Have to many feet problems

[Steve Banks]

I know that there have been many post on sore feet, But what my intent is to find out why I seem to have so many with so few of cattle (20 ) head. I have feet problems ever year and I think I'm taking care of my livestock in the right way. I have them on flat DRY ground, they get free choice minerals, they get excellent feed, they carry a body score of around 6.5 year round, I have no other problems, they are black angus, they weigh on average 1400 to 1500 lbs. ( I have scales).
I'm sure there is a lot of information that you need to know but does anyone have any idea as to what I need to do to reduce this problem? I have sore feet on some of them ever year, I usually use LA 200 or Penn to help get it under control. It is dry here as in a lot of places but it doesn't seem to matter what the year is like!

 

[dun]

Are they grazing fescue or eating fescue hay?

 

[Nowland Farms]

.........they get excellent feed.......

Steve, explain exactly what this means. Too rich or much of feed will cause problems.

 

[TheBullLady]

What do their feet look like? Are the toes long or curled? Are the two sides uniform? Cracks running vertically?

 

[Beefy]

what kind of foot problems are you having? different types? foot rot? corns? etc?

for what its worth i have more foot rot problems when it is dry than any other time.

also if they get too much feed or if its too rich that can lead to foot problems as well.

or if the cows are related it may a genetic conformation type of problem that they all have...

 

[GMN]

My first guess would be nutritional, too high of protein can cause lameness in cattle.

Gail

 

[J&T Farm]

1400 to 1500 is really heavy for angus. At least around here a nice healthy angus cow weight is around 1000 -1100. That may be part of your trouble there. Ours only get grass, mineral, and good hay in the winter. We do mix organic iodine in with our mineral. You might be feeding them to much.

 

[milkmaid]

1400 to 1500 is really heavy for angus. At least around here a nice healthy angus cow weight is around 1000 -1100. That may be part of your trouble there. Ours only get grass, mineral, and good hay in the winter. We do mix organic iodine in with our mineral. You might be feeding them to much.

He is further north than you are... environment does make a difference in mature size. In my area, we do see 900-1000lb cows run through the ring, but it's more common to see 1300lb beef cows at the weekly auction. I've seen the occasional run as high as 16-1700lbs.

 

[J&T Farm]

That is true milkmaid, around here there are lots of beef cows that weigh 1300 to 1500 lbs but they aren't angus cows. I was just talking about the angus breed. But they may be larger where he is. I have never seen any cows from that far notrth they may all be that big.

 

[CWT Angus]

The weight sounds right to me too. Mine run from about 1300 on young cows to to 1750 or even occasionally more. My yearling bulls are in the 1250 range give or take 100. If you could tell us more about the type of feet problems you are having, maybe we could all give some helpful suggestions.

 

[jkwilson]

Some farms just seem prone to foot rot. Maybe it's soil conditions or the bacteria thrives in that particular place or genetics or something else. First thing is to make sure they are consuming the mineral, and that the mineral contains plenty of zinc. I went to a more expensive mineral a few years back that the cows all go after like candy. No foot rot since then. (Knock on wood :roll: ) Some cows never did eat the mineral from the feed store.

Before switching minerals, foot rot was a "several cows most years" deal for me. Wet or dry didn't seem to matter.

 

[Northern Rancher]

Heaven forbid it could be genetic-I've seen some pretty well used Angus bulls that have feet and legs would of got them passed at a range bull sale. There's herds of several hundred head up in our country with minimal foot troubles that only feed blue salt no mineral at all.