Q. I grew up highly allergic to poison ivy. Our one acre was covered with it and I seemed to have it year around. In 1978 we got milk goats to eat the vines with no thoughts other than to get rid of the ivy.
I started drinking their milk. In 1981 we began clearing thick woods that was infested with poison ivy. I tried not to get in it, but in clearing 35 acres and following a bulldozer around while picking up sticks, I am positive that I had to have encountered it. I never did get a rash, though. I couldn’t believe how lucky I had been.
About a year later there was an article in the Dairy Goat Journal about the immunity factor and I thought back to determine the last time I had a rash. I could not remember ever having one after getting the goats, now 28 years ago.
A. We could find no scientific evidence to support this idea. Some researchers report that goats eating poison oak or poison ivy don’t transfer the irritating compound, urushiol, to their milk.
We have heard, however, from other readers with a similar experience. Here’s one such story:
“I grew up with goats and drank only goat milk. Our goats had acres of land to roam and ate lots of poison ivy. Neither my brother nor I have EVER had poison ivy, and we can roll in it without getting it. My mother and father, who were both sensitive to poison ivy before the goats, have never had it since.”
