I have a cow that has a very tender back foot to the point she can't set it down to walk on it. She lays down most of the time......too far away from facilities to get her in. Is there anything I can spray on her foot or will she get better on her own. I'm assuming its fescue related.
Sore foot, Fescue poisoning?
- Thread starter Banjo
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Anonymous
If she's got something stuck in there it won't get better. Is there any way you can inspect it?
hooknline":t230mkmo said:
Yeah, need to take a look at it and make sure she isn't injured or there is a good chance it could get worse. Anyone you can borrow a portable chute from, or make one from a few cattle panels?
If it is the fescue then the cause is lack of blood flow to the hoof and you will need to get her into a different pasture with better feed, or at least no entophyte infected fescue anyway. There is nothing you can spray on it to increase the blood flow.
She's probably about 300 yds from my pen.....not a terrible long distance, but I probably should drive her slowly up there, she can hop on her other back foot. I've gotten as close as I could where she is and haven't seen anything unusual except a little swelling between her toes. She was in a pretty hot fescue pasture along with over 50 other cows , now I have her in a common area which is mostly crabgrass.
Yeah, 300 yards isn't that far, I would get her up to the pen and take a look. If it is the fescue causing the lack of blood flow just changing her feed is the most you can do so the crabgrass is a good start.
inyati13
Well-known member
Banjo, I agree with the suggestions. I am not an old hand but I am a graduate of Foot Problems of Cattle 101 by way of the school of hard knocks. If she is that sore, I bet there is a physical cause. She needs to go in a chute where you can spread her toes and check for a foreign object or puncture, etc. Look for reddness and inflammation up where the toes begin to part as a sign of foot rot. Cattlemen I know have more experience than me but they all jump immediately to the conclusion that it is either fescue toe or foot rot and for me at least 75% of the time it is an object lodged or stuck in the tissue. Let us know what you find. BTW, sorry to be blunt but what do you mean by 300 yards being a long way from facilities? :hide:
ousoonerfan22
Well-known member
Hauled a cow to the vet today she has a sore front foot and had been limping for a week....she didn't want to put any weight on that foot. You couldn't see any swelling and at first the vet couldn't find anything but that outside toe was really sore she would jerk it away if he squeezed it, he suspected an abcess. So he started sanding the bottom of the hoof like he was trimming her hoof still nothing then he found a small hole on the inside tip of the hoof and started trying to clean it out but nothing came out then he sanded the tip back enough and finally a stream of puss shot out, she walked a lot better from the squeeze chute to the trailer. I know he gave her a tetanus shot and maybe an antibiotic shot and told me to turn her out in a dry pasture(no pond or creek) or he would have to wrap the foot. We have a pasture like that and use a water trough to water them.
Fire Sweep Ranch
Well-known member
With the swelling, sounds like foot rot. I can take them down pretty quick, and all you need to treat it is tetracycline. I would bring her up, and do a good check.
Red Bull Breeder
Well-known member
Banjo a good loose mineral with CTC will help a lot with fescue related problems.
bigbluegrass
Well-known member
I had a cow a few years ago that looked like she had a foot problem on her back leg, because she wouldn't put any weight on it. I convinced myself she had a sore foot and it was swollen. I had her in quite a few times, looking for some kind of sore or something stuck in her foot. After a few months of trying different things, I had the vet out to look at it. Turned out it was her hip and not her foot. Vet thought she might have taken a hit from another cow in the hip. He used a tool (don't know the name but it looked a bit like a large pliers) to check her hooves. Interesting enough, that cows first heifer had the same problem. I don't have her or any of her daughters left here.
We had a hip problem with Granny one year, but hers was so bad you could hear it click as she walked. I put her on aspirin twicw a day for amonth and she got over it. Vet had said she probably wouldn;t make it through the year. Fooled him, she lasted 5 more calves worth.bigbluegrass":12cmr386 said:
