Tranquilizers

[johndeerefarmer]

Do any of you use tranquilizers and the CapChur gun? I have several cattle that need their hooves trimmed and thought that this might be easier and cheaper than buying a squeeze chute.

How safe is it to put a cow under? What percentage will not wake up?

Or should I buy a squeeze shoot and try to pull the cow's back leg out the back of the chute with a come-a-long?

Thanks

 

[Bez!]

Do any of you use tranquilizers and the CapChur gun? I have several cattle that need their hooves trimmed and thought that this might be easier and cheaper than buying a squeeze chute.

How safe is it to put a cow under? What percentage will not wake up?

Or should I buy a squeeze shoot and try to pull the cow's back leg out the back of the chute with a come-a-long?

Thanks

Hoof trimming - drugs and ramblings.

We NEVER trim feet. Because we do not have to - will not keep a long toed animal on the place.

I know that lots of folks trim cattle feet.

If the ground they are on is normal ground - some sand some grass - some rock and so on - the feet should be naturally trimmed - if not genetics can take care of it - cull those with long toes.

Now to answer the question - In MY OPINION:

Any time you use drugs to put an animal down there is a chance it may not wake up - how often? Depends on the accuracy of the weight vs amount of drugs guessing game. Unless you actually have a set of scales. Depends on luck. Depends on stress levels of the animal. Depends on all sorts of things.

Unless you actually have a lot of animals to do - I would reccommend you do not buy a squeeze for the job - while it can be used for this purpose, it is not specifically designed for hoof trimming. I own a darned good squeeze and I have it connected to my chutes - but I do not use it for trimming - I use it for almost anything you can imagine - except trimming.

What you need is a table to lay them out on.

And unless you have a whole pile of animals to do I would not reccommend you buy a table for "sometimes" use.

In the end - unless I miss my guess on your herd size - and the number of trim jobs required - it is actually more efficient and certainly cheaper in the long run to have someone who does this for a living to come in and do them for you.

Regards

Bez!

 

[dun]

Tranqs are not an exact science no matter what the animal channel may have you believe. Neighbor had a huge Gert cow, one dart and it dropped like it had been shot, I had a yearling that took 6 of the same darts/drugs/doses just to slow her down enough that we could get he in a trailer. BTW, she destroyed the trailer even with all the drugs in her.
May be cheaper in the short run to hire a cattel hoof trimmer, in the long run, ship her.

dun

 

[jkwilson]

They can be pretty unpredictable coming out from under the drugs. Going through fences, charging etc.. If you have one who needs her feet trimmed, I'd assume it's either a show animal or a dairy cow. Either way, they should be calm enough to put in a hoof trimming table, which lifts them up so the trimmer can work on them easily.

You need to be concerned about why she has long hooves.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

I have 40 head and I have about two a year that need trimming, always the rear feet...

My soil is mostly clay so it should wear down the hooves.

I don't know of anyone around here that trims hooves.

When I take one to the vet they put them in the squeeze shoot and pull their leg back with a come-a-long.

 

[Bez!]

I have 40 head and I have about two a year that need trimming, always the rear feet...

My soil is mostly clay so it should wear down the hooves.

I don't know of anyone around here that trims hooves.

When I take one to the vet they put them in the squeeze shoot and pull their leg back with a come-a-long.

So at two a year it is probably more financially efficient to keep doing what you are doing.

Bez!

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Do any of you use tranquilizers and the CapChur gun? I have several cattle that need their hooves trimmed and thought that this might be easier and cheaper than buying a squeeze chute.

How safe is it to put a cow under? What percentage will not wake up?

Or should I buy a squeeze shoot and try to pull the cow's back leg out the back of the chute with a come-a-long?

Thanks

run the cow in the chute give her the shot of tranquilizer then turn her out in the lot and wait for her to go down. i use a pair of sharp lopping shears long handles and the blades are at the right angle while there still standing in the catch when im working um in the spring works best for me and just takes a few minutes the two are three that have the long toes are simm cross are great momas cant see culling them over a few minutes work cause there going trough the chute anyway........just confused that you said you had several that need trimming only two out of forty aint several

 

[Just_a_girl]

What about Cattle Calm paste....

There is a post under Health & Nutrition about tranquilizer gun. Do a search for cap-chur tranquilizer gun. Maybe some info on this post will help you decide what you need to do.

 

[johndeerefarmer]

What about Cattle Calm paste....

There is a post under Health & Nutrition about tranquilizer gun. Do a search for cap-chur tranquilizer gun. Maybe some info on this post will help you decide what you need to do.

Haven't heard of Cattle Calm paste, I will look into it.

Thanks

 

[Susie David]

We have sandy loam pasture and need to trim every so often. We use the trimmer with the 45 degree or so angle, can trim with the animal standing. We just nip the tips when we have them in the chute for routine maintenance. Not all need trimming just the ones that are hooking over into the other toe. We have had some cows break the tips off naturally just ahead of the quick, nice even break off and no discomfort to the cow. DMc

 

[johndeerefarmer]

Thanks,

Those trimmers are fairly cheap. I will give one a try.

Beat's getting kicked or having to take one to the vet.