It is important to provide excellent hoof care to cows because lame cows can go from bad to worse quickly. If a lame cow has to wait to be treated, she can experience longer recovery time, and more necrotic tissue and permanent damage to her pedal bone.

I work with farms across the country troubleshooting for potential contributors to lameness prevalence in their herd. Cattle lameness is a challenge that every farm will one day experience. It is better to prevent it through procedures such as scheduled maintenance, hoof trimming and overall herd management practices.

Producers express concerns that restraining cows during hoof trimming might induce both short- and long-term effects on production and behavior.