# Udder Butter / teat dip combo



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

I've been pondering on an idea for a while now and wanted to run it by you all. Currently when I milk I'm using unscented baby wipes for the udder wash, I then milk by hand, then I wipe the udders again with the baby wipes and udder butter the udders up. I've had great luck with this method and have never had any cases of mastitis or anything, but I always worry because so many people/websites say teat dip is a must. We don't live in a big dairy area, so dairy supplies are hard to come by unless you order online and I don't like to have to order online if it's something I'll need on a regular basis. So I researched teat dip's that you can make yourself and mostly came up with the bleach water solution or iodine solution as a teat dip. Then I came across tea tree oil, it is an antibacterial,disinfectant,antifungle, and anti inflamatory. One blog I ran across made a teat dip out of it adding a few drops to water, but the smell of the tea tree oil was so strong and I worried. So was thinking could I add a few drops to the udder butter mix up good and this work as a udder butter teat dip combo?


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## Robynlynn (Jan 18, 2011)

I just do a little hand milking here but I use warm water with a little bleach and a few drops of blue dawn dish soap..I wash the teats before and after milking. I bought a stack of cheap white wash clothes at walmart and use those for washing, bringing them in and throwing them in with my whites after each use. I havn't had any troubles with this method either but this is a great post I am anxious to hear what others are using! :thumb:


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

I did a little more research last night and found where someone on here mixed up their own udder butter using cocoa butter and added tea tree oil and I think the other added things were lavender oil and grapefruit seed extract. 

So, My guess is that it would be a good thing for the doe, but she is raising kids right now so I'm going to hold off on the tea tree until the kids are weened. I love udder butter and use it after milking every day regardless of if they need it or not, I think it keeps any chaping problems from arrising and I'de rather add it to the routine and keep chapped teats away as apposed to waiting till I have a problem and then using it. Plus I have some of the softest hands durring milking season, hehehe. Last year we used a teat dip and washed with antibacterial wipes, Yeah we had a slight case of chapped teats so we picked up the udder butter and it worked wonders we just never stopped using it.


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