[Marches Farmer]

I vaccinated with Footvax in 2007, put them on fresh pasture, and haven't seen footrot or scald since.  I will trim clees that are getting too long at the front, which seems to vary depending on the individual sheep, but don't trim the back.  I find that if the hoof wall is cut all the way around it's easier for the sides to flex enough to pack with mud.  This is my compromise and so far it's worked very well - I check feet three times a year and haven't had to treat feet for actual problems since starting this regime.  If your sheep are on very soft ground all year round it may not be the right one for you, nor if your sheep are primitives carrying very little weight or your ground is hard and rocky.

[Womble]

Foobar, yes, that's very interesting. I've only been trimming for shelly hoof, but really want to get into the position where there's no need to trim for that either. Take my problem ewe's back foot for instance:



I'm pretty sure that this pocket is going to get worse, so I could trim the outer nail off to open up the pocket to nip it in the bud before it gets like this (different sheep from last year):



The trouble is, if I do that, I'm moving further and further away from 'no trimming'.  How do you get them sound in the first place so that you then don't need to trim?   

[Foobar]

You would have to trim all the way up - usually needs a knife so you can get high enough so that you don't have any pocket left.  Get them on dry ground so that the foot can harden up and hope it grows back okay.


If you actually let the hoof overgrow in the first place it helps prevent shelly hoof, and protects the underside of the foot.  And in theory the overgrown bit will just get worn off.  Some animals though will overgrow too much though, depending on the conditions and their diet (over feed => over growth).



I find my home-bred animals are much better at coping with my wet ground.  Anything that doesn't cope gets culled.  Foot structure/growth is an inherited trait so you just have to select for good feet and eventually you will have a flock that is free of foot problems.


Agnes Winter has a good book on lameness - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lameness-Sheep-Agnes-C-Winter/dp/1861267215, which I would recommend to anyone.

[Womble]

You would have to trim all the way up

And would you do that for even a minor pocket like the one in the first photo immediately above, or only for larger pockets as in the second pic?

[SallyintNorth]

I think it's like this.

Don't trim at all if you can bear to do so.  (Or more accurately, not to do so.)

If you do trim loose horn, you must take it right back to flush with the horn which is properly attached.

[Melmarsh]

Recent course I attended, run by my vets, I was told don't trim. Treat problem feet where necessary ,any ewe with a problem twice, cull . Simple as !!! 

[Bionic]

This is all very interesting. My sheep don't seem to suffer from foot problems but their hooves are often overgrown. I do trim but don't go mad with it as I am afraid of overdoing it. Should I not trim at all, even the pointy bit at the top that gets longer and longer?
Posted just as Melmarsh posted. Perhaps I should just paint the pointy bit a fetching colour 

[Marches Farmer]

I never trim further up the clee than a pair of hoof shears laid flat on the base of the middle part of the clee, so there's always 3mm of hoof proud of it to bear the weight.  We occasionally have one with shelly hoof but it generally grows out over the summer and the foot's fine by tupping time.

[Foobar]

I do trim but don't go mad with it as I am afraid of overdoing it. Should I not trim at all, even the pointy bit at the top that gets longer and longer?

I think the consensus is, if they ain't lame or struggling to walk, don't touch 'em.  I find the less you look at the feet, the better they get .  I rarely even look at them now, and it's even rarer for me to tip a sheep.  I stopped routinely trimming two years ago.

[Oopsiboughtasheep]

This is a really interesting thread for me as one of my sheep (texel x Ryeland) has got quite a long toe on one side of one of her back feet. She seems absolutely fine on it and to be honest, I was kind of hoping it might drop/break off (like the horses hooves do if a bit long in one that is unshod). I had geared myself up to trimming it this week but maybe I shouldn't? I don't want the girls to get bad feet though if I 'neglect ' them. Their ground is well drained so they are never standing in soggy ground. Will keep an eye on all that you are advising here.
Hope your sheep is soon better Womble.

[Womble]

I think the consensus is, if they ain't lame or struggling to walk, don't touch 'em.

Good! - thanks for the clarification. It's not my favourite job anyway, so the sooner we can get to a situation where it's not required, the better!  .

[Porterlauren]

Footcare. . . . .

If it can walk, don't touch its feet.

If it can't walk, have a look. If it's scald spray with blue spray and leave alone.

If it's footrot, spray with blue spray, jab with Alamycin LA, and if you want to really eliminate it. . . . notch her ear as a cull!!!!!!

Simple. People over complicate things!

[bloomer]

One of my original stock shetlands spent last summer trying to worry me stupid she was lame, on inspection I found pockets and trimmed, she got worse, I did research on here and decided leaving it was my best plan, we had a look when they were sheared and the outsides were a bit long / growing under the soft bit, but she walks fine and chases a bucket, not trimming her now had saved her from being culled this year at least (cracking twins helped her case)

[Kimbo]

well, that's helped me at least, but then I haven't got any foot problems yet.
But does that mean Womble should just treat his foot rot with spray and a jab and leave the foot shears in the shed or does he need to do any trimming? It looks pretty manky to me.
im sorry to be asking this but Im a bit anal so I would like to know what to do in advance of needing to know what to do 

[Porterlauren]

If you trim it, in general you just open it up to more infection.

To be honest a ewe with feet like that . . . . . . should only be really going one place.