Cow Hoof Cleaner

Apparently the cloven feet of cows suffer from impaction of manure and cuts and sore points from not being properly cleaned a couple of times a year. The environment that cows live in is primarily moist and wet and that can easily lead to the compaction of mud and cow pooh in their feet. Not only can this lead to infection if they have an open wound but that compaction can lead to tender feet.

An unhappy cow with sore feet tends to lay around rather than graze and feed and this can lead to problems with dairy cows like mastitis and according to the National Mastitis Council, using FDA-approved intramammary antibiotics at drying off can decrease the number of existing mastitis infections and prevent new infections. But who knew!

But to avoid mastitis one of the best ways to keep the inflammation at bay is to provide an environment that will minimize exposure to dirty conditions. And that means to keep the cows happy on their feet and standing up and mving around rather than laying in mud and feces.

Devices are already bult to aid in this service. Companies like Comfort Hoof Care not only provide devices that will lift the cow up to have their hooves trimmed but they also have a very nice online library with articles on:

  • Understanding the Causes of Lameness
  • Functional and Corrective Hoof Trimming
  • Laminitis
  • Preventing Lameness for Profit
  • Is Lameness Robbing Your Profits?
  • Key Elements for Managing Hoof Health
  • Who is the Judge of a Good Hoof Trimming Job?
  • Rules for a Successful Hoof Care Program
  • Important Points for Controlling Foot Warts
  • Soft Tissue Infections Involving the Digit
  • Maintenance Trimming: Why, When, and How?

    You can read more about the process and see how this is actually done by looking at the Bovine Bugle.

    Hoof trimming can lead to the prevention of:

  • Sole and white line hemorrhages
  • Sole separation
  • Sole ulcer
  • Toe ulcer
  • White line disease
  • Heel horn erosion
  • Papillomatous digital dermatitis (footwarts, heel warts, digital dermatitis, etc)
  • Interdigital phlegmon (foul in the foot, footrot)

    If you want to read even more about this then I would suggest the excellent online library at Dairyland Hoof Care. You certainly don’t want to miss these articles:

  • Understand the Causes of Lameness
  • Functional and Corrective Hoof Trimming
  • Problems with Short Claws and Thin Soles
  • Field Reports of Chemical Burns
  • Footrot
  • Dairy Cattle Lameness: Causes and Effects
  • Implementing a Sucessfull Hoof Health Program
  • Footbath Alternatives
  • Pathogenesis of Sole Lesions Attributed to Laminitis in Cattle
  • Change Your Trimming Technique to Reduce Toe Curls
  • Laminitis
  • Preventing Lameness for Profit
  • Is Lameness Robbing Your Profits?
  • Who is the Judge of a Good Hoof Trimming Job?
  • Important Points for Controlling Foot Warts
  • Soft Tissue Infections Involving the Digit

    Topics: Farming, New Take on an Old Idea, Uses Exisiting Technology

     

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