# Long hooves on an auction buy....what now?



## allenslabs (Feb 6, 2005)

We went to an auction with the intent of buying possibly a bull and then also maybe a bred heifer or two and ended up with two very pretty, very well built heifers. These two girls are ready to breed now but won't till later...if at all as now that they are at home, out of the sawdust we see that their back hooves are long. Even the dew claws (I think that is what they are called, the two little claws that hang down) on one are a little longer than normal.

So, should we just eat these girls or hope that they will come out of it. These were part of an estate auction that left the cows unattended when the older guy died. The cows were thin as rails mostly but the calves and such weren't too bad but everything was either girl or all boy and it looked as though nothing had been wormed or vaccinated. The ones that were thick looked great....everything else....needed some TLC. 

So, is there hope that with proper minerals and such these girls will come out of it or should we just send them back on down the line at the next sale? We bought them "right" as everything there was very decently priced (not a lot of people there because of either lack of advertising or because Thunder over Louisville was that same time) so we could take them to the next sale. Or we were needing something to butcher for my BF's brother and so we could turn them out for a little bit and then butcher them (have to let them loose a little as we went ahead and wormed and blacklegged them this morning).


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## linn (Jul 19, 2005)

Why not worm them and trim their hooves with a horse hoof trimmer. We used to have a Guernsey cross cow that had one back hoof that needed trimming every so often.


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## allenslabs (Feb 6, 2005)

We did worm them but have no clue how to trim a cows hoof and the black one is pretty docile. The gray one (guessing char/angus cross) on the other hand.....VERY skittish and hoping she calms down otherwise she'll be butchered regardless. But we know these girls were born on that place and had probably not been handled other than to be shoved onto a trailer and hauled many miles to this auction house where they were shoved, sleeved, poked and prodded so we take that into consideration when dealing with her. We're hoping she'll calm down as she's really pretty just equally as skittish unfortunately. LOL!


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

Is this Fescue foot?

What is Fescue foot? I have heard about it, but don't know what it is..


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

Your vet should be able to sedate them and safely trim their feet. Are you keeping them quarantined away from your other cattle?


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

I have seen several COWS come thought the the auctions that way NEVER HEIFERS


if they are foundered they COULD GROW LONG as in the previos owner the one that died ..... could have feed these up for butcher in a small pen with all the grain they could eat and no grass ..... then when he died they turned them out to pasture and they lost all that weight but left the long toes

Two ..seen cows with long toes on nothing but pasture...and people do trim them and sent them to auction....but unless there diet is changed they grow back..as in diet change from a fescue pasture to a bermuda pasture

Three Fecue foot could have been so bad it damaged the feet...but I never seen it on Heifers again just cows and bulls after it builds up in the cows system from the endophyte fungus in the fescue seed head....Coppertox and LA200 will fix this if treated in time before damage is done

I would sell or eat both of them..I know of no cure for long toes..but triming and I am sure they will grow back...and you might have to trim 2 or 3 times before you do either to get them back in good shape


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## allenslabs (Feb 6, 2005)

Yes, they are quarantined away from everything else. Hmmm....


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

here is a link to a BEEF Magazine story on fescue foot 

http://beefmagazine.com/mag/beef_fescue_toxicity




HDRider said:


> Is this Fescue foot?
> 
> What is Fescue foot? I have heard about it, but don't know what it is..


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

Cattle can be genetically disposed to have a poor foot angle, which results in the hoof growing long. It puts a lot of strain on the muscles and tendons in the back of the leg and can affect how willing the cow is to graze or walk to water. She may not prosper as well as a cow with a properly formed foot. She may have joint problems later in life.

A good hoof trimmer can put her foot back in shape by trimming the hoof to make it better support her weight. It could come back, though. That's why some cows need their hooves trimmed and some don't.

Other reasons for long hooves can include soft dirt, wet conditions or feeding too much protein.

If you want to keep these two, you should try to remedy the situation to make their life easier and seek out a bull to breed them that has very good feet. Hopefully his genetics will improve your calves.


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## HDRider (Jul 21, 2011)

myersfarm said:


> here is a link to a BEEF Magazine story on fescue foot
> 
> Fescue toxicity | content from BEEF Magazine



Read that. Maybe a picture would have helped. Still wondering what the manifestation of fescue foot looks like.

I take from this discussion that fescue foot does not entail long hooves.

Again, my take away from this discussion is that long hooves are a genetic trait, so these cattle should not breed, but should be slaughtered.


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## myersfarm (Dec 24, 2004)

HDRIDER why no pictures it will look normal.. but the cow will limp.. but be swollen right where the hoof and the meat on leg meet ...

.lots of times they IMHO 
they show pictures of FOOT ROT AS FESCUE FOOT...because if the cow gets fescue foot she will get in ponds and stay there for hours to help easy the pain and the mud and water will then cause foot rot IMHO


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## springvalley (Jun 23, 2009)

genebo said:


> A good hoof trimmer can put her foot back in shape by trimming the hoof to make it better support her weight. It could come back, though. That's why some cows need their hooves trimmed and some don't.
> 
> Other reasons for long hooves can include soft dirt, wet conditions or feeding too much protein.QUOTE]
> 
> Another reason for the long hooves could be that is it was an older gentlemen that owned them. It could be that they were in a barn or padock that had a lot of manure pack, that makes hooves grow as they are not being worn down like normal. I would trim them and see how they get along this summer, if they grow back, sell them. > Thanks Marc


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## Jennifer L. (May 10, 2002)

springvalley said:


> genebo said:
> 
> 
> > A good hoof trimmer can put her foot back in shape by trimming the hoof to make it better support her weight. It could come back, though. That's why some cows need their hooves trimmed and some don't.
> ...


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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

HDRider said:


> Again, my take away from this discussion is that long hooves are a genetic trait, so these cattle should not breed, but should be slaughtered.


Not necessarily.

Here are some photos of a Dexter bull who had been confined in a stall for an unknown period of time before he came to us. His feet were in terrible condition, long and horribly caked with manure; he limped a bit in front. The vet sedated him and trimmed his feet.

Front feet before therapeutic trim:









Rear feet before trim (you can see how long they are):









Rear feet shown before trimming, while sedated and on the ground; vet is working on front feet:









Rear feet shown the day after (the reddish/brown stuff is mud):









Within a few days, he was moving well and comfortable, just in time to be turned out with some cows. His feet did not slow him down a bit! Almost a year later, his feet still look good!


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## allenslabs (Feb 6, 2005)

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## G. Seddon (May 16, 2005)

allenslabs, yes, they appear to need a good trim. There are people who have a hoof trimming table that travel around and do nothing but feet. You could ask at a dairy, or ask your vet, perhaps they know of someone who does this? 

Nice heifers! They should blossom with some good care


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

allenslabs 

That is a mild case of just needing trimmed IMO. I have seen animals that appeared to be wearing skis. Once trimmed and on pasture where they will be walking distances they should be OK. That is neither foot rot nor fescue foot!


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