# Hoof care...who can tell me more...



## GrowURown (Jul 6, 2011)

Okay, let's be honest....

With the horses I am a wuss...still VERY much content to let our ferrier come do his job and pay for it instead of spending what FEELS like AGES bent over horse feet...best money I spend by far when the labor it saves me is concerned.

With the goats...wife does most of it at this point...I still help with the particularly challenging cases (and by that I mean kicky hate it fight it don't wanta do it does)...but in all honesty goats are EASY...I get what we are going for in shape, etc...VERY EASY...not that I am great, I probably suck, but the goats feet look LIGHT YEARS better than they did when they first arrived!  So, goats...not too bad...

With cattle, can someone point me to the right direction as far as what we are going for here?  Angle, shape, etc....The ferrier will be back August 4th for the horses, and I KNOW he can help some, well, a lot actually...but that is a month away...I know all the "ickies" to look for, things that are just flat out bad, but personally, I want to do some research on cow feet.  So any links to other websites, older posts, etc...this is all good 

I did several searches on here and kept getting stuff for goats and sheep...and I am SWORN OFF OF GOATS UNTIL AUGUST!  NO LOOKING! NO PEEKING!   So, anything under "COW" helps...please don't make me peek, my goal is one stress free month, no goat stories, NONE, I ALWAYS find the stuff to make me worry.

And I know, a good "cow" book would help...I'm waiting on a few to arrive we ordered off of Amazon...so anything internet based to tide me over is nice, or another book to purchase is good...I LOVE my handy homesteader library we are building...knowledge DOES give me comfort...IN SMALL DOSES.  Too much and I can overload.

And I tried googling and keep getting redirected to some CRAZY STUFF...mostly ads for things cattle related and not what it seems I clicked on...what is that? A conspiracy to make me purchase more than I need for one little calf?  I think so....the men in black are watching and KNOW we plan to eat her!

So please...someone send me the right way for cattle hoof care...I WANT to learn more...I bet I end up paying Craig to trim her feets...but I want to learn a little anyways.

THANK YOU!


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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 6, 2011)

Are you just raising steers for the freezer?  If so, I doubt you'll have to worry about trimming hooves.  Cattle hoof care is much simpler than goat and definitely simpler than  horse hoof care.  If they've only got a small area or only access to very soft ground, their toes may get a little long.  I've used a chisel and rubber mallet before to just shape the toes and trim of excess length off dairy cow toes.  Usually dairies have the hoof trimmer trim hooves about once, possibly twice a year.  Beef cattle shouldn't need their feet trimmed unless there's something wrong with the animal.  I know the beef farm I worked on would get annoyed at having to get teh foot trimmer there for any animals.  

And I was speaking to the hoof trimmer and asking about what kind of schooling he had....none!  v   It's not scientific like horses.  You just need the same basic shape and flat sole with each animal.  He'd use a small board to make sure the soles were flat, and he'd use a hoof knife to trim down the sole/sides as needed, and hoof nippers to trim the toes.  The guys who would come to the dairy were a little more professional....I believe they had pneumatic tools and they were really fast.


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## GrowURown (Jul 6, 2011)

Thank you!

I remember dad using the hoof knife to trim down the soles once in a while...like MAYBE once or twice in it's life before one would be processed...and the nippers to trim the tips...the same ones we used on our horses I think.  Basically he kind of shaved off what he needed to it seemed, and I never asked any more...though I do remember he would check feet from time to time...maybe just looking for issues, now that I think about it....

I do recall him CLAIMING that if it "walked funny it messed up the feet and if it continued to walk funny it messed up the meat"....he SWORE one time that's why I took any awards I got, because my steer had even feet and thus a "more even carcass" he told a few people "all beef  tastes like beef once you grill it awards and championships are based on pretty beef" he preached....I don't know it was true...but still...KINDA makes a LITTLE sense, don't you think? (I guess anything your father says is supposed to be accepted as making sense though...i dunno...)

I just didn't know if he was going for something scientific or what...just remember thinking in my head I wished he would HURRY!

Thanks again!


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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 6, 2011)

We've never trimmed the hooves on the stockers we had in the past.  Never.  There was no need, even if we had to keep them for a few months extra due to the extra-low beef market (all thanks to that year we had the BSE problem...don't get me started on that!).  They walked quite a bit, had a large pen to move around in and even more pasture space to move around in.  

So no, don't worry your head about trimming you heifer's hooves.


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## GrowURown (Jul 6, 2011)

Thank you 

yeah, we aren't going to show her or anything fancy so no need for pretty feet, but I was just mostly curious really, ya know?  I mean, I know they don't live for years when destined for the freezer, but flip side some do when in a dairy setting, so I was wondering what protocol was and such...as an adult I find I just stop and think more in general...finding myself curious about all things I was too much a teenager and then too busy an adult to stop and ask...


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## goodhors (Jul 6, 2011)

Much will depend on where a bovine lives.  Big acreage, hard ground, covering some distance to graze and back to water tank, will take off hoof growth.  

Opposite side, kept in a dairy lot, small field with softer ground, means little chance to wear off hoof that grows.  So then the bovine will need trimming.

Daughter picks up her calves' feet pretty regular, so they are as easy to trim as a well-trained colt.  One growthy calf LOOKS short on one side standing
on his hooves.  However when you have the foot up to trim, he is actually even on both sides.  So his way of going, spreads his hooves with more weight on the 
inner hoof claw.  When he gets up to finish size (pure Holstein), he probably will be using both sides of hooves better to support his large weight.  The 
other calf (Hereford) walks with toes even, no uneven wear on her hooves.  She gets the edges rasped for chips.

Our dirt is soft, some big cobble size rocks, with little hard surface areas to abrade the hooves down short.  Even with lots of pasture travel, there is no real 
wear on hooves.  So hoof care needs to be done with them to keep hooves nice looking.  These are 4-H show calves, nice hooves are part of the presentation.


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## GrowURown (Jul 7, 2011)

See, that's my other thing....LORD FORBID something happens to a foot or lower leg, and I NEED to be able to handle her safely to doctor it.  Regular foot handling NOW at 200 lbs SHOULD make any further need of it much easier.  I mean, a hurt animal can be horrendous to deal with, but if she is already used to us picking up her feet for inspection, then it won't be as bad as wrestling a cow that's never had them touched.

So, no special angles, just maybe knock off the raggedy edges with a file for the sake of being pretty and voila!  Fancy feet 

Oh...I started last night with the feet business...did her like when our mare was young, rubbing with the rope, using the rope to get her to give, working in to slowly picking it up...she did good.  She's ALMOST too friendly to eat...ALMOST....but looking like a tasty T-bone none the less


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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 7, 2011)

GrowURown said:
			
		

> She's ALMOST too friendly to eat...ALMOST....but looking like a tasty T-bone none the less


Well if that's the case, then there's always the option of raising her to be a brood cow. There's nothing wrong with that!   Steers ain't worth nothing except for eating.  A heifer, on the other hand, especially one that has the potential to be a good momma cow, well that's something a bit different.


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## GrowURown (Jul 7, 2011)

OH NO! NO BABY COWS!   we do that with the goats, babies, milk...oh no!  THAT is more stressful than the ride to the butcher!  Don't you talk me into it!  OH NO!  I don't want to know any more about birthing no babies than I already does!

Keep telling me things like TASTY and CHARBROILED.....not BROOD or BREED...the goats reproduce and the cows get eaten!  And mean roosters too, but that's a different forum! 

Don't talk me out of eating the cow, and don't tell my wife we could breed it, she's already trying to play match maker for the hog and find her a prom date!


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## herfrds (Jul 8, 2011)

Geez I'm ready to give you a sedative. Just teasing you.

Relax. If this animal is for eating do not worry about the feet. Our vets daughter passed on a nice steer we have because his feet were not too good. He is finishing out nicely with having had no feet care and he got a new name from my son, Dinner.
Don't worry about problems you do not even have.


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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 8, 2011)

GrowURown said:
			
		

> OH NO! NO BABY COWS!   we do that with the goats, babies, milk...oh no!  THAT is more stressful than the ride to the butcher!  Don't you talk me into it!  OH NO!  I don't want to know any more about birthing no babies than I already does!
> 
> Keep telling me things like TASTY and CHARBROILED.....not BROOD or BREED...the goats reproduce and the cows get eaten!  And mean roosters too, but that's a different forum!
> 
> Don't talk me out of eating the cow, and don't tell my wife we could breed it, she's already trying to play match maker for the hog and find her a prom date!


   Don't worry, it was just an innocent suggestion!     But seriously, the possibility is always there.


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## GrowURown (Jul 10, 2011)

I know...relax you say   ....it's just the goats started out by accident and before you know it we went form 3 goats...to 9 goats...got it down to 7...and then one had TRIPLETS!   Then 3 more does had one baby each!  So we were at 13 goats!   All by taking in 3 on accident, and 6 more as a trade for the neighbor backing into my wifes truck!  Two were supposed to be bred, the others we didn't know, but they just started popping left and right!  If we can keep the cow population under control, I will be a happy camper   You would have to knwo the story of the goats to know why the thought of multiple cows scares me...that was something else!


I SWEAR if this cow ever multiplies into ANYTHING OTHER THAN BEEF  I will be caught in a nightmare! No more breeding or multiplying of anything until next year and I will be satisfied.


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## WildRoseBeef (Jul 11, 2011)

GrowURown said:
			
		

> I know...relax you say   ....it's just the goats started out by accident and before you know it we went form 3 goats...to 9 goats...got it down to 7...and then one had TRIPLETS!   Then 3 more does had one baby each!  So we were at 13 goats!   All by taking in 3 on accident, and 6 more as a trade for the neighbor backing into my wifes truck!  Two were supposed to be bred, the others we didn't know, but they just started popping left and right!  If we can keep the cow population under control, I will be a happy camper   You would have to knwo the story of the goats to know why the thought of multiple cows scares me...that was something else!
> 
> 
> I SWEAR if this cow ever multiplies into ANYTHING OTHER THAN BEEF  I will be caught in a nightmare! No more breeding or multiplying of anything until next year and I will be satisfied.


    I hate to rub it in further, but cows can be like chips: can't help but have more than just one!   I know I know, I'm sorry....


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