Every Monday at our farm the hoof trimmer will come in and tidy up the feet of our girls! Taking care of the hooves is very important, and often times you will hear the term "lame" used for any cow that might be walking with a strange gait. The majority of the time these strange gaits can be related to an issue with their hooves and the hoof trimmer is able to identify the problematic hoof and help start the healing process. This does not hurt the cow in any way, in fact many hoof trimmers will compare tending to cow hooves like trimming your fingernails when they grow too long. In the photograph below you can see the machine that is used to help keep the cow secure during the hoof trimming process. It is not possible to trim a cows hoof like you would do with a horse so for the safety of the cow and for the hoof trimmer many times the cow in need of a spa day will be lead into a shoot that will keep her body secure and her feet still. This particular machine is able to lift the cow off of the ground and provide an excellent view of all four hooves. Our hoof trimmer has been doing this for over forty-four years! When they are finished tending to a hoof there are several options that the hoof trimmer might decide to do for the cow. If a considerable portion of the hoof was damaged or sore and needed to be removed a rubber block in the shape of the hoof can be placed and secured with vet wrap. Some hoof trimmers will also use an antiseptic called chlorohexidine to help clean and prevent infection from occurring. There is a lot of science involved in hoof trimming, if you are interested in learning more I included a video which talks about the hoof trimming process in greater detail.
Today we shipped 5,597 gallons of milk and have three newborn calves!
How Cow Hooves are Deep Cleaned
I find this very interesting since I never knew there could be so many problems with the cow hoofs. I am learning so much, thank you Rachel. Spa day for cows-who knew?
ReplyDelete