# Garlic for Mastitis?



## TroutRiver (Nov 26, 2010)

Anyone used or heard of using raw garlic tincture to treat and prevent mastitis? Just heard of it today and I am intrigued...

Will garlic tincture affect the taste of the milk?


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

I have not used garlic tincture, but I have fed raw garlic to help with mastitis as it was just barely starting. It kept the bacteria at bay and didn't affect the taste of the milk. 
I don't know if the tincture would be stronger (I would assume it might be), but with a full blown case of mastitis, the raw garlic alone didn't do the job.

Good luck!


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

we would put 5 drops of garlic oil in 10cc of olive oil and inject in the affected quarter.
Don't know about taste as it went either in the bulk tank or out to the calves.
It would clear up a mild case but any really hot nasty quarters were usually gonna die off.


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## TroutRiver (Nov 26, 2010)

sammyd said:


> we would put 5 drops of garlic oil in 10cc of olive oil and inject in the affected quarter.
> Don't know about taste as it went either in the bulk tank or out to the calves.
> It would clear up a mild case but any really hot nasty quarters were usually gonna die off.


You inject it into the quarter, then milk it out at the next milking? Or do you let it sit for a day or two in the affected quarter before milking it out? 

Very interesting, we are trying hard to find effective alternatives to using antibiotics for mastitis. Have used essential oils in the past, but not garlic oil. The essential oil blend we used recommended infusing the quarter, then not touching it for the next two milkings, then milking it out completely. It worked once or twice for very milk cases, but more often than not it had little effect and we ended up resorting to antibiotics.

Someone nearby uses a garlic tincture drench as a dry cow protocol to prevent mastitis in freshening cows.


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

we would milk out the next milking, sometimes several treatments would be needed.
Milk out, hand strip if needed, infuse, and rub on lots of peppermint goo.
Would never leave milk in the cow if she has mastitis. It needs to get out of her. I have cleared up not so bad cases by keeping the cow in and hand milking several times a day and rubbing the udder with lots of the peppermint goo.
We could not resort to antibiotics in the organic herd, unless of course the animal was on deaths door.


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## TroutRiver (Nov 26, 2010)

Yes, that is a big reason why we are not organic, but we are trying more and more to get away from the conventional mindset of dairy farming and move toward a more organic/holistic approach. 

Have you ever used an infusion of peppermint oil into a quarter with mastitis? With its antibacterial properties I would think that could be very effective, never heard of it being done, though. 

What about a blend of garlic and peppermint oil? 

Thanks so much for sharing your methods and experience! Anyone else who would like to chime in, please do!


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

There are those that promote tea tree oil as a topical to use for mastitis treatment.


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## TroutRiver (Nov 26, 2010)

Trisha in WA said:


> I have not used garlic tincture, but I have fed raw garlic to help with mastitis as it was just barely starting. It kept the bacteria at bay and didn't affect the taste of the milk.
> I don't know if the tincture would be stronger (I would assume it might be), but with a full blown case of mastitis, the raw garlic alone didn't do the job.
> 
> Good luck!


How much raw garlic did you feed, and for how long?


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

Best way to treat mastitis, short of real medication, is to milk every two hours for a few days. But that's a lot of effort.

I thought I read a coment where a dairy farmer was infusing olive oil and garlic oil into a mastitis ridden quarter and then letting it go into the bulk tank? Tell me it ain't so!


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## sammyd (Mar 11, 2007)

yes it is so if the CMT showed the quarter was better at the next milking


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