Hoof Overgrowth....Need Advice.

[cornstalk]

Hey gang,

I'm having a problem with one heifer in particular. She evidently at one point in her life suffered from Asitosis,.......and broke the coronary band within her hooves. She's terribly flat footed. In February I loader her up and hauled her to our local vet, who clipped, trimmed her hooves. She still walked stiffly for some time after this. Today her hooves are just as long as they were back in early February. She had a healthy heifer calf in March, but is now being pulled down pretty hard as she is on pasture, and cant seem to cover enough ground to put any wieght on. I've got her up by the barn now, giving her some grain and good alfalfa, hoping to curve her wieght loss.

Any suggestions on this one ? Also, can or will I do any additional damage by giving her grain again now, after she's been on pasture?

 

[Salicylic]

Quit spending money on her and ship her she will never get any better.

 

[Farmhand]

The grain won't hurt her - just don't push her to hard on it. Her feet seem to be returning to a poor condition rather quickly. You will end up spending a lot of time and $ to keep correcting it. You also stated that she never seem completely right after treating her before. I'm not a quick one to cull but I think this one needs to go to the weigh pen.

 

[cornstalk]

I had a feeling this would be the consensus, and I tend to agree. The sad part is I paid top dollar for her last fall, as a bred hiefer, from a fairly reputable producer. Now, with the hoof overgrowth, and the ringworm here and there, she looks terrible. Not something I'm real proud to have on the place. I am thankful however she had a strong healthy hiefer calf.

I suppose I will nurse her along long enough to raise the calf, and then sell her this fall. Would there be any reason to breed her back this summer, or should I just confine her, and attempt to fatten her up?

 

[sidney411]

Why don't you just get her in a little better shape and sell them as a pair? I don't think you would want to keep the heifer due to mom's problems.

 

[milkmaid]

Sometimes if the hooves get too long, just trimming them won't change the way they're growing. You may have to trim them several times, every 1-2 months, before they'll grow correctly again. If she's been walking really badly for a significant period of time, it may take several months for her to recover if the tendons have been damaged. I've seen some cows that were almost walking on the backs of their fetlock (ankle) joint - just a simple trim job isn't going to fix that cow for long.

 

[cornstalk]

You seem to be correct concerning the reoccurance of this condition. Do you believe that with repeat trimmings she may come out of this eventually?

Also, I did not anticipate this condition affecting the calf at all. This cow seems to have suffered from acitosis at some point in her life, possibly about the time I purchased her, as she carried herself fine when I bought her. I do not believe that this condition will have any bearing on her calf, however I could be wrong. More feedback on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[milkmaid]

Do you believe that with repeat trimmings she may come out of this eventually?

I don't see any reason why not.

Unless this is a genetic problem (which you imply it is not - rather one of those unfortunate problems that only affect the expensive animals

) then her heifer calf shouldn't have problems...in theory, at least!

 

[jkwilson]

Do you believe that with repeat trimmings she may come out of this eventually?

My experience has been that one an animal founders once, they are going to have hoof problems forever. They are often "poor doers" because acute acidosis can permanently damage the rumen.

 

[Medic24]

I have a cow with a like problem, she was a mess when i paid a few bucks for her, she raises nice calves.

Her front feet were so overgrown it was a real problem for her, so we had them trimmed last fall, now one of them has split, and we will get her in and epoxy it together. Same suff the horse folks use works ok, but not great.

Her hooves have grown almost to the same condition in just a few months, but other then that... a keeper. Your decision. :cboy:

 

[bigbull338]

theres no way to correct founder except trim her feet every 2months to keep them from getting to long thus making her sore footed an founder doesnt carry over to the calf so culling her is up to you scott

 

[ranchmgr]

I have several cows that are foundered do to a ration mixed wrong, they raise a calf every year, and will have to have a problem that is their fault before I cull them! It will not affect her calf. I would put her with the bull and never look back.

 

[DOC HARRIS]

You seem to be correct concerning the reoccurance of this condition. Do you believe that with repeat trimmings she may come out of this eventually?

Also, I did not anticipate this condition affecting the calf at all. This cow seems to have suffered from acitosis at some point in her life, possibly about the time I purchased her, as she carried herself fine when I bought her. I do not believe that this condition will have any bearing on her calf, however I could be wrong. More feedback on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!

You mentioned that you bought this cow from a reputable breeder and that you paid a pretty good price for her. Has the breeder been contacted, and does he have any other individuals in his herd with this problem? If not- - and her EPD's are commendable, contact the Veterinarian School at Colorado State University and get some ideas from them! You just don't want to continue a negative gene problem in keeping her heifers for your breeding herd. And, perhaps a gene is NOT the problem, but you should check it out. Good wishes to you on this. Doc