lame cow

vanderbadger

lads have a cow holding up her back leg a bit like a horse might , she wont seem to leave it down at all if she can, havent had a chance get her into crush yet and lift it to take a look as it usually almost dark when i get home and ive no light out there. Assuming there is nothing stuck in it whats the best thing to do, i gave her a shot of antibiotic already, would it be infection of some sort or footrot maybe? should you pare a hoof of a cow thats lamn or wait till she is better to pare?

reilig

I'd get an experienced hoof parer to have a look at it. Too many people have done their own and lost the cow to blood poisoning. It could be a stone or a prod of a thorn and an experienced parer will know exactly how to deal with it.

massey woman

check hoof for unlikely foreign matter and let her out into a field closeby for monitoring
3 days she will be well improved

leg wax

massey woman wrote: »

check hoof for unlikely foreign matter and let her out into a field closeby for monitoring
3 days she will be well improved

welcome back

whelan1

what antibiotic did you use? tbh if you didnt lift the foot you dont know what the problem is ,also is is a hurt up further up the leg?

vanderbadger

maxoject long acting
dont think the leg is hurt though, it seems more a reluctance to put any weight on hoof

Feargal as Luimneach

90% of lameness in cattle is in the hoof. Put her in the crush and lift the leg. Most likely cause at this time of year will be footrot. Oxytetracycline will sort that out. If there is a gravel line or abscess the antibiotics might improve it for a while but you will be back to square one soon enough. Pairing cattle feet ain't difficult. The next time your vet is out get him to show you the basics: gravel lines, footrot, scald, mortellaro, overgrown horn.

vanderbadger

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

90% of lameness in cattle is in the hoof. Put her in the crush and lift the leg. Most likely cause at this time of year will be footrot. Oxytetracycline will sort that out. If there is a gravel line or abscess the antibiotics might improve it for a while but you will be back to square one soon enough. Pairing cattle feet ain't difficult. The next time your vet is out get him to show you the basics: gravel lines, footrot, scald, mortellaro, overgrown horn.

you could be right, i got her in the crush this evening, its was the inside back leg so tricky to tie up, anyway i got to lift it and even for me to touch the bottom of the hoof would set her mad, seems v sensitive, would that stack up with footrot?
gave her another shot of maxoject anyway if thats any use in this instance

snowman707

vanderbadger wrote: »

you could be right, i got her in the crush this evening, its was the inside back leg so tricky to tie up, anyway i got to lift it and even for me to touch the bottom of the hoof would set her mad, seems v sensitive, would that stack up with footrot?
gave her another shot of maxoject anyway if thats any use in this instance

if she's that tender sounds like she has a "drop" in it which needs to be tapped

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

The back of the hoof inbetween the digits is where foot rot is. Footrot also has a distinctive smell. Maxoject should do the job if it's footrot. Give for three days if very bad. If footrot following antibiotic you should notice an improvement by tomorrow.

If the lame foot is the inside leg try putting the beast in the wrong way around so the lame foot will be beside the cattle crush bars.

there are a couple of hoists available for fitting to the crush , I certainly would not advise putting her the wrong way up the crush without a safe head restraint , not safe for the cow or the man

most hoof parers charge about €40 call out charge which includes treating the first animal in this case I think it would money well spent.

funny man

vanderbadger wrote: »

you could be right, i got her in the crush this evening, its was the inside back leg so tricky to tie up, anyway i got to lift it and even for me to touch the bottom of the hoof would set her mad, seems v sensitive, would that stack up with footrot?
gave her another shot of maxoject anyway if thats any use in this instance

No that wouldn't be footrot, she needs to have the hoof trimmed as it sounds like a pebble or someother foreign object. to lift an inside leg on a single-sided chute lift her leg up, with another rope put a loop around the leg and pull it to the chute bar (middle or third up from bottom) then wrap the leg and bar several times and tie it, this leaves the job much safer (head must be locked), if you take on with the job yourself trim across the flat of the hoof and give particular attention to the outer edges as this is where most debris is found.

jeff greene

vanderbadger wrote: »

you could be right, i got her in the crush this evening, its was the inside back leg so tricky to tie up, anyway i got to lift it and even for me to touch the bottom of the hoof would set her mad, seems v sensitive, would that stack up with footrot?
gave her another shot of maxoject anyway if thats any use in this instance

Could be laminitis, any changes to diet recently?

vanderbadger

jeff greene wrote: »

Could be laminitis, any changes to diet recently?

nah not really, they have moved onto 1st cut silage recently alright , she is a young cow, very big in fairness though

vanderbadger

snowman707 wrote: »

if she's that tender sounds like she has a "drop" in it which needs to be tapped




there are a couple of hoists available for fitting to the crush , I certainly would not advise putting her the wrong way up the crush without a safe head restraint , not safe for the cow or the man

most hoof parers charge about €40 call out charge which includes treating the first animal in this case I think it would money well spent.

ya ive no problem paying the guy, but given the hoof seems so tender would it not be severe on her to pare it or would be it be helping in her more to pare it now, might see how she responds to maxoject for another day or two, would leave her outside but its a bad day here and tonight is no better

we had the hoof parer here a few years ago, he did a few cows, anyway he did this big old charolais cow, she was very heavy now, anyway when he let her out of the crate she could hardly walk, he said she would be grand in an hr or two..she wasnt and was extremly lame for a week or so before she dropped dead in the field! heart must have given out maybe but i always reckoned your man went too severe on her

dar31

most likely a stone in the sole of the hoof or in between the claws, or else a drop as snowman said, either ways get it looked at as she will only get worse before it gets better, a cow that wont put weight on the foot is in a bad way.

ive a foot hoist that clamps on to the rump/kick rail in the parlor, great and simple bit of kit, father bought it moons ago, but could easily make one up, could easily use the same in a crush. there is also a winch set up over the crush, but only use that for the bulls, need to be feeling brave to do their feet.

dar31

vanderbadger wrote: »

ya ive no problem paying the guy, but given the hoof seems so tender would it not be severe on her to pare it or would be it be helping in her more to pare it now, might see how she responds to maxoject for another day or two, would leave her outside but its a bad day here and tonight is no better

we had the hoof parer here a few years ago, he did a few cows, anyway he did this big old charolais cow, she was very heavy now, anyway when he let her out of the crate she could hardly walk, he said she would be grand in an hr or two..she wasnt and was extremly lame for a week or so before she dropped dead in the field! heart must have given out maybe but i always reckoned your man went too severe on her

some hoof pairers can be very severe on cows, a couple of years back our regular lad was laid up, so got another to do the dry cow maintenance he went to town on them with an angle grinder and hoof blade, dont think he used a knife once, a week later cows were going lame for the fun of it.
regular lad is a bit slower with the knife, but cows are 100% after him.

has the infection started to break out around the top of the hoof, any sigh of cracks on the top or side of the hoof, injection will help a lot but if the infection cant get out, then it will just make its way in to the cow.

reilig

vanderbadger wrote: »

ya ive no problem paying the guy, but given the hoof seems so tender would it not be severe on her to pare it or would be it be helping in her more to pare it now, might see how she responds to maxoject for another day or two, would leave her outside but its a bad day here and tonight is no better

we had the hoof parer here a few years ago, he did a few cows, anyway he did this big old charolais cow, she was very heavy now, anyway when he let her out of the crate she could hardly walk, he said she would be grand in an hr or two..she wasnt and was extremly lame for a week or so before she dropped dead in the field! heart must have given out maybe but i always reckoned your man went too severe on her

As I said in my first post, Blood poisoning is common when lad's don't know what they're doing when paring a hoof so it could have been a likely cause. I have found that vets don't really know a lot about hoof paring and its best to get a professional hoof paper who knows what he's doing.

jeff greene

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

Laminitis is rare in cattle. It would be down the differential list for lameness in cattle, not impossible though.

Copied from this link

http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/lamebov.htm

Today, laminitis is the main cause of lameness in cattle. Risk increases when cattle stand with their hind legs in the passage-way, or stand for long timeson wet or pitted concrete. Calved heifers are especially at risk. The outer claw of the hind limb is most frequently affected in lameness.

dar31

reilig wrote: »

As I said in my first post, Blood poisoning is common when lad's don't know what they're doing when paring a hoof so it could have been a likely cause. I have found that vets don't really know a lot about hoof paring and its best to get a professional hoof paper who knows what he's doing.

our last vet said him self that "the last person that you should let near a foot with a knife is a vet, as they havent a clue"

Feargal as Luimneach

jeff greene wrote: »

Copied from this link

http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/lamebov.htm

Today, laminitis is the main cause of lameness in cattle. Risk increases when cattle stand with their hind legs in the passage-way, or stand for long timeson wet or pitted concrete. Calved heifers are especially at risk. The outer claw of the hind limb is most frequently affected in lameness.

Would have to disagree, I'm pairing feet myself every week and it's way down the list. If a whole load of cattle suddenly become lame after starting on a new ration/excessive ration, you would say laminitis otherwise no.

LostCovey

dar31 wrote: »

our last vet said him self that "the last person that you should let near a foot with a knife is a vet, as they havent a clue"

Most vets who say that have a dodgy back, actually

LostCovey

Feargal as Luimneach wrote: »

Would have to disagree, I'm pairing feet myself every week and it's way down the list. If a whole load of cattle suddenly become lame after starting on a new ration/excessive ration, you would say laminitis otherwise no.

Totally agree. I have seen cows with laminitis, they are in a lot of pain, and stand very short, with all their feet brought in together under their body. The last thing on earth that they want to do is lift a foot!

The internet is brilliant, to a degree, and boards.ie is a great resource, but a lame foot needs to be lifted and examined by someone who knows what they are looking for and what they are doing.

This thread could run to 6 pages, you could spend a fortune on drugs, and you will still have to lift the foot.

LostCovey

snowman707

hoof care and lameness prevention isn't rocket science, got a few tips from a vet over 30 years ago, TBH I wouldn't let one of the modern vets near a hoof,

I use one of those
http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/livestock/1862901
for routine jobs

on the other side of the equation my hoof parer has a crate that cost €30,000 both of us do the same work, but his system is easier on man and beast

whelan1

does any ones hoof pairer use the angle grinder thingy to do the cows feet ? i find it very hard on the cows , they seem very tender after it. Mortalaro(sp) is another thing that could be a problem , touch wood we had none of it this year , would normally have to ffotbath 2 or 3 times in the winter. A good spray of alamycin spray between the claws is a good help

reilig

whelan1 wrote: »

does any ones hoof pairer use the angle grinder thingy to do the cows feet ? i find it very hard on the cows , they seem very tender after it. Mortalaro(sp) is another thing that could be a problem , touch wood we had none of it this year , would normally have to ffotbath 2 or 3 times in the winter. A good spray of alamycin spray between the claws is a good help

An operator from FRS did a bull of ours with it a few years back. The poor bull wasn't right for months after it. It goes very deep very fast and seems to be very severe. They guy didn't know what he was doing. Never again.

vanderbadger

whelan1 wrote: »

does any ones hoof pairer use the angle grinder thingy to do the cows feet ? i find it very hard on the cows , they seem very tender after it. Mortalaro(sp) is another thing that could be a problem , touch wood we had none of it this year , would normally have to ffotbath 2 or 3 times in the winter. A good spray of alamycin spray between the claws is a good help

ya this cow of ours that died was done with the grinder, i suppose its down to the operator really

vanderbadger

just to update
had a parer tidy her up at the weekend, seems like it had already partially burst just above back of hoof, she is improving anyway i reckon
this chap had the old style crate, no electrics and no grinder thankfully

snowman707

I'd have no issues with the grinder, so long as the proper crate was used, my guy's crate was wooden supports and it clamps around the foot, I wouldn't use the grinder without this, also there are different types of discs , some are better than others.

Glad you (and the cow) got sorted OP , a pity she wasn't pared before it broke out and she would healed a lot faster, but she will come right.

reilig

snowman707 wrote: »

I'd have no issues with the grinder, so long as the proper crate was used, my guy's crate was wooden supports and it clamps around the foot, I wouldn't use the grinder without this, also there are different types of discs , some are better than others.

Glad you (and the cow) got sorted OP , a pity she wasn't pared before it broke out and she would healed a lot faster, but she will come right.

Woppa crushes are the business with the wooden supports and the clamps.

http://www.wopa.nl/