I think this is Founder with pics please help?

[hicky214]

So I went to the check the cows this evening and I found the pictures below on a great mama cow. She has the best heifer in the bunch. I have been giving her some grain not a lot but this could be the cause. But I am a newbie. What should I do in this case? Does it require a vet? If not please explain. I do not want this getting worse I want it fixed and treated asap. Also will this condition come back typically or no? I was going to retain her heifer so Im not sure if it is genetic. I check cows twice a day and don't see that I could have missed this for long. So I know its new to her. Sorry for all the questions just want all to be healthy.

 

[kenny thomas]

Maybe founder but I thinkprobably not. She needs the hoof trimed. It will take someone that knows how and maybe a tilt table. If there are any dairys in your area ask some of them who does theirs.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Some of the vets have tilt tables also. So as Kenny said, check with your dairy's and vets.
Is she lame on it? Founder is very painful and she would barely be able to walk on it.
From the picture I can not tell, but has the hoof wall separated from the sole of the foot??

 

[Koffi Babone]

From your photos, she seems to be bearing weight pretty well. Founder is aka laminitis which is an inflammation of inner parts of the foot. This is a very painful disease and animals affected by this will usually show a noticeable lameness (or limp).

I agree with Kenny Thomas, it looks like corkscrew hoof and needs a trim. This problem (corkscrew) does tend to be recurrent and is genetic. She will most probably need regular hoof trimming.

 

[hicky214]

I agree it does look like cork screw this is all new to me. So I looked it up and read on it. It really sucks as she is a milk wagon and her heifer calf is just beautiful. I really wanted this heifer as a replacement. I am trying to grow my herd. But if its genetic I'm not trying to trim feet for life. What are your thoughts and what would you do with cow and calf. Calf was born 3-26-14 and is a fast grower momma is great. Would you let calf get to 3-4 weight 4-5 weight? Then sell separate or sell as cow calf pair sooner? Keep them? Thanks again

 

[kenny thomas]

Its not that big of a deal to have it trimmed. You might try it and see what happens. If she is getting around good I would be in no hurry to sell.Let her raise this calf for sure.

 

[hicky214]

Would you sell her heifer? Or take a chance on keeping the heifer? How genetic is this? Is it if momma has it baby more than likely will or just a crap shoot?

 

[LauraleesFarm]

For me and my herd, I don't keep cows with feet like that. And I don't want their daughters. I don't need anything that requires a trim to stay sound. So if it were me, I would sell her while prices are good. And buy something with better feet.

 

[kenny thomas]

It is genetic but 1/2 of the genitics come from the bull. Its a crap shoot on the calf but also is if you buy something to replace her.

 

[cowpunk'd]

We have Dairies on the island so we have hoof trimmers. He does not use a tilt table, his portable chute is hydraulic, it supports the weight of the cow with a wide strap and then picks up each foot individually. Set up takes a half hour and the trimming takes probably 10 minutes for all four feet! This guy only charges $20 per cow. A good cow will make you back the $20. But you haven't mentioned if she is even lame, or her age. Maybe she is 5 or 6 and $20 trim now will give her another 5 or 6 good years before you need to decide. As for keeping the heifer, do you have any older offspring of the cow around, you could check how its feet look.

 

[branguscowgirl]

hicky if you really like the cow and heifer keep them. If a foot trimming takes care of it, I certainly would.
You will get a lot of different opinions on this here, that's for sure. You will just have to weigh the pros and cons for your situation.

 

[branguscowgirl]

After doing some research on "screw claw", I think that may be one disorder I would be very concerned with. (This may not be the diagnosis with your cow.) The way "screw claw" affects the internal structure of the foot, it does not leave much hope for maintaining soundness. If after she was evaluated by a trimmer or vet this was found to be the diagnosis, I would be inclined to cull her. But probably not the calf just yet. And that is only if the diagnosis was confirmed.
Good luck.

 

[Lucky_P]

looks like screw claw to me.
Have two cows in the herd here with it. Have trimmed 'em both - and we're 2-3 years down the road, with both sound - but if(when) it grows out to the point that they need another trim...they're taking a trip to town. Both those girls were worth taking a chance on - but we'll be watching daughters for any indication that they inherited the trait, too.
A third cow, who was a poor performer, didn't get another chance, and took her ride to the salebarn last week.

 

[dun]

Granted it doesn;t take much, but I was kind of confused. I didn;t think that screw claw started showing up till they were about 3 or 4. When I've seen it only one foot wasn;t affected. I was under the impression this cow was just a 2 year old.

 

[B&M Farms]

How old is the cow? You said she is a good cow so I wouldn't cull her on that hoof alone. I wouldn't keep a heifer out of her more than likely but as long as she produces without any other problems I would have her trimmed. It cost money to replace a breeding age cow. If she is favoring it I would cull her though. They don't get second chances here.

 

[hicky214]

Well the Vet came out today and its the screw. The Vet was amazed at her calf at 2 months. So she trimmed it and I said what would you do. She said well 99 percent of time id tell you to cull. But with calves like that I would keep and eye on momma and if and when it grows back clip again or cull. So I'm gonna give her a shot if I can get by with a clipping every 6 months I'm fine with that. If she wasn't the momma she is id put her on the trailer. Im even gonna keep her heifer calf. Im a gambler ill take the chance ONCE!!! Thanks for the help. She has no limp or lameness. I will do the clipping myself I watched the vet and was kinda pissed I paid 100 bucks for that. But after my brand new MF cutter arrived on the trailer today. I was excited then when I looked it over to realize it looked like someone rolled it down a mountain all bent up and not assembled properly I was pissed. Then I called the sales guy and when he drove out and told me "that is normal" thats the way they are" I was super pissed. So after the truck came back and got it to " look it over" i get a call saying yeah it has issues we are gonna bring you a new one. I feel a lil better. I got into the farm came to be relaxed from the 9-5. So after 14 hours on the farm today im going to have a cold one. Thanks for the help and listening to my fussing.

 

[Workinonit Farm]

Glad to hear you got it trimmed. Consider the $100.00 as tuition. Perhaps you learned something, learned how to trim? If nothing else, you are establishing a good working relationship with your vet......trust me.....THAT alone is priceless!

Long hard day on the farm.....yeah, lots of us can relate to that! ;-)

Enjoy that cold one.

Katherine

 

[branguscowgirl]

I think your decision to give her another chance is a good one. Try to replace her and you could do a lot worse. It sounds like her calves make up for the little bit of added expense and time.

 

[garnetann]

I have a cow with a similar looking toe. Both hoofs on the outside of her back feet. She developed it when she was about five years old. She throws the best bull calves I get. I take her in yearly to have her feet trimmed, costs about $65, so is well worth it to me. The vet said it is genetic, but it can be bred out eventually. I have kept back two of her calves and neither of them have shown any signs of it yet. My vet has a tilt table, does not sedate her, and she does fine.

 

[Ozhorse]

Crooked toes can also be due to injury.

Injury will cause the hoof to grow faster, and so quickly go out of shape with other toes. Once out of shape that claw just gets worse as the wear is all wrong. Once the wear and shape of the hoof is wrong for long enough it can cause arthritis and problems with the joints, particularly when the animal is fat and pregnant.

More problems then can arise from all the above.

Some of the things I have seen cause toes to grow wonky through no fault of the animal itself.

*Burnt feet from bushfire.
*Starvation - particularly mis-mothering as a tiny baby, leads to problems with early hoof growth the effects of which dont show much until the animal gets to two or three, but can show up later.
*Wire injury to hoof wall (more common in horses as they are more silly about getting caught in wire).
*Foot abscess (but that is sort of the fault of the animal)
*Slipping and injuring the hip, cow is lame, that changes the gait, then the foot grows wrong (should cull cow while it still has weight, unless it gets over the lameness).
*Any other thing you can and cant think of.

I would not go too hard on the heifer unless she starts showing the same problem with no cause. The cow might have had some sort of mishap that you don't know about. If she needs trimming regularly, like twice a year, I would truck her out of my herd because I don't want the trouble, but if it is fixed after a once off trim then it probably was not a genetic problem anyway. If it was a stud bull to cover many cows I would be tougher on it but a nice commercial cow? It does not really matter.