feet trimming

[plbcattle]

I have a couple of cattle with long toes. It seems more prominent this year than in years past. has anyone else noticed this. also how often do you trim your problem cows feet if there toes are long. Thanks

 

[dun]

I have a couple of cattle with long toes. It seems more prominent this year than in years past. has anyone else noticed this. also how often do you trim your problem cows feet if there toes are long. Thanks

Someone else trims the long toes, when they hang them up at the slaughter house

dun

 

[plbcattle]

cattle with long toes and cattle with bad feet are not the same. some cattle have bad feet and problems withe the actual structure of the foot or bones above the foot, a genetic defect. If an animal doesn't have rough terrain to trim the hooves, they sometimes need trimmed. It is a hair follicle that grows with protein. I have some cows that occasionally get long toes and I promise you nobody on here would cull them. Usually it's a one time event and when you have quite a few cattle things like that pop up.

 

[dun]

Are those "couple of cows" managed differently then all of the others, different feed or pasture conditions? If it's only a couple out of many it's still genetics, if it's all of them then it may be a footing or feed situation. If the cow is 15 years old it might be acceptable.

dun

 

[ALACOWMAN]

cattle with long toes and cattle with bad feet are not the same. some cattle have bad feet and problems withe the actual structure of the foot or bones above the foot, a genetic defect. If an animal doesn't have rough terrain to trim the hooves, they sometimes need trimmed. It is a hair follicle that grows with protein. I have some cows that occasionally get long toes and I promise you nobody on here would cull them. Usually it's a one time event and when you have quite a few cattle things like that pop up.

I use a pair of long handle pruning shears. they work great don't have to raise the feet just scoop under and clip. its been my experiance the the genetic foot trouble comes from the bulls side.

 

[r and s peckman]

It's not all but what I have seen, the ones with the toe problems have been pushed hard as calves.

 

[MikeC]

Bad feet can sometimes be attributed to a light case of Laminitis. Sometimes one out of a bunch of calves will get acidosis and the rest will not, leaving him/her subject to foot problems later in life.

I don't think it's all genetics.

 

[cfpinz]

cattle with long toes and cattle with bad feet are not the same. some cattle have bad feet and problems withe the actual structure of the foot or bones above the foot, a genetic defect. If an animal doesn't have rough terrain to trim the hooves, they sometimes need trimmed. It is a hair follicle that grows with protein. I have some cows that occasionally get long toes and I promise you nobody on here would cull them. Usually it's a one time event and when you have quite a few cattle things like that pop up.

I use a pair of long handle pruning shears. they work great don't have to raise the feet just scoop under and clip. its been my experiance the the genetic foot trouble comes from the bulls side.

I've noticed it's more prominent in bulls that come from test stations that have been "pushed" hard than those from less intense tests.

cfpinz

 

[glover36]

we just do the feet our selves cause all our cows are calm enough to put in a stall and string there leg up

 

[dac1]

never had to trim feet !

 

[dj]

we just do the feet our selves cause all our cows are calm enough to put in a stall and string there leg up

how do you string their leg up? I go around the hoof up and over the support then back down to above the knee and back up to support. but this is something I just kinda figured out on my own so would like to hear how others do it

 

[msscamp]

also how often do you trim your problem cows feet if there toes are long. Thanks

In 50 years of raising cattle we've never had a need to trim their feet.

 

[IluvABbeef]

also how often do you trim your problem cows feet if there toes are long. Thanks

In 50 years of raising cattle we've never had a need to trim their feet.

Same here

 

[randiliana]

We don't trim, if they need to be trimmed that badly they go down the road. All of our land is pure sand, not very good for keeping feet down, but we rarely have a problem. I will agree though that it depends a lot on how they were fed as calves/yearlings.

 

[Susie David]

We have real soft pasture so we nip the tips when we have them in the chute....use the old angled nippers, can trim while they are standing. Have had the tips break off on some of the older cows but never had a bad hoof from it. DMc

 

[rkm]

When we where in the dairy business we had to trim feet often, because of the way they are fed and standing on concrete all the time. But genetics also played a big part.

Cows on pasture and little or no grain should not need to have their feet trimmed. My thought.

 

[1848]

Try to trim when, and if, the toes grow long enough to cause the animal to set back on it's hocks more. This will help with the traveling and longevity of the animal (as long as it is done coreectly...could make it worse if you or the trimmer don't know what your doing). In the case of bulls, I think it keeps those tendons from being stressed so they don't give under breeding conditions.