Foot Problems

[inyati13]

Foot problems in cattle seems to be common. My friends, always say it is footrot or fescue toe. They don't even look. They put the animal in a chute and inject LA 200. If it does not get better, they call the vet. My neighbor just did that with his bull. Finally, called the vet for footrot and when the vet looked, he found a tisue tear that sent the bull to the stockyards. I have had a lot of cows with limps. Only once did I clearly find that it was footrot. In fact, it has always been an injury except for that one case. In the last three years, I have had a vet out for foot problems about a half dozen times. It has never been footrot. My terrain is steep. It is clay soil with only a few rocks. But I wonder if a lot of the limps come from rock bruises. If a cow is moving along, she slips her foot forward, it engages a stone, maybe goes into the area between the claws; looks like there could be a bad bruise and there would be no evidence except the limp. I expect that certain injuries will cause swelling but I rarely see swelling. I have a cow now that is not really limping much but she seems to drag the tips of the claws on her right front foot instead of picking it up and setting it down. There is no evidence of swelling or a cut. What type of problem does that seem to be? One of the things I want to select for in the future is good feet. How do you do that and what is good feet?

 

[dun]

I can;t find the pictures but good feet are what Granny had. Deep heel front of hoof sloped at about 45-50 degrees, strong/hard hoof material. At 27 she had never had her feet touched and most folks said they wished their 3 year olds had as good a foot as she had. Look at the sahpe of a week old calf, unless it's deformed that would be the kind of shape you're wanting.
After that confromation of the legs and body start to show an affect.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

We have a bunch of rock out here (they seem to breed like rabbits!). I have above average problems with abscesses in the feet when the cows have to walk through the creek a distance to get to a grass field. But there is a huge difference from an access to foot rot. Foot rot usually has swelling right above the hoof line (cornet band), and the tetracycline will clear up the lameness in 48 hours typically. An abscess just seems to get worse with time, or never really clears up.
Just our experience.
If I was to see dragging feet, I would be more inclined to think it was a bone or tissue injury. With an abscess, they do not want to bear weight at all on the affected foot.

 

[inyati13]

We have a bunch of rock out here (they seem to breed like rabbits!). I have above average problems with abscesses in the feet when the cows have to walk through the creek a distance to get to a grass field. But there is a huge difference from an access to foot rot. Foot rot usually has swelling right above the hoof line (cornet band), and the tetracycline will clear up the lameness in 48 hours typically. An abscess just seems to get worse with time, or never really clears up.
Just our experience.
If I was to see dragging feet, I would be more inclined to think it was a bone or tissue injury. With an abscess, they do not want to bear weight at all on the affected foot.

She is doing much better. I agree, clearly some kind of tissue injury. She must have sprained her lower foot. I am a cow watcher. I have seen them slip, fall, turn their foot, everything. They do the same things I do when walking around the farm. I have fallen flat on my a$$ more than once. I think they just have the same incidence of foot injuries that you would expect from constantly walking around. But I am not having the problems associated with infection. The vet has a tool that he uses to pinch their claws to determine if there is infection or injury inside the hoof. Nothing has shown up. My cows just seem to injure their foot now and then. Of course, I don't miss anything as I keep too close an eye on my lovely girls!!! :lol:

 

[regolith]

The pinch checks for pain - if there's an infection going on the cow will usually respond to pressure in that area but it's not 100% - maybe 95% good to locate the location of an injury.
What surprises me many a time is how often I pick up the foot of a cow that was walking normally 48 hours earlier and find an injury or footrot infection that has clearly been building up for well over a week, maybe longer... and these cows are walking long distances and observed closely 2x daily.

Dragging the feet sounds like bruising on the sole, though there could be other causes. Regardless of your conditions, if you're seeing a lot of lameness you probably need to look to the cows - their feet are softer than they should be, or poor conformation? Hard, correctly shaped feet will stand up to a lot of stresses.
If your cows are slipping and falling they may be in similar conditions to what my herd had to endure before the tracks were repaired, though obviously yours will not be walking such long distances daily. Footrot/trapped stones probably accounted for less than 30% of lameness, white line and toe abscesses were most of the rest, bruising was extremely common and I had 2 - 3 cows last year where the deep bruising broke open a little way inside the white line forming an abscess and those cows could barely walk, all are fine with trimming and a block on the other foot.

You will see bruising when you lift the foot - you may need to take a fine shaving off the sole to show it up, but it will be clear even on black feet as red streaks or purplish shading. Rest is the only cure but your cows are already what we on a dairy farm would call "resting", full-time....

 

[lynnmcmahan]

Have a cow that I noticed had a slight limp in back leg, day later notable limp. Called vet, said it was a crack, abscess. He trimmed it out and it was a crack about 1" long. He used a scissor looking tool to apply pressure on top and bottom of toe and found it by her reaction to pressure. That was thursday, still got the limp but not as bad. Should take week to recover.
No medication. $94 no complaints, always on time, good man and good vet.

 

[B&M Farms]

Keeping cattle at too high a bcs can cause hoof problems.

 

[inyati13]

The pinch checks for pain - if there's an infection going on the cow will usually respond to pressure in that area but it's not 100% - maybe 95% good to locate the location of an injury.
What surprises me many a time is how often I pick up the foot of a cow that was walking normally 48 hours earlier and find an injury or footrot infection that has clearly been building up for well over a week, maybe longer... and these cows are walking long distances and observed closely 2x daily.

Dragging the feet sounds like bruising on the sole, though there could be other causes. Regardless of your conditions, if you're seeing a lot of lameness you probably need to look to the cows - their feet are softer than they should be, or poor conformation? Hard, correctly shaped feet will stand up to a lot of stresses.
If your cows are slipping and falling they may be in similar conditions to what my herd had to endure before the tracks were repaired, though obviously yours will not be walking such long distances daily. Footrot/trapped stones probably accounted for less than 30% of lameness, white line and toe abscesses were most of the rest, bruising was extremely common and I had 2 - 3 cows last year where the deep bruising broke open a little way inside the white line forming an abscess and those cows could barely walk, all are fine with trimming and a block on the other foot.

You will see bruising when you lift the foot - you may need to take a fine shaving off the sole to show it up, but it will be clear even on black feet as red streaks or purplish shading. Rest is the only cure but your cows are already what we on a dairy farm would call "resting", full-time....

This is an excellent response. "Dragging the feet sounds like bruising on the sole, though there could be other causes." I think you are correct. She is getting better. Bruising is most of what I am seeing. Glad to know about those streaks of red or purplish shading. No one told me what that was not even the vet. I thought it was bruising but could not confirm it until I read your response. I saw it a couple of times on the cow that has frequent limps. I thought it might just be pigment because it was there when the vet examined her and he made no remark about it. Thanks.

 

[inyati13]

Keeping cattle at too high a bcs can cause hoof problems.

Help me here. I am assuming the bcs is high grain diet or something like that. Thanks.

 

[dun]

Keeping cattle at too high a bcs can cause hoof problems.

Help me here. I am assuming the bcs is high grain diet or something like that. Thanks.

BCS - Body Condition Score. High BCS = Heavy Weight aka FAT

 

[inyati13]

Keeping cattle at too high a bcs can cause hoof problems.

Help me here. I am assuming the bcs is high grain diet or something like that. Thanks.

BCS - Body Condition Score. High BCS = Heavy Weight aka FAT

Thanks, dun. I have thought that too much weight has contributed to the problem.

 

[B&M Farms]

When I have had hoof problems or injury to a limb which are rare, it usually is a easy keeping cow a little bit older and a little on the heavy side. It's usually pretty dry conditions and harder ground too, which is the opposite of what most research I have read says. Inyati13 your are right that most people just assume hoof rot when it can just be an injury, though some injuries to the hoof can turn into hoof rot if untreated.