# Teat Dip Question



## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I'm using a teat dip that I got from TSC. I've been using it for a couple of months. Prior to milking each doe I spray teats and wash entire udder with an iodine wash...warm if it's cold outside, but lately I've used it cold because it's been so warm. Yesterday I noticed that the ends of the does teats were rough feeling and I thought there might be a problem with the does rubbing their udders on logs and trees out here and getting pitch on them. 

Well, in the bright morning sun I could see that the roughness was not pitch, but rather, it was blue...the color of my teat dip. Apparently the dip is building up. My teat dip is thick and I dip and let it stay on each teat. I do wash well before milking, but I am not getting this teat dip off. Are all teat dips hard to get off, or is it just certain brands? Or is it the fact that I am using a cold pre-wash rather than a warm one? Prior to the dip, I used "fight back" spray. This dip is a chlordexidine dip. 

It's been a very slow buildup and all my does have black or dark udders so it was hard to see, but it does flake off blue when I start picking at it. What in the world will take it off? Tonight I'll use a bucket of hot water with soap and individual towels. Well, that's another thing, I use paper towels, maybe they are not abbrasive enough to remove the dip?


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Honestly the answer is, you aren't cleaning the teats well enough before milking to see this buildup.

My answer is  in my opinon  is that so much of this is overkill. You are using the same exact active ingredient in fight back as your new dip, and I know how thick that stuff is, I just don't see how it can be a good idea to leave this syrup thick stuff on the teat as the does leave the milk room. It's the orifice you want clean not the bottom of the teat. A very admired appraiser will tell you....not to even hand milk if you don't have hands like a babies bottom, because each crack or hang nail is a place for staph to grow...yet all teat dips cause this very same thing on your does teats. It is also widely known to use the same predip chemical as post dip.

I am not a fan of papertowels, they leave fibers behind, which can further aggrevate theteat. I just don't think that milking a few goats needs to be this much, especially when the result of all this is teats in worse shape than what was working for you before.

Did you have problems with your old routine? If so was it because of the chemicals in the routine not working or being lazy sometimes and not doing all the steps? 

Reread your last sentence  You shouldn't have to be using anything to clean a teat that is abbrasive  But I do know exactly what you are talking about...I used that Iodine mollassas thick stuff for about a month, yuck! Vicki


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

I know I'm new, but I thought maybe I could contribute.

I use a chlorhexidine gluconate teat dip from Hoegger's, but it has to be diluted. I have never had a residue problem. Does the TSC formula have to be diluted and perhaps you missed that part? I have found that sometimes the directions on some of these bottles, well the print is very small.

For my pre-clean, I use the bucket of presaturated wipes. Also from Hoegger, but can't remember the name or chemical. Probably not economical, but easy for me as I only have two goats to milk. However, you don't get that nice warm cloth to the udder like I remember my dad using with the cows.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I've used the same pre-wash for a couple of years. The reason I switched to a dip was because I can get it local when I'm low on it, one less thing I have to pay shipping on. The jug says NOT to dilute. I liked the spray, but some folks on here a while back were saying it didn't have enough chlordexidine in it to be effective and that a dip was better, but I really don't like the idea of dipping teats into a cup I've dipped other teats in. I got the dip with the plan of putting it in a bottle and spraying it, but it won't come out that way as it's too thick. When it was cold outside I would dip, wait 30 seconds as per the label, and then wipe off. I guess now that I'm not wiping off it's building up like glue. 

I've also used baby wipes in the past but worried about them not cleaning well enough. And I've also used the wipes and my own spray...and then I still had to use a disposable towel to dry with. My mother sews cow towels for a local organic cow dairy in her area. She makes them from some sort of white cotton flannel. I thought about having her make me some smaller ones but hate the thought of all that extra laundry!

I can easily understand cleaning hands and teats/udder before milking, but sometimes I do wonder why we dip afterward, when baby doesn't dip the teat after he's done nursing! My understanding is that it's done to close the orifice so bacteria doesn't enter. All I know is I don't want mastitis. Dealt with a mild case one time last year, and that was enough for me. But, don't want blue, glue covered teats either!

I am on overkill, aren't I?


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

Do you notice it in the milk?


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Babies saliva is very acidic, so the last thing on the orifice is baby spit  I would guess thick glue teat dips are needed with alot of goats and less than clean surroundings after milking? I would love to use the big cow wet ones, but alas, flush this time of year and if I ran out in the winter, I would be back to using baby wet ones  Vicki


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

I read that the teat will close up after 5 minutes, so if one could afford to wait it out before letting the doe off the stand, would that be good enough? Well, I'll admit it. I've been doing it for 2 years and have had no problems. But my conditions aren't overcrowded either.


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

LOL. Someday, Vicki, I will understand what you're saying. Maybe it's a regional thing. ?? I don't know what this means.

"I would love to use the big cow wet ones, but alas, flush this time of year and if I ran out in the winter, I would be back to using baby wet ones".

What is "flush this time of year"?


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## nightskyfarm (Sep 7, 2009)

Anita, You can make your own teat dip with simple ingredients. This is what I use as a pre-dip and post-dip: 2 cups of my liquid soap (not a detergent - the recipe suggests Basic H the Amway soap), 2 cups hydrogen peroxide (the 3% version from Dollar General) and 2 cups cider vinegar and a bit of lavender EO. The result is a 1% hydrogen peroxide solution which is one of the best bacteria killers along with the cider vinegar. The only animals who get their udders washed with warm water and a TB of bleach and a drop of soap are the 2 Jerseys. The goats only have the dip pre and post. Dip goat let it stay on for 10 sec and wipe off with a clean paper towel (I use paper napkins they are cheaper and work well). Milk your doe and immediately dip. My bacteria test on the bulk tank last test was <2500 The lab doesn't test lower than that.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

They make super big wetones for cows, our Tractor supplycarries them.
I am flush right now (have some money) so I could buy a case or two of them, but sadly if I ran out in the winter ( money is tight and I will not spend deposit checks  than I would go right back to using the human baby wetones I do now, so why switch  Sorry...and worse is I type exactly like I talk, much much to fast! With lots of raucous laughter thrown in  Vicki


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## MF-Alpines (Mar 29, 2010)

LOL. Thanks for interpreting for me. Ha! I'll never make it. I use full sentences and punctuation even when I text.

I guess that's why baskin robbins makes 38 different flavors.


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## newbie nubian (Feb 7, 2009)

You can buy chlorhexidine at Walmart - little blue bottle called "Hibiclens", in with the first aid stuff, same place as the hydrogen peroxide. A little $5 bottle will last forever. I've had the same one for years. In Florida, I used it to scrub my horse's lower legs once a week - constant wet conditions caused a lot of skin infections.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I needed a good laugh on a dreary Sunday morning! I've never heard the term "flush" before. Vickie, if you use the baby wipes, do you dry the teat after that? We're certainly not overcrowded here, and the does are never locked inside with amonnonia or other build up amd I rake the goat yard every morning as I hate stepping in goat berries! I've tried not dipping/spraying afterward...and I always felt like I was missing doing something. After milking the does jump off the stand and go back to eating grain that I've put out for everyone, or chewing bark on trees...so no lying down in poop immediately after. Not ever. 

Jennifer, I've not tried that particular wash, but I've made all sorts of my own...out of water/soap, bleach, essential oils, etc. etc. I'm about out of my bottle of iodine wash, so will probably switch to something else because I'd have to order another one. I will check out the "Hibiclens" at Walmart. Boy, I could use that for a lot of things...I got some of that wash from the vet once and it was too expensive to buy again. My TB has some skin skurf I've been working on. Sounds perfect. Thanks!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I buy the walmart brand of baby wipes that pop out of the top of the container indiviually since they stay cleaner, I pour about 3/4 cup, maybe 1/2 a cup of alcohol in them before I use them. I am wiping up two does teats and there is no way their teats are still wet when I put on the inflations. I milk 4 at a time, and they all get to stand up there until they all are though eating unless I am rushing through chores for some reason. So between vaccination, prewash, and chlorhexideen post spray or clorox/water post spray it works. Jeffers also sells chlorhexideen, I will check out the strength and price a walmart. Other than that aluminum spray for disbudded heads, I dont keep or use anything but betadine and chlorhexideen for the dogs or goats. So although the gallon seems like alot from the vet, imgaine not purchasing any other disenfectants, salves, creams, lotions, sprays, hoof treatments. Vicki


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## newbie nubian (Feb 7, 2009)

Anita - do you use any Desitin on your TB's skin crud? To me, Desitin is a miracle substance. I use it on everything - people, horses, dogs, etc. My horses get dew poisoning and Desitin totally prevents it.

You know on "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" where the guy uses Windex for everything? My co-workers (I'm a nurse) say that I'm the same way with Desitin.

Not real Desitin, though - the creamy fake desitin Walmart brand. Seriously, it's a miracle substance. (I know it's zinc oxide, but plain zinc oxide is hard to spread and this stuff is creamy). It's in the baby wipe aisle.


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## janette (Jan 27, 2010)

Sara, So could you be more specific about what you use the Desitin for?? Like what type of animal/human ailments?? Just curious, sounds interesting.


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## stoneyheightsfarm (Jan 19, 2008)

I found that with Fight Bac, the does get a thicker skin layer on the teats. When I switch to Blockade, I get skin in the milk filter for a while as that comes off. :/ I keep going back and forth. Though I hated them in the beginning, I've come to the place that the only thing I mind about the iodine based dips is that they smell too much like pereneal wash (you know, what you have to use post-partum) and I get post-partum depression, so the smell connection is tough for me!


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## newbie nubian (Feb 7, 2009)

Janette, desitin keeps flies and moisture off any area. It works for rashes, open areas, any kind of dermatitis, anything that itches. When my horses get dew poisining or scratches (sores on the "shins" from wet grass), I scrub the area and then coat it with desitin and it heals within days. Now, I just coat their legs with it when it gets really wet to prevent any problems. For babies, put it over diaper rash areas; don't wipe it completely off after each diaper change, just wipe off the top coat if there's any soiled areas. Otherwise, leave it on thick. It will repel the moisture.


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

I buy generic desitin by the jar and biggest tubes I can fine. Yep, I use it on the TB's crud...it works great, but I have to get those scabs off with something first, so like to use an antiseptic wash. His heels are now white! I also mix it with generic yeast infection cream and neosporin for thrush, and it would probably also work great for the scratches on the heels. 

I do feel like somewhat of a dummy. Trying really hard to get the blue off the teat ends led me to looking very closely at them some more....(I can't see well and do at least half my milking by headlamp). The blue dip is not building up...well, it is sort of. The real problem is that my does have chapped teats! All of them. I was trying to pull off the blue "flakes" and they were actually pieces of skin! I suppose that the compromised skin on the lower 1/3 of the teat (the area I dip) was soaking up that dip...or something like that. Anyway, I am assuming that my dip is actually CAUSING the chapping, since it is only on the lower 1/3 and it is NOT cold outside, etc. etc. Anyway, I've got other stuff for chapped teats...it does seem like this could be a never ending cycle. Nope, not using the blue stuff anymore. 

Thanks for all of your good suggestions. I'm going to go bury my head in the sand now. (My poor goats).


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## mill-valley (Feb 22, 2008)

Anita...I've had the same thing with that blue dip from TSC. My does did much better with the iodine dip TSC carries.


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