: What causes a crack in the hooves of a 5 yr. old cow. She has a nice shiney coat of hair. Ive heard it is caused by muddy conditions, which is not the case.<p>I had this happen to two of my 7-8 year old cows last year.<br>I also thought this was weather related, hot dry weather then the cattle would go stand in muddy water. However, I was told by folks in the show cattle business, that this can be caused by a nutritional or digestive problem. Improper utilization of forage/feed. Can be caused by poor circulation of blood to the hoof. If you can easily handle the animal keep the crack disinfected on the surface, and you might consider pennicillin to clean up any bacterial infection that might be present. I also mixed a supplement like probiosis or Fasttrack with the feed each day. This will take a long time to heal but I was somewhat successful. What you are trying to do is promote the developement of new hoof tissue. Good Luck