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MB, Canada | I've used garlic for about 5 years and I don't have fly problems with my cows.
My theories as to why are:
1. I use garlic salt/mineral year round and in the cases where folks are only using it on pasture, it hasn't had time to build in the cows system enough to be useful during the peak months, which tend to be early on.
2. In that five years I also moved from rotating my cows every 7-10 days in a paddock to 3-5 days and they're just not exposed to the fly cycle the way they used to be.
I believe it's a bit of both. Garlic is one of the few proven supplements for humans that can actually boost the immune system and even help with blood pressure. I think it might help make for a healthier cow that has a healthier immune system and a smoother coat and is less prone to flies. For the buck a bag difference I'm going to keep doing it.
I will make a disclaimer (generally speaking) that if you never feed mineral or salt and you have a fly problem and think you can solve it with a bag or two of the garlic infused variety, then you're missing the forest for the trees. Healthy cows with a good mineral balance can handle a lot of flies and will be far more resistant to simple infections like pinkeye and footrot. | |
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The garlic deal
