Toe Nail Adventure

It had to be done. Christina's hooves had gotten so long that it's only a matter of time until she started limping and went lame. We had to get them trimmed.  But people who do hoof trimming only do large herds and we couldn't find anybody to come to our place for just one cow.  The dairy we bought her from was willing to give her a trim, but we had to get her there.  Our adventure began.

First we went to Nampa to pick up a lifestock trailer.  But it was too small.  Jersey cows are much longer than horses.  Then we found a place in Caldwell with a big enough trailer.  Back to Boise.  Getting Christina into the trailer wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  She wasn't fast and she did need some convincing, but she got in.  After an hour of driving, we arrived at the dairy she was born on.

First they put her in the shoot.  She's been in this shoot before and needed some reassuring.

After getting her all snugged up with straps under her belly, she was lifted just enough to take the weight off her feet.  Then they pulled her leg back, way back, and began trimming.

She got over an inch off in length and quite a bit of grinding on the bottom.  Cows need hooves that are nice and flat.  One of her hooves had developed a sizable lump on the bottom.  Just taking that off was worth the long drive.

Even though I know it's just toe nail, I still found it difficult watching her being worked on.  She wasn't too excited about being the one getting worked on either.  Several times she kicked and squirmed and tried to get away.  In spite of her struggles, they said she actually was pretty peaceful.  She must have been comforted that people she knew were there.

It took almost an hour with lots of grinding sounds, just like at the dentist, and the smell of hot hooves, just like burned hair.  And then it was over.  She looked resigned by the end, just patiently waiting it to be done but mumbling under her breath, "you suck."  I don't blame her.

Our twins had a wonderful time visiting the cows and visiting some new kittens in the hay pile.  We had a wonderful time being with people who love Christina as much as we do.  All I can think is that God must love us very much to send us to this dairy and to these people.

Then we all loaded back up, drove back to Boise, unloaded the cow, cleaned out the trailer, drove back to Caldwell, unhitched the trailer, and finally made our last freeway trip home.  The day started at 9am and wasn't over until 5:30pm.  It was long but so good to have a cow with healthy hooves.  She walked straight out to her pasture when we got home, had something to eat, and then laid down in her shed to rest. 

Tonight she's sporting nice looking hooves and doesn't seem the worse for wear.  But I think I'll go lay down.