We have been having an extremely wet, cool year. Now our yrlg replacement hiefers are coming down with sore feet. They are a little swollen, the heifers carry a slight limp and upon inspection there is an open sore at the hairline of the hoof on the heel. On occasion, the open sore will travel between the toes. Mostly the rear feet are affected. So far we have run about 40% of the heifers thru the chute, disinfected the feet, doused them with coppertox, and then injected with about 50cc's of tetracycline. Today we also corralled them and put sulfa in the water for 5 days. Not a pleasant development. The vet thinks the forever wet ground, an overabundance of tall grass and the cool conditions are contributing to the problem. Any suggestions or experience with this?
Hoof Scald
- Thread starter Sundancer
- Start date
per
Well-known member
You would think there would be some sort of happy medium in this grass game. Too much rain, tall grass and health problems. Not enough rain, short grass and health problems. Hope it all comes well for you Sundancer.
Faster horses
Well-known member
Of course, my question is: "are you feeding any mineral?"
Sounds like the hoof quality of your heifers isn't up to par.
Zinc has so much to do with integritiy of the hoof. So, regardless of
what you are doing to treat it, a good mineral program would
prove to be very beneficial. And by 'program' I mean have
the right mineral in front of them year-round. Our customers
have virtually NO hoof-rot problems. Sorry you are going through
this. It's not fun. We had hoof-rot so bac in W. Montana that some
cows got infection in the bone and we had to sell them.
In 1994 one of our customers (who was not a customer at that time) had
hoof rot in everything. Cows, bulls, calves and was treating according
to the vet (boluses, antibiotic, organic iodine). We used our minera and added pure zinc to it and got him through the crisis. He's been a customer ever since...and that happened 15 years ago!
Hope this helps!!
Sounds like the hoof quality of your heifers isn't up to par.
Zinc has so much to do with integritiy of the hoof. So, regardless of
what you are doing to treat it, a good mineral program would
prove to be very beneficial. And by 'program' I mean have
the right mineral in front of them year-round. Our customers
have virtually NO hoof-rot problems. Sorry you are going through
this. It's not fun. We had hoof-rot so bac in W. Montana that some
cows got infection in the bone and we had to sell them.
In 1994 one of our customers (who was not a customer at that time) had
hoof rot in everything. Cows, bulls, calves and was treating according
to the vet (boluses, antibiotic, organic iodine). We used our minera and added pure zinc to it and got him through the crisis. He's been a customer ever since...and that happened 15 years ago!
Hope this helps!!
Our cattle do not go through a day without mineral in front of them year around. I also mix in an extra 1/2 pound of organic iodine per 100 pounds of mineral to help with foot problems. I don;t have a label in front of me right now, but I will investigate the zinc level. We feed Kent Fescue Mineral all the while we are on grass since we have lots of fescue in this neck of the woods. Thanks for the input 
Faster horses
Well-known member
I'll be anxious to see your zinc levels and the zinc source.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Faster horses
Well-known member
Check your pm...
Faster horses
Well-known member
oops! 