Late Spring in many areas is a harbinger of warm, humid conditions and soft, muddy soils—the ideal environment for the development and spread of foot scald and footrot.
That’s when it’s very important to keep close watch for limping or lagging flock members. Pull them out, tip them over and check them for disease and excess hoof growth. When necessary, use a Foot Trimmer to dig out the crud and trim back the “horny” portion so that the edge of the hoof is smooth and flush with the bottom. If they bleed you’ve trimmed too deep. With a little experience you’ll learn when to stop.
Everyone who has done it knows that trimming sheep and goat hooves can be back-breaking work. That’s why we designed a Deck Chair—it frees up both hands for working on the animal and allows you to walk away for more medicine or tools knowing your animal is safely restrained. Adjusting between each sheep can be a hassle (we typically skip this step), but overall it's a back-saver compared to maneuvering the sheep onto their hind end before trimming.
Improved! Holds sheep reliably in a relaxed position which allows the use of both hands to trim feet, tag ears, examine and medicate. Restrains heavily pregnant ewes without injury. Can also be used for goats without horns.
Premier’s SureFoot™ Foot Bath features flexible sides to fit most treatment chutes. Unique “Y-design” floor pattern provides traction and reduces slippage. Tapered sides allow troughs to stack for shipping and storage.
Treatment—Scald and Footrot…
If you ignore lameness it won’t go away. Usually it gets worse—often rapidly if the conditions are right. Flystrike in the lame hoof can occur. And the very life of the animal is at risk. So what should you use to treat infected hooves? It depends—on the situation.
Zinc Sulphate vs. Copper Sulphate vs. Formaldehyde?
Liquid Zinc Sulphate (Premier FootCare)—we rely on it for mass treating and preventing footrot and/or foot scald. But it takes a longer exposure time (>10 min…20 minutes is better) to give a total “kill” than other options. Ideal for foot baths.
Copper Sulphate—effective and quick. Not suitable for foot baths because it corrodes metal gates and even the nails and screws in wooden gates. Thus we limit its use to topical treatments like FootCure™.
Formaldehyde—kills bacteria rapidly if the tissue is exposed by careful trimming. However it makes hooves brittle and poses serious health risks to human and animal skin (particularly eye and nose tissue). So we avoid it.
Copper Napthenate—A common ingredient in treatments for thrush in horses. But, it’s not labeled for use on food animals—so don’t use it on sheep and goats which are raised for food production!
Hoof diseases can lead to reduced productivity throughout the flock. Get ahead of it before it becomes a major problem!
Improved!Premier’s Deck Chair holds sheep reliably in a relaxed position which allows the use of both hands to trim feet, tag ears, examine and medicate.
Keeps animals secure while you trim at a comfortable height. Can be converted into a milking stand (sold separately). Hot-dip galvanized to resist rusting.
For splinting limbs or holding medication to affected areas. Use in combination with FootCure™ to treat mild cases of footrot.
Join the conversation!
Connect with us on social media
We’re more than a farm supply company—we also run a commercial sheep farm, several poultry flocks and a small goat herd. For videos, photos, and anecdotes from our life on the farm, be sure to connect with us on:
