Hoof curling up
- Thread starter abun
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TCFC
Well-known member
This cow may have had an episode of laminitis which is causing her hoof to grow abnormally - i.e. the corkscrew claw (I was assuming this is what you are seeing - like a twisted elf slipper). She could also have a congenital/genetic predisposition to bad feet.
The problem with feet that are growing this way is that often the live part of the foot will have grown long as well which makes it quite easy to cut into the living tissue when trimming this foot. Can it be done to trim it yourself? yes. Is it going to be easy? Absolutely not. You need to have really good handling facilities to do these cows any justice (like a tilt table, hoof trimming chute, or a really good sturdy chute where you can pulley her leg up and secure it really tight).
You can nip the length off to make it a little bit easier for her to get around, but I would be wanting to dig further to find the underlying cause of why her foot is growing this way - the length may not be the only thing giving her a hitch in her giddyup.
Moral of the story - if she is a good young cow, it may be worth getting her to a vet (or having the vet come to you if you have good handling facilities or (s)he has a portable hoof chute) to try to find the cause of this hoof problem and give her a really good trim. The ones I have trimmed recently have been a PITA to get down to a decently normal shaped foot to where the cow has been comfortable to walk around!
TCFC
The problem with feet that are growing this way is that often the live part of the foot will have grown long as well which makes it quite easy to cut into the living tissue when trimming this foot. Can it be done to trim it yourself? yes. Is it going to be easy? Absolutely not. You need to have really good handling facilities to do these cows any justice (like a tilt table, hoof trimming chute, or a really good sturdy chute where you can pulley her leg up and secure it really tight).
You can nip the length off to make it a little bit easier for her to get around, but I would be wanting to dig further to find the underlying cause of why her foot is growing this way - the length may not be the only thing giving her a hitch in her giddyup.
Moral of the story - if she is a good young cow, it may be worth getting her to a vet (or having the vet come to you if you have good handling facilities or (s)he has a portable hoof chute) to try to find the cause of this hoof problem and give her a really good trim. The ones I have trimmed recently have been a PITA to get down to a decently normal shaped foot to where the cow has been comfortable to walk around!
TCFC
