Effective Hoof Parer-recommendations?

Bleating Lamb

Hi lads,

Had a great 'old style' sheep hoof Parer for donkeys years....lost it a few months back:(,
When I say old style I mean a simple design,not unlike a strong scissors in shape,with straight edges.
Can anyone recommend a decent one on the market at moment that they are using themselves??
Used a neighbours one the other day that was shaped like a garden pruner with curved edge and it wasn't worth a s***e!!!,

Thanks for any suggestions.

orm0nd

I have 1 similar to this , well over 12 years & still perfect, make sure you get one with serrated blades , clean and a shot of oil after use & will last a lifetime

https://www.agridirect.ie/p/footrot_shears_serrated_vmx

Green farmer

I give up paring sheeps hoofs, haven't done one in ages. The latest advise in relation to footrot etc, is not to trim , but foot bath instead.( save your back as well). However when I did pair I used ordinary garden pruner., which are very good. The straight ones, not the curved one which are crap. Lidl get them in every now and again for €3 or something like that. You'll also get them in a garden centre for under €10.

Bleating Lamb

orm0nd wrote: »

I have 1 similar to this , well over 12 years & still perfect, make sure you get one with serrated blades , clean and a shot of oil after use & will last a lifetime

https://www.agridirect.ie/p/footrot_shears_serrated_vmx

Thanks,that's very like the one I had for years,is that company competitive price wise for Dosing stuff etc I wonder?

orm0nd

Bleating Lamb wrote: »

Thanks,that's very like the one I had for years,is that company competitive price wise for Dosing stuff etc I wonder?

Varies at times , I always check their prices along with magenta direct & local suppliers when buying

got a great deal a couple of months on some pour on with them

great delivery service usually the following day & you will get a text in the morning informing of the approx. time

Username John

orm0nd wrote: »

Varies at times , I always check their prices along with magenta direct & local suppliers when buying

got a great deal a couple of months on some pour on with them

great delivery service usually the following day & you will get a text in the morning informing of the approx. time

Price wise I wouldn't know, and I'd say it depends as Ormond above says...

But for service I couldnt fault Agridirect - I had an issue with an order last week, emailed em. They rang me back next day, and the issue was sorted with a replacement the day after. (and they collected the stuff for sending back at the same time)

arctictree

Green farmer wrote: »

I give up paring sheeps hoofs, haven't done one in ages. The latest advise in relation to footrot etc, is not to trim , but foot bath instead.( save your back as well). However when I did pair I used ordinary garden pruner., which are very good. The straight ones, not the curved one which are crap. Lidl get them in every now and again for €3 or something like that. You'll also get them in a garden centre for under €10.

What if you have a lame ewe and you turn her over and her hoof is in bits? Would you not pare that back till it looks right? I sometimes find that a ewe is lame because her hoof has cracked and is sore when she steps on it. A quick trim and a spray normally does the job. I don't footbath at all.

ganmo

There was a uk vet at the teagasc sheep conference who got a few farmers to only pare odd tag numbers and they found no benifit to paring feet

orm0nd

ganmo wrote: »

There was a uk vet at the teagasc sheep conference who got a few farmers to only pare odd tag numbers and they found no benifit to paring feet

varies with different breeds ,

the mules are most trouble free ewes we have

suffolk & texel x's on the other hand :rolleyes:

razor8

arctictree wrote: »

What if you have a lame ewe and you turn her over and her hoof is in bits? Would you not pare that back till it looks right? I sometimes find that a ewe is lame because her hoof has cracked and is sore when she steps on it. A quick trim and a spray normally does the job. I don't footbath at all.

The vet at conference was Fiona Lovett. She treated a ewe as described above with an Antibotic inj and spray and took pictures of two front feet at 6 week intervals or so, the transformation was unbelievable and the ewe repaired herself in about 6 months. Since then I have done the same with very good success. Her key point was to treat any ewe lame within first 3 days and over time the amount of sheep you have to treat will be minimal
She said all footrot can start off as scald so it's important to Footbath to keep problems down

Green farmer

arctictree wrote: »

What if you have a lame ewe and you turn her over and her hoof is in bits? Would you not pare that back till it looks right? I sometimes find that a ewe is lame because her hoof has cracked and is sore when she steps on it. A quick trim and a spray normally does the job. I don't footbath at all.

They reckon that paring the hoof actually delays recovery. It's the uk vets that I was referring to alright.

Green farmer

orm0nd wrote: »

varies with different breeds ,

the mules are most trouble free ewes we have

suffolk & texel x's on the other hand :rolleyes:

I had a few ewes here that had hoofs like witches shoes. Just cull the trouble ones makes life a lot easier.

westman1

https://www.agridirect.ie/p/footrot_shears_super_cut_non_serrated


these are the best foot shears about, but foot bathing in zinc sulphate much easier

IH784man

W only pare sheep with sore feet,we always footbath every so often,It does make a difference,a lot of people around here will say the sprays ain't worth a sh!te but I haven't used them yet so I can't comment

orm0nd

westman1 wrote: »

https://www.agridirect.ie/p/footrot_shears_super_cut_non_serrated


these are the best foot shears about, but foot bathing in zinc sulphate much easier

how long do you leave them stand in the foot bath ??

& do you put washing up liquid in the mix ?

(doing a handling unit here shortly)

IH784man

orm0nd wrote: »

how long do you leave them stand in the foot bath ??

& do you put washing up liquid in the mix ?

(doing a handling unit here shortly)

We used to put all that stuff in but now we put in the acid and water,we have a race type thing that holds two footpaths and has a guillotine gate at the end,we tie a cord from the gate to the end of the cattle crush where the race hooks on,basically one man operation,we count to about 2 minutes or so but might run them through again for the same time.

If you want to get the sheep to got in easier cut some foam and lay it into the footbath as the foam soaks it up and the sheep don't think there going into deep water.

westman1

orm0nd wrote: »

how long do you leave them stand in the foot bath ??

& do you put washing up liquid in the mix ?

(doing a handling unit here shortly)

5 mins to 2 hours
you can put in wash up liquid i don't i have a batch foot bath do 30-35 in one go

Green farmer

orm0nd wrote: »

how long do you leave them stand in the foot bath ??

& do you put washing up liquid in the mix ?

(doing a handling unit here shortly)

The sponge in the foot back is the important bit. As pointed out they won't go in if they see water. I use an organic foot back here. " Hoofsure" as I don't like dangerous chemicals. I got rid of the footrot here by regular bathing a few years ago and haven't had any issues since. I also have a simple homemade concrete race here that works fine. I put a pic up on the sheep photo thread about a month ago, might give you any ideas if your designing your own.