question on hoof trimming

[ugabulldog]

This is on cows back leg. What looks like need to be done, also looks to be split on top? I have never trimmed hooves before except on goats.I have a squeeze chute I can put her in, but probably needs more than just end nipped with nippers? If I need to tie foot up and trim I am thinking it is probably over my head and def. don't want to get hurt. Could call vet or a farrier based on your recommendations or would you just sell/cull? (she is a nice big cow other than that) Thanks for any advice.

002 by ar ka, on Flickr

 

[Bright Raven]

Best to put her on a table. I have a couple that the vet trimmed a couple years ago. That one looks like she needs it. Unless you have a compelling need to keep her, she might be one you consider culling.

 

[Supa Dexta]

If you're not set up to trim yourself, or confident in your ability to do so, send her down the road. A 5 yr old cow shouldnt have a foot like that. Its a pain to deal with her, and a pain to introduce bad feet into your herd, and before long you have a group of them. been there, done that. Good feet is as important as a good bag to me.

 

[ugabulldog]

If you're not set up to trim yourself, or confident in your ability to do so, send her down the road. A 5 yr old cow shouldnt have a foot like that. Its a pain to deal with her, and a pain to introduce bad feet into your herd, and before long you have a group of them. been there, done that. Good feet is as important as a good bag to me.

I edited my post... She might be older than 5. got her from a sale, but I know what you mean.

 

[gizmom]

I would recommend trimming about two inches behind her ears.

http://www.angus.org/performance/footsc ... poster.pdf

The Angus association has a good article on their web site right now talking about the heritable of hoof structure. Bottom line I wouldn't be retaining any heifers out of this cow and bull calves would be steered.

Gizmom

 

[TexasBred]

I would recommend trimming about two inches behind her ears.

http://www.angus.org/performance/footsc ... poster.pdf

The Angus association has a good article on their web site right now talking about the heritable of hoof structure. Bottom line I wouldn't be retaining any heifers out of this cow and bull calves would be steered.

Gizmom

No history on the cow but this can be nutritional as well. A bad case of acidosis will cause this.

 

[gizmom]

TB
Good point, but looking at the lack of depth in the heel I would lean toward bad hoof structure. And not knowing for sure since she was purchased through a sale barn I stand by my comment of not retaining heifers or Bulls out of her. The only way we are going to get a handle on these foot issues is culling them out of the breeding population.

Gizmom

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

I agree with not propagating bad feet. If she is faultless except for this, she can be a feedlot producer for you. You can lop the long toe off to keep her "comfortable". May need to do it a few times a year, but you can easily to it yourself. First sign of her getting tender footed or lame, you want to be prepared to ship her.

 

[callmefence]

I agree with not propagating bad feet. If she is faultless except for this, she can be a feedlot producer for you. You can lop the long toe off to keep her "comfortable". May need to do it a few times a year, but you can easily to it yourself. First sign of her getting tender footed or lame, you want to be prepared to ship her.

Yeah its easy enough to do. A good sharp pair of lopping shears works well . just enough to keep her from getting lame until you ship her.

 

[Bigfoot]

I agree with not propagating bad feet. If she is faultless except for this, she can be a feedlot producer for you. You can lop the long toe off to keep her "comfortable". May need to do it a few times a year, but you can easily to it yourself. First sign of her getting tender footed or lame, you want to be prepared to ship her.

Yeah its easy enough to do. A good sharp pair of lopping shears works well . just enough to keep her from getting lame until you ship her.

Funny how methods vary from state to state, and producer to producer. I'd throw a sheet plywood in the bottom of my chute. Id set a chisel on her toe about an inch in, when she quit prancing, I'd smack the crap out of it with a 2 pound shop hammer.

 

[Nesikep]

Bigfoot, I've done it that way.. depending on the breed and how that affects hardness of the hoof, it's darned near impossible. I've found that *typically*, the darker colored hooves are harder

Gizmom, Good poster.. I like a score of 6 on each of those though rather than 5... but I think the guidelines of scoring at a year old are worthless.. I have pretty much never seen a yearling with (seriously) bad hooves.. that shows up after 3 or 4 years. I haven't trimmed a hoof in 10 years and sure don't miss it.. I have a couple 10+ year old cows that could use a small nip (like 1/2" trimmed) but can't be bothered. I also think there are some animals prone to having bad bone structure that prevents the hoof from wearing properly, as well as the opposite, where bad hooves put an excessive strain on the bones, etc, and from there on it's a vicious cycle.


If you get this cow's hooves trimmed, I'd try and make her walk a little more, and definitely avoid penning her for long periods of time

 

[gizmom]

Nessie

I agree 100% on not being able to identify the hoof issue at a young age. We are sending a first calf heifer along with her calf to the sale barn in a couple of weeks because of bad feet and poor structure. To be honest I don't know how we missed the structure her hind legs are horrible. Jacob was looking at the cattle in the cull pen and her heifer calf is in the pen. The heifer is really nice but we don't want to take a chance on propagating those feet and legs so we're shipping her out. The cow was bred back to Renoun and stuck. Again I don't know how the heck we missed those horrible hind wheels but we did so we are going to address it.

Your also right about poor structure having an effect on the way the hoof grows. I will also throw in another point that I feel can impact hoof structure. I feel Enviornment plays a part, in our part of the country we tend to have smaller pastures the cattle don't travel as far for forage. We don't have hills or rocky ground to wear the hoof down. In fact we have soft soil in many instances sandy soil so the cow sinks into the soil instead of being on top of it, the ground does not help in wearing the hoof down. So a cow with poor structures hoof issues are amplified due to the enviornment. I have no studies to back this up just some thoughts I've had since we have been addressing poor hoof structure in our herd. We have a cow that is 12 that is getting a little long but at 12 I am not concerned I think hers is more age related. As breeders it is our responsibility to try to eliminated bad feet from the breeding population.

Gizmom

 

[boondocks]

Nessie

I agree 100% on not being able to identify the hoof issue at a young age. We are sending a first calf heifer along with her calf to the sale barn in a couple of weeks because of bad feet and poor structure. To be honest I don't know how we missed the structure her hind legs are horrible. Jacob was looking at the cattle in the cull pen and her heifer calf is in the pen. The heifer is really nice but we don't want to take a chance on propagating those feet and legs so we're shipping her out. The cow was bred back to Renoun and stuck. Again I don't know how the heck we missed those horrible hind wheels but we did so we are going to address it.

Your also right about poor structure having an effect on the way the hoof grows. I will also throw in another point that I feel can impact hoof structure. I feel Enviornment plays a part, in our part of the country we tend to have smaller pastures the cattle don't travel as far for forage. We don't have hills or rocky ground to wear the hoof down. In fact we have soft soil in many instances sandy soil so the cow sinks into the soil instead of being on top of it, the ground does not help in wearing the hoof down. So a cow with poor structures hoof issues are amplified due to the enviornment. I have no studies to back this up just some thoughts I've had since we have been addressing poor hoof structure in our herd. We have a cow that is 12 that is getting a little long but at 12 I am not concerned I think hers is more age related. As breeders it is our responsibility to try to eliminated bad feet from the breeding population.

Gizmom

Gizmom, any chance you would be willing and able to post a pic of the poor feet/hind legs you are culling on account of? It would very very helpful to newbies like me. I know what a really good one looks like, and I know what a really bad one looks like. It's the in-between that is tough, for me anyway

 

[gizmom]

Boondocks

I will do my best to get a photo of her before she heads to town. My face is really red over keeping this one this long. I swear I don't know how we missed her bad back wheels long enough to breed her for a second calf.

Gizmom

 

[kilroy60]

Had a cow that looked similar to this recently. She began to limp around. Loaded her up and took her to sale barn. Can't afford to have cows with bad feet.

 

[Bigfoot]

Serendepatis this thread came up. Checking cows yesterday evening, and I notice a cow not getting around too good. Long front feet. Had never spied it before. Now one hoof wall seems to be separating. Wish I had seen it earlier. Not sure she can be helped. Couldn't even find her this morning.

 

[gizmom]

The group of cull cows and calves made the trip to town this morning. Between rain, VBS this morning was my first chance to get a photo of the cow were culling for bad back wheels. I took them with my phone so now the best photos.



B24 she is being sent to town along with her heifer calf, really sickle hocked, her calf isn't as bad but not going to keep her as a breeder. I swear I don't know how she managed to stay on the farm, she is actually bred back AI'd to SAV Renoun yep my face is red.



This is the back feet of a commercial cow that has been used as a recip for many years. The boss told me not to dare put another egg in her (she always stuck). He put his foot down and said he wasn't dealing with her bad feet another year. So her last ET calf is weaned she did breed back to the bull and she gets to go to town.



This is a bred heifer, bred AI really nice heifer but crazy as a loon notice she is fixing to bolt as the photo was taken. Keeping one that acts nuts just gets the rest of them stirred up.

We also sent another open and some poor performing calves. I just call that cash flow.

gizmom

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Looks like you have made good calls on these. Too bad on the temperament, she looks like a real nice heifer.