Stepping into Essential Oils: Tick Repellent

By nature, I am an extremely curious person. Combine that with my love (obsession?) for good smelly things, you would have thought that I would be exploring the world of essential oils and all their benefits already! No, this is something I had actually never really thought about. Then the flea/tick drops stopped working on the dogs and I knew I needed to look into something better (and more natural).

Please don't get me wrong. I know a lot of people completely shun any and all uses of chemicals and I understand why. But where we live, there is an increasing risk of diseases such as Lyme disease that is transmitted by ticks. Then there is West Nile Virus that is transmitted by mosquitoes. When they worked, I was willing to put them on the dogs to protect them from these diseases. Lately though, I have been finding numerous ticks on the dogs only a week after putting these products on them. I am finally fed up with putting chemicals on the dogs that aren't even doing what they are claiming to do!

I have tried several different brands, and have had the same experience with all of them. My sister's dog even developed paranoia after being administered Vectra 3D (the same tick repellent that we were giving our dogs).

I decided that even if I have to apply it everyday, I am going to find a better solution. A more natural solution. In this post I am going to give you the different methods I am trying and the recipes I have found from my internet research. Because we are nearing the end of "tick season" I doubt I will be able to share my results until next spring/summer. That is one thing that has frustrated me through my internet research. I wanted to find REAL people with REAL results. I found plenty of recipes, but not many people that said, "This worked great for me!".

Here is the recipe I came up with, after researching different recipes.

Tick Repellent
10 drops geranium essential oil
6 drops lavender essential oil
approx 1 cup water

Mix together in a spray bottle and apply as needed.

Since the ticks are gone for the season (yay!) I will report back in the spring/summer with results.

Another tip I have found, is to directly apply a couple drops of the EO on the dog's collar (NOT the dog, this can cause skin irritation and other problems. Essential oils should always be diluted) for added protection. I did this with  the geranium and lavender oils when I first received them and did not find any ticks. I'm not sure if it is related to the oils, or simply the fact that ticks are less common at this time of the year.

I bought my essential oils from Mountain Rose Herbs, per the recommendation of friends on a forum, although you can use any therapeutic grade essential oil for the recipes.

New Addition to the Family

Ever since we lost our beloved Great Pyrenees, Whinny, to bone cancer, the farm just hasn't been the same.  Pyrenees are excellent guardian dogs, for both the family and livestock. Our Pyrenees have always been family guardians, because our horses do not need a guardian in the field (nor would they tolerate one) and by simply having a guardian dog near the house, it will protect our poultry since they are so close. My Dad has talked about getting another Great Pyrenees for several years now, even more so since we have been having problems with raccoons getting into the trash and eating the chickens.

So, can you guess what Dad got for an early Father's Day present this year?

I would like to introduce, Duke, our newest family member!

Duke

Pretty ferocious, eh?

Although I normally try to go the rescue route when we adopt a new dog, since a Pyrenees will need to be trustworthy around livestock we went to a breeder. Right now he is a big ball of fuzz, but he will soon grow into a 100lb ball of fuzz!

Have a good week everyone :)

***Edited to add that "Duke's" name has been changed to Max. lol

Guinea Update

Well, I got the phone call yesterday letting me know that there were guinea keets available to order. Unfortunately, I had to tell her I was no longer interested.

You see, we are having increasing problems with raccoons and other predators such as hawks. A few weeks ago, my adorable little Aracaunas were accidentally left in their chicken tractor over night. I had to leave for work, and when DH went to lock up the chickens for the night, he forgot they were in the tractor. I ended up coming home to two torn apart Aracaunas, strewn through the yard. :( Two Buff Orpingtons have also been the victims of predators. We think they decided to be adventurous and "flew the coop" and got picked up by hawks. Their bodies were never found.

So, my conclusion was that, although I could keep the guineas locked up in the coop at night, it was not going to prevent the many hawks that circle the house from picking up some fast food! I am disappointed, but I realize this is just how farm life is. We did have our chickens free ranging on the property until they began dwindling in numbers.

I was also beginning to think that my parents (mostly my dad), although they would appreciate the reduced tick numbers, would not appreciate the loud noises guinea love to make!

How does everyone control the predator population around their homesteads? We did have an amazing Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd named Whinny that did an amazing job keeping critters away from the poultry. Unfortunately we lost him to bone cancer several years ago and have not replaced him. Well, my parents tried to, but he ended up being the biggest scaredy cat there is, and is now and indoor dog... We may end up looking for another livestock guardian dog (LGD), although keeping one simply for guarding poultry is hardly cost effective.

I am very interested in hearing your methods and ideas!

Farm Dogs

After hubby and I took care of Sammy for the week, we realized that we needed a doggie companion. We ended up bringing in our German Shepherd, Sugar to be an indoor dog. Since she has gotten older (12 years old this year) her energy levels have dropped considerably. She is living out her senior years in the comfort of the indoors.

 She really enjoys it, but she seemed lonely. One day I was checking out Facebook, and saw one of the local dog rescues urgently needed foster homes for 24 puppies that they had gotten in a shelter. After talking it over with DH, we decided to go ahead and give it a try. The next day, we picked up two, sixteen week old, Australian Shepherd mix puppies.

Of course it was love at first sight, but we had to keep our head on straight. When I first got Sugar, she was a stray that wandered up to our house when I was about fifteen years old. It wasn't until after I was attached to her that we found out that her prey drive was so high that she would chase and attack the horses, harming not only them, but herself. Because of my experience with Sugar, I knew we had to be sure that the pups wouldn't be the same way.

After about a week of testing their personalities around the horses, cattle, and chickens, we decided that they would fit right in with our family. They barely give a second glance to the chickens and are afraid of the horses. In time they should warm up to them, but I am sure they won't have the same drive to eat them that Sugar did! They even get along great with our two indoor cats.

So, I'd like to introduce Boomer and Chewie,, the newest members of our family!

Boomer

Boomer

Chewie - In case you are wondering, he is named after Chewbacca, from Star Wars! lol He also lives up to his name by chewing on everything.

Chewie

DH has bonded a little more with Boomer, and I with Chewie. They are both great boys though and they are extremely smart. The first week we had them, they were four months old and had no idea how to walk on a leash. After a week of working with them they not only knew how to walk, but also sit, lay down, and the beginnings of stay.

Now that Sugar has warmed up to the boys, she keeps them in line and LOVES playing with them. She is twice their size, but is always gentle with them, like they are her own puppies.

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