Sweet Feet

Yeah, I know we have hooves trimmed for health, but they're just so darn pretty afterward!
Thinking about the "pedicures" we give our dairy animals made me think about all the different types of things we do for them.

Just like everything else, we do it because "comfortable cows produce more milk."  "Happy cows" don't just come from California.  Happy cows live everywhere that good dairy farmers live.  Good dairy farmers do all sorts of things to keep their animals comfortable.  They provide good air flow in the barns, sometimes even big fan systems and cool water misters.  They supply comfortable bedding, sometimes even high-tech gel mattresses!  They install and freshen footbaths for the cows that they walk through at least twice a day to kill bacteria.  Those are just a few things.

Cows are like people some ways.  If your feet hurt, you don't walk right.  If your feet hurt you don't work as well.  If cows feet hurt, they aren't comfortable. If cows aren't comfortable, they don't produce as much milk.  Those are not happy cows.

We have hooves trimmed to make sure their feet stay healthy.  We don't want any hoof rot.  We don't want our animals to go lame.  One of the very first lessons we learned in my middle school Ag class was that an animal has to be able to walk in order to... get to feed/water.  (I answered that question correctly in our class discussion!  Yea! pat on the back. )
If an animal can't get to feed/water, it will not thrive.  It will not be healthy and grow and develop the way it should.  It will not be useful as one of our food sources.

I've already talked about foot health for our dairy cows, but what about dairy heifers?  Heifers don't give milk yet, but we want them to be healthy before they become cows.  Also, when you are showing a heifer or a cow, you want them to walk correctly.  You want their feet and legs to be correct.  They carry a lot of weight.  You want them to stand and walk correctly to show what awesome dairy animals they are!

Gotta take care of those sweet little ol' big ol' feet!