Stop mastitis in dairy animals before it starts with this all-natural homemade Dynamint udder cream!
It seems that when farm emergencies happen, it's Sunday morning. Is it just karma? I'm not sure, but when I got a call early one Sunday morning from Marius who was up with Wilderness the cow at my Moms house and he quite urgently told me that she had a blocked duct, which can very quickly become Mastitis if one is not careful! The best way to avoid blocked ducts is prevention, but that doesn't always work!
Commercial dairies, even a small scale farm where we got our cow from, use an udder cream called Dynamint, which is a terrific product containing essential oils. There are a few variations including mixes of Peppermint, Melaleuca (Tea Tree), Eucalyptus and Oregano oil. The problem is, on a small island, on a Sunday morning, there was no where I was going to get this.
Lucky for Wilderness I love makin' potions! I quickly got to work look up what was in these creams, then decided on my own recipe including the oils above, as well as Frankincense. Why did I decide on these oils? While all of these are so versatile, as every essential oil is, and have many more properties than listed, these are the qualities I wanted!
Essential Oils in DIY Dynamint Udder Cream
Peppermint: Anti-inflammatory, Analgesic, Antibacterial, Anti-infectious, Anti-fungal, Increases Circulation, Reduces Milk Supply.
Melaleuca: Analgesic, Antibacterial, Anti-fungal, Anti-infectious, Anti-inflammatory, Immuno-stimulant, Anti-Viral, Tissue Regenerative.
Eucalyptus: Analgesic, Anti-inflammatory, Antiviral, Expectorant.
Oregano: Anti-infections, anti-parasitic, immune stimulant.
Frankincense: Anti-inflammatory, immune support,antiviral, sedative, analgesic, expectorant.
So you can see why this is a potent udder cream to have around!
We've now used this cream successfully twice on the cow and as well as other lactating mammals! I'd call it the blocked duct miracle cream if I may. This is a pricey cream to make, I'm not going to lie there! For me though, if the cow gets full blown mastitis that involves antibiotics, we have to;
Pay for Antibiotics: this costs about $13-$15, plus 45 minutes or so to go pick it up. Giving them to her is a pain in my rear too and I don't wish to repeat that! Using a plastic "needle" on a syringe you have to put it up the teat into the effected quarter. Bleh.
Milk a sore cow: Don't underestimate this. It's really uncomfortable for them.
'Dump' milk for 4+ days: While you can still drink the milk of a cow with a blocked duct, (personally I milk the quarter out seperately and give to the chickens. If they have to have antibiotics, you must give all the milk for 96 hours to other livestock or dump it. Do you have any idea how much it hurts your soul to milk for days and not be able to use it yourself?! Thankfully the one time we had to give antibiotics to a cow, we had friends we could give it to for bottle calves.
Homemade Dynamint Udder Cream
Homemade Dynamint
Equipment
- Container
Ingredients
- ¾ cups plain water-based lotion store-bought or homemade OR recently I've been putting it in Aloe Vera gel and then putting the whole mix in a salad dressing squirt bottle and that works excellent.
- 30 drops Peppermint Essential Oil
- 30 drops Tea Tree Essential Oil
- 30 drops Eucalyptus Essential Oil
- 20 drops Oregano Essential Oil
- 20 drops Frankincense Essential Oil
Instructions
- Mix all of the ingredients together.
- Rub all over effected quarter on udder, getting up high into the 'armpit' and covering the teat as well. Apply 2-3 times a day, continuing a day after all is okay. You'll know "all is clear" when you strain the milk and there is no little butter yellow clots anymore.
Notes
- This make an approximate 2.5% dilution which is suitable for animals, as you want much smaller amount of oils for animals.
DIY Body Care
Care for you skin naturally with these homemade ointments and creams!
4littlefergusons
KATE! OH MY GOSH! Long time no chat. I literally gasped when I stumbled across this blog. I was like - I know this name. I am doing research for an essential oil for animals class we have coming up in April.
Eeek! Hi my long lost friend who now has SO many more sweet babies.
I was blogging over at http://www.rvoilers.com for a few years, but now have moved over to Instagram and Facebook mostly. After 9? or so years, I was ready to LIVE my life, not blog it. 🙂 Hugs girl! So happy to have found you. xoxo
Kara
Is this OK to use while calf sharing? The essential oils won't hurt the calf?
[email protected]
Kate says "I haven't done while calf sharing. Maybe put on after separating them for the night?"
Sarah
Hi Kate - thank you for this recipe, I love following along and learning more about milk cows here! I'm drying up my cow now (first time I've been through this process) and the last milking was 2 days ago and she had small clots in the strainer, but she isn't uncomfortable or feeling off at all. Can I use this cream instead of jumping into an antibiotic dry cow treatment? And if so, how will I know it's not becoming a mastitis if I'm not milking anymore? Any help is appreciated!!! Thanks, Sarah
katehosie
When you rub one of the clots between your fingers, does it roll like cheese curds or melt like butter? It could just be the latter which is not a problem. If her udder doesnt feel hot or look red, slather her with this cream twice a day for a few days. If you havent had the cow her whole life and dont 100% know her history...I dont think an antibiotic dry cow treatment is a bad plan as insurance.
Sarah
The clots seem to melt more like butter... I have to say that I am leaning toward the dry cow treatment just to be safe 🙂 Thank you for the advice!
Katrina
My cow was showing signs of mastitis, so I made up a batch of this, and I use it all the time. Saves a lot of $$$ when you can curb mastitis before it’s a big problem!
Crystal Whitefield
Kate saved me, my cows and a friend with a clogged duct!! I was so lucky I found this blog when our cow calved and she was full of edema. After a few applications I was able to get her going the right way. I love that you can find a yummy dinner recipe or a way to save the beloved family cow all on one site.
Alicia Stelling
I made this for our milk cow this year and it was amazing. Thank you for a recipe that we can mix up quick at home.
Nikki K
My cow had the beginnings of mastitis a couple months ago. I used this on her twice a day in addition to making sure she was completely milked out and voila! No more mastitis! I continued the dynamint for 3-4 days afterwards just to be safe. Now I use it occasionally as a preventative and always dip her teats in iodine after milking.
Jaclyn
Thank you for this recipe!!!!!!! I now have it in my cow kit all the time (plus the oils to make more for the future). It really helped when we brought our new jersey home and she was holding back - and we were stressing out about mastitis prevention. Having this cream helped ease our concerns and kept the milk flowing without an issue. I'll never be without diy dynamint again!
Crystal
Does the lotion have to be water-based? Just wondering why that is best. It is winter now and I was thinking to avoid the water-based for that reason.
Carla
Kate, would this be good for eczema on my son's fingers? We have bought udder cream at the store for him, but since I use essential oils, I thought this might be good for that and I know whats in it
kateschat
No I'd say too strong. Check out my tallow balm, excellent for exzema
Karen
Kate, Hi. Brand new to your blog- haven't been able to put it down- and soon I will welcome my new cow. Discussing with my son, regarding udder care in general; what to do if her teats get chapped, sore, etc ;we were thinking coconut oil massaged in. I love the idea of the essential oils- I use them for nearly everything! My question is, in the reasons for putting in peppermint, you list that it reduces the milk supply....is this significant? If we were to use this cream all the time; will we end up hurting our milk supply? Thanks for helping out this newbie.
kateschat
This cream is only for if cows get blocked ducts. Try something like a simple salve, no EO's needed, for chapped teats.
Appy Horsey
I don't have essential oils (I know... I really should, but since I know nothing about using them, there doesn't seem to be any point). Anyway, is there ANYONE on here that Sells this already made? If so, please
EMAIL ME at
[email protected]
Thank you!
kateschat
You can buy dynamint or uddermint
Amy Shearer
Can I use coconut oil as my lotion?
[email protected]
Yes you could use coconut oil as a base, but it's best to be water-based not oil based.
Kieran
Hi Kate! Can you drink the milk when you use Dynamint? I’m concerned it will contaminate the milk while milking.
[email protected]
If you wash the udder before milking you should be fine.