[patrickr]

Hi All

I've been looking into foot mats for sheep.  I want to get one about 230cm long x 57cm wide (I've seen one advertised).  I'm going to use Golden Hoof and run the sheep through periodically to prevent scald and foot rot. 

My question is:

Do these mats work well for covering the hoof and going up to the coronary band.  I understand they are good at keeping the liquid in and using less liquid, but I need to know that they are treating the whole hoof - not just the bottom.  Obviously a tray can achieve this, but will use more liquid and splashes out?

Any advice, experience greatly appreciate.

Patrick

[twizzel]

They don’t submerge the whole foot, so not as good as a footbath. I was toying up between a bath and mat and went for a footbath in the end.


On a side note, Golden Hoof needs standing in for at least 3-5 minutes, and even then the results are negligible. I wasn’t overly impressed and it took ages to stand all my sheep in it for the correct amount of time. Now I am using Provita Hoofsure endurance which you can run through twice, rather than stand in.

[Womble]

We bought a mat a while back, but I didn't think it was going to go deep enough, so I sent it back. Admittedly that was without trying it, but that's because I couldn't have sent it back dirty!

Goldenhoof does need longer to work, but we've had good results with it, particularly for scald.

[patrickr]

Thanks for the responses.  That confirms my suspicions.  I'll look for a foot bath.  Any tips on avoiding the liquid being splashed out or economising on liquid used?

[twizzel]

Use it within a race with a stop gate at the front to stop them running through quickly.

[Womble]

Any tips on avoiding the liquid being splashed out or economising on liquid used?

We have this one. It's hard to see in the photos, but it has a turned-in lip which works well to reduce sloshing.

[patrickr]

Any tips on avoiding the liquid being splashed out or economising on liquid used?

We have this one. It's hard to see in the photos, but it has a turned-in lip which works well to reduce sloshing.

Looks good.  Thanks for the link... 

[SallyintNorth]

Goldenhoof does need longer to work, but we've had good results with it, particularly for scald.

ditto.

Liming gateways and around troughs, reducing the amount of time they spend on wet acidic ground (where feasible) will also help.  As will ad lib Himalayan rock salt.