaryJane. Sweetheart has my sympathies! I was cranky and not always kind. In fact with my daughter I was four days overdue and I had to stop answering the phone the last few weeks because it was always friends or relatives calling to ask if I had had the baby yet! It was beyond frustrating for me because it was not like we wouldn't call them once the baby was born. I couldn't take a deep breath, couldn't see my feet, couldn't bend over, and I had outgrown all of my clothes! I totally relate to how Sweetheart is feeling. My advice is check on her and make sure her needs are met, but for the most part leave her be. She has stopped answering the phone and just wants to be left alone until she can be sociable again. :) Hopefully when the calf comes she will forget about all of it and carry on. |
| CloversMum |
Posted - Mar 31 2015 : 2:15:42 PM
My skin is crawling after reading the articles you linked, MaryJane!
I want to go bathe in some Pennyroyal essential oil. Thanks, Janet, for your link as well. Great resource for herbs and other plants to help deter the nasty creepy crawling things. |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Mar 31 2015 : 12:32:46 PM
I read up on the Wondercide product and am going to try a batch. I placed and order. Even some personal product for people. They use organic ingredients. Safe for children, pets, food surfaces. I guess I will let you know later down the road if it works. Supposedly kills and repels fleas, ticks, mosquitoes, flies etc. www.wondercide.com/ |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Mar 31 2015 : 06:50:20 AM
Have any of you heard of Wondercide? A natural product used on pets that kills ticks and fleas. Wonder if it could work on cows? Going to look into this further. |
| NellieBelle |
Posted - Mar 31 2015 : 04:47:12 AM
http://www.homegrowntexas.com/issues/NovDec03/ I have guineas which helps keep the tick population down but plan on planting some other herbs to help deter other pests as well. (Love any excuse to go to greenhouse) To bad you're not closer Sydney.) I have taken the Pennyroyal essential oil and let it drip on a few boards in the barn. When I went into the barn yesterday afternoon I could smell it emanating from the interior. I liked the smell. This is not to be taken internally. I'm going to mix some of the oil in with water and spray around on the boards and stalls. I only had one fly yesterday but it's early. |
| maryjane |
Posted - Mar 31 2015 : 01:32:04 AM
Charlene,
Sweetheart's reactions are about the size of a dime.
These two articles answered most of my questions:
http://www.idahostatejournal.com/members/spring-brings-ticks-and-potentially-lyme-disease/article_5fad5a94-bc17-11e3-a8be-0019bb2963f4.html
http://www.tickencounter.org/prevention/top_ten_things_list
The ticks we have around here and that Sweetheart had on her were distinctly Rocky Mountain. I've never seen a deer tick here (also called black-legged, the only one that carries Lyme, named after Lyme, Connecticut). But the Rocky Mountain ticks carry plenty of other diseases.
I've never heard of clothing that deters ticks, but it seems easy enough to check for ticks routinely. (You know the old joke about couples checking for ticks:) Whenever I get a tick, I feel it crawling on me first before it sets in. I remember having them dig in when I was a kid but only crawly ones in recent years. My father had this theory that he'd light a match, blow it out, and then while it was still hot, touch it to the butt of the tick and it would back out without being pulled out, leaving it's head in you. Hmmmmm.
I know with Sweetheart, the ticks weren't on her neck for more than 24 hours because I'd been brushing her neck routinely just prior. She's losing her winter hair like mad right now. She looks almost bald in places.
This poor girl just needs to have her baby. Keeley, do you remember feeling that way toward the end of your pregnancies? I sure do. I was over being pregnant when I was about 8 months along, probably more like 6. I remember saying I felt like a pregnant cow. Ha, that has new meaning now.
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| CloversMum |
Posted - Mar 30 2015 : 8:45:47 PM
Yikes! I didn't realize the ticks were out in force already in our area! I'll have to keep an eye out for these buggers. |
| CloversMum |
Posted - Mar 30 2015 : 8:45:07 PM
Those sites look quite large. But its hard to tell exactly...what size in diameter are they? Find any more information out? |
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