Today’s video we answer the FAQ why don't wild animals have foot problems. Topics include natural shedding and genetics. Contact Nate the Hoof Guy hooftrimmerguy@gmail.com
I grew up on my father's farm here in the UK and we kept cattle on grass in summer and indoors on straw/manure in winter. They never got foot problems, never needed trimming. It was entirely due to the fact that they were never on concrete and never indoors long enough for feet to be overgrown. Their feet looked like the final natural foot at 5.50. Trimming cows feet is not a 'normal' thing that farmers routinely did historically. In fact, when I was a child, farmers didn't keep dairy cows in the way they do now and foot problems were much less.
You are completely wrong. Hoof trimming is a regular thing farmers did historically. Regular scheduled preventative trimming might not have been, but "wild" cows get a host of problem regardless of concrete. Indeed as the video mentioned they get all the problems related to genetics and such. Cows have problems related to calving, bad genetics, accidents etc in the wild, they just die or suffer if not taken care of Likewise, they get all the problems related to the environment. A cow in an exclusively dry or wet environment will have leza shedding and need trimming We have historical records going back thousands of years aboit cow hoof trimming. Either your cows did get hoof problems and you didn't know about it or you didn't take good care of them
@@brianthesnail3815 Aye. I remember reading material from a couple of hundred years ago detailing "good land" versus "bad land" and a key consideration was if it was good for hooves. That was the ultimate preventative hoove treatment - put them in the environment that is best for their hooves.
@@marcusthompson666 wild cows exist they are called buffalo in fact our domesticated cows are so closely related to the Buffalo, not only, can they breed but they also can have viable offspring.. So essentially, Buffalo's, are technically wild cows..
@@annamarie6321 A wolf can have viable offspring with a domestic dog. That doesn’t stop them being genetically distinct as of thirty thousand years if domestication. You might as well say broccoli is the same as a turnip or canola oil since they were the same plant prior to human intervention.
I find it fascinating that the different substrates are identifiable just by looking at the hoof shed; grass, straw, muck, rubber or concrete - all leave calling cards.🐄
The opening shots I thought, hey, that looks like Wisconsin! And sure enough, you’re not that far from us. Was weird after watching videos from Montana and Scotland to have one from not 20 miles away from my hometown of Onalaska. If we ever add cows to our sheep, goats, and horses I’ll keep you in mind!
@@Pixiel711 about the same as always, however I believe this was our 60th year heritage celebration? Lots of people walking in the middle of the road like it's made for them- per usual.
Man this was my favorite video so far. It’s really interesting to see what physiological changes are caused by walking surface and environment. Super interesting. So cool to see the progression in this video. Sad to think that the environments we put these cows in are hurting them though. Idk.
Unfortunately, there's only so much we can do about it. In many places, we *need* to bring cattle inside for part of the year or they'd have *worse* problems. Inside has to have easily cleaned floors so slurry doesn't build up causing *more* infections. There are even places where the ground outside rarely dries out enough for even mainly pasture cows to experience much natural shedding. This is why hoof trimmers are so important.
This is interesting. Loved hearing about it. Shame we know about all this and dont have peak housing to help facilitate natural shedding but I guess it's all relative.
Sounds like your cold is better, Nate! Good! I live in far nor Cali in organic dairy land. It’s fun to talk corium, heel trims, and white line lesions with some of my farmer friends now! One asked if I wanted to go out when they next trim hooves. Their squeeze is side laying. Can’t wait, thanks to you!
i LOVE you hoof guy, this is EXACTLY the questions i had. you explain it SO WELL!! im a city girl living in the country, dont have cattle but folks at work do and none of them could answer the question about why domesticated animals need so much help doing things wild animals did for EONS without human intervention!
It's cause, we want as many cattle as possible to be good to move and be healthy So the 1/10 that would have died from genetic issues or stepping on a rock funny, lives now
This year we had a wetter summer /autumn in Western Australia and noticed my cows feet “shed” at the toe and the outer edge of the claw As you indicated with the hardening/ softening of the hoof
Probably also has something to do with breeding and domestication. Wild cattle is more robust than domesticated cattle. Also in the wilderness a hoof issue might very likely mean the end for the animal.
@@marcusthompson666 well cows we know today are definitely bred and domesticated. But there are wild relatives still out there. Look at all the kinds of buffalos around the world.
@@marcusthompson666 there are feral cows. They live mainly in Hindus area, meaning they are in India and other South Asian countries, due to them worshipping cows, all cows are not domesticated, hunted or harmed in any ways. Heck even milking is banned, so yes feral cows exist.
so it's actually us who make their feet have hooves problem due to condition of the farming environment. and I am glad that there's some people like you who fix this problem.
It's not only due to humans, as explained in the video, weather genetics and accidents all are a thing that has impact And indeed the same way conditions we cause result in problems we are also the ones who solve said problems. As he said, that's the ethical role of farmers as stewards
When Nate mentioned 'free stall' cows at the start of this video: I googled and learned of all the different types of stalls. I keep learning things from every video I watch, thanks Nate!
I enjoyed this. Good information. I did not know about the hydration/dehydration need. I really appreciate milk more. I love the card and respect you give these animals, and share with us so we can respect them, too.
" gives you an idea " Sir you explained so thoroughly and gave so many examples I'm basically coming away from this video as if I can do this on my own and know what to look for. Thank you so much honestly, answered everything I was wondering and then some.
that's EXACTLY how i feel! cant wait to retire so i can spend all day on youtube...it's the digital version of the encyclopedias we had when i was little 😊
So, I wasn't sure how you ended up on my feed, but my 3 year old son and I love your videos. As soon as I saw this one, I realized at the very beginning how familiar the scenery looks! I didn't even bother to check to see where you were from and was so surprised to see you're from the Coulee Region too! We've got a couple family friends who own dairy farms, and now I'm wondering if the RU-vid guy is trimming their cows' hooves 🤣 Anyway, I'll stop the Midwestern ramble. Thanks for sharing these neat videos with all of us, keep up the great work 😊
In my childhood we had a dairy farm and we never had to have hooves trimmed. I first saw a British hoof-care channel and wondered if the reason for all their problems was the excessive wetness over there (I am in Australia - much drier than Britain). Then I saw this channel and figured it had to be more than JUST wetness. This video explained it well, the natural variation of wet and dry - not to mention not always on concrete or in manure laden material. Our cows were in what we call a paddock (probably a pasture or field in other places) and were only on concrete at milking time and never on wet straw.
What a great informational video, Nate, answering the most fundamental question of hooftrimming. You would need an awfully long cord to trim wild cows' feet, so it's a good thing they shed naturally!
Great video Nate, really educational. I would assume this is one reason that beef cattle need less hoof trimming. Thanks for the really interesting content!
Beef cattle need all most no trimming because A* they get eaten before hoofproblems come up. B* they do not get forced into milk Produktion, a calf every year, and high milk production costs a lot of Energie!
@@mikealmere70 That may apply to a feedlot, however, in a cow-calf operation your cows absolutely have a calf every year and produce milk. If you keep a bull for servicing then he also lives his life out on the farm. Hoof issues are less likely but absolutely happen on a beef farm.
@@mikealmere70 Both are beef farms. Where do you think the calves for the feedlots come from? To answer the question that you edited, yes, I had a beef operation for 20 years.
Hey Nate, I recently watched a video from a dairy farmer who has gone completely robotic. His cows stay inside a barn that has good circulation. The food is measured and distributed by robotic machines and the cows are milked as they need it (they go into the stand when they want). the farmer says his costs have dropped and the amount of milk he now produces has gone up at least ten percent. The cows live on a concrete floor. They never go outside. I'm not sure I like that idea but I was wondering how you feel about cows living on concrete floors. Would that cause more hoof issues for them? I'm an old school guy. I worked on an old school dairy farm and we raised our own milk cows. I have used machines as well as my hands for milking. Personally, I think cows do much better in a grass pasture than on a concrete floor but that's me.
I totally agree. My horses are out 24/7 with a run in shed. They're barefoot and always have been. Once in a while a problem shows up, but overall they seem to have fewer problems than the show horses who spend most of their time in stalls.
We have a small robotic dairy farm near me in the south west of England. But the difference is that the dairy cows remain outdoors on green pasture and freely walk in to the shed to milk themselves. Nice for us consumers, we buy our milk directly from the automated milk dispenser on the other side of the dairy wall.
No pasture? No natural grazing? No outside enjoying sunshine? That just doesn’t sound like a happy life for a cow. I know profit and productivity are important for a farm as a business, but not at the expense of the animals welfare.
Excellent presentation. There is so much more to running a dairy farm than just milking cows twice a day. This is fascinating and makes me respect, even more, the people who work in this industry.
Thank you for posting htis nate.I watch you on facebook all the time. My family is from Jamaica. watchingy our vids I had to ask her if her cows ever needed this. i'm glad you explained why not.
I just started watching these videos and find them interesting.I’m sure you have answered these questions before Nate but I have a couple. 1) initially why not power wash the area to clean any debris before starting to get a better visual? 2) Have you come across an area where both sides are infected? In that situation do you treat one and allow that to heal before moving to the other side? Thanks for your detail and immense depth of knowledge.
@@NatetheHoofGuy Does afternoon fog count for a cool summer climate? Petaluma has this in spades. My brother-in-law's family were dairy farmers outside of Petaluma until the 2001 winter electrical crisis in California. With this event, his father sold off the cows and the dairy ceased production.
@@mikealmere70 it was an old tradition to let domesticated pigs live in forest. There is I think one european country left where pigs kept in forest. With the extreme dangerous swine flu its impossible to do nowadays...
So when keeping farm animals doing your very best to keep it as natural and as organic as possible it’s healthy for the animal and for the consumer who purchased that animal not only to getting a good life but it’s less cost to the farmer in the long run this is what I’ve been trying to say all along letting an animal live its life according to how it would in nature it’s a win-win for all
I wonder if domesticated goats can have these issues too. I live in a rural area, and besides cows and horses, a good number of people have goats too. I have family that are Ranchers, their kids get heavily involved in 4H and FFA and do livestock shows (several always do the trail drives when Rodeo comes around). So I wouldn't be surprised if they had this kind of knowledge. Only difference with the kind of cows they raise, they're not dairy cows, they're the kind we eat. I am Texan btw, and beef is king here.
Nate, I really enjoy your videos, I feel like I've learnt a lot from them and for that I thank you! This is something that crossed my mind and I welcome any criticism, but is it possible that breeding cattle for dairy and particularly meat has caused their weight to significantly increase in a relatively short period of time compared to the size of their feet? Could that also represent a component of some of the foot damage you see on such a regular basis? I have enjoyed your channel very much, thanks once again. Adam (UK)
I was binge watching your videos last night and had this same question about hoof shedding in wild vs. domesticated animals. It's like you were reading my mind. I did notice you referenced your specific style of trimming - are there a lot of different styles for hoof trimming?
Hi Nate, thanks for showing the progression of the shedding. Question though...... why doesn't the heel horn wear off as easily. One would think that the heel gets the most abrasion when the cow walks. Would a fake sole, oh how should I say this........, grow from the heel horn and extend over the rest of the foot surface when there is a problem or imbalance on the foot? Ugh, I might not explain myself right. I'm just looking at the 'folded over' heel horn and think of a false sole being an extension of that 'fold'.
It actually does wear the most which is why most of the trimming is done towards the toe. When problems arise the heels get thicker because they transfer more weight to the toe. Less wear more growth.
