Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Squishy hooves ...  (Read 4270 times)

crobertson

  • Joined Sep 2015
Squishy hooves ...
« on: October 28, 2017, 10:44:32 pm »
Around 6 weeks ago I brought in some Derbyshire Gritstone shearlings, lovely girls, from good stock and bred +1000 feet. The gentleman I brought them from said he never routinely checks hooves - only if a problem whereas I check them but only trim if necessary.

When checking hooves pre tupping a couple of weeks ago I noticed the gritstones hooves didnt seem to be as hard or sturdy as our other sheep. I've had a couple on and off lame so rechecked today as our tup goes in tomorrow but the hooves seem very soft, even squishy! Theres no evidence of scald or footrot just squishy with a bit of shelly hoof at the sides !

Any idea what causes this? Or what I can do to help? Maybe the amount of rain we've had? I put a Crystalyx garlic in with them left over from summer and a salt block when I had them which seems to have helped but still have one lame. Our local countrywide have a ewe GP bucket with high levels of zinc which I used on ours last winter and we never had a hoof problem so I intend to buy one of them when the crystalyx runs out.

Thanks in advance
« Last Edit: October 28, 2017, 10:50:17 pm by crobertson »

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #1 on: October 28, 2017, 11:20:52 pm »
The ground is very wet at the moment which isn't helping feet. A jab of anti inflammatory would help the lameness and in the long run if you can get to mole valley they do a very good foot and fertility lick which is the mineral bucket I use all year round. Footbathing would help too just to clear out any potentially nasty bugs that hide in Shelly hoof.

bj_cardiff

  • Joined Feb 2017
  • Carmarthenshire
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2017, 07:43:09 am »
I think you might have two separate issues going on.

Its hard for their feet to dry out properly with all of this rain, particularly if they've just moved onto your land, your sheep probably know the dryest places to rest and let them dry out. Or maybe they didn't have access to minerals and their feet aren't as strong as your other ewes? I have shelly hoof in my lot, its a PITA, sometimes its better than others, just make sure you clear all the mud/bacteria out and cut out the cavity so it can't accumulate. The bacteria that causes it lives in the soil, they may of brought it with them if your other sheep aren't affected?

twizzel

  • Joined Apr 2012
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2017, 07:53:35 am »
Shelley hoof isn't caused by bacteria- footrot and scald are and that lives in the soil but Shelley hoof is a structural weakness in the foot/hoof which causes the wall to separate from the sole.

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2017, 09:32:13 am »
If the sheep came from high ground and are now encountering, say, soft clay, for the first time then shelly hoof is quite likely.  We're on heavy clay and see it occasionally.  f it causes the sheep to limp I generally clean out the plug of mud, spray in some violet, and leave it alone.  It will grow out over the Summer. The hoof wall is much like a thick human fingernail, which will soften if soaked.  If you're worried put the worst ones in a shed for a few days for the hoof wall to harden.  It'll soften as soon as they're outside again, though.

bj_cardiff

  • Joined Feb 2017
  • Carmarthenshire
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2017, 09:27:26 pm »
Shelley hoof isn't caused by bacteria- footrot and scald are and that lives in the soil but Shelley hoof is a structural weakness in the foot/hoof which causes the wall to separate from the sole.

Shelly Hoof is a symptom of white line disease, which is caused by bacteria , not a structural weakness

crobertson

  • Joined Sep 2015
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2017, 07:28:51 am »
Thanks for that guys and I did notice when I went to view them that there weren't any mineral or salt licks in their fields.

I have seen the zinc rockies are supposed to be good for hoof health, do these contain everything required plus zinc so I could replace the current salt licks with them ? Or do sheep need salt licks alongside rockies?

I have seen a couple of good sheep bucket licks with good levels of zinc but thought the rockies might be easier to just have in fields all year round with other things added when needed (crystalyx at tupping, lifeline pre-lambing) without having an array of buckets out in the field.

shep53

  • Joined Jan 2011
  • Dumfries & Galloway
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2017, 07:01:31 pm »
Shelley hoof isn't caused by bacteria- footrot and scald are and that lives in the soil but Shelley hoof is a structural weakness in the foot/hoof which causes the wall to separate from the sole.

Shelly Hoof is a symptom of white line disease, which is caused by bacteria , not a structural weakness
   The causes of Shelly Hoof are not known  , it is believed that  prior damage from footrot/ codd may cause a weakness or it is a genetic problem worse in some breeds , if bacteria then accumulate in the cavity and invade the white line that is between the horn and clee  this can lead to an abscess  that tracks up the white line and breaks out the top of the horn .

Marches Farmer

  • Joined Dec 2012
  • Herefordshire
Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #8 on: November 05, 2017, 09:05:17 am »
I've found that on Southdowns those with striped clees rarely get Shelly Hoof - the hoof wall is thicker than all black.  We now only buy rams with striped clees and have found that this has been passed on to some of their daughters.  The Badger Face always have black clees - and a regrettable habit of climbing the sheep wire fence to browse the hedge, which can cause softened horn to tear.

Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
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Re: Squishy hooves ...
« Reply #9 on: November 05, 2017, 07:09:56 pm »
I've found that on Southdowns those with striped clees rarely get Shelly Hoof - the hoof wall is thicker than all black.  We now only buy rams with striped clees and have found that this has been passed on to some of their daughters.  The Badger Face always have black clees - and a regrettable habit of climbing the sheep wire fence to browse the hedge, which can cause softened horn to tear.

Interestingly I've noticed this with Llanwenogs too
Linda

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