Today we are going to show you how to trim sheep hooves. Depending on your soil and the activity level of your sheep, you will likely need to trim their hooves at some point. For some people it’s a 2x a year task, for some its more or less frequently than that, and for the lucky few, it might be never. Nonetheless, it is a good idea to learn how to trim hooves and to check your sheep’s feet at least a couple times during year.
Overgrown hooves are uncomfortable and can reduce your animals productivity and quality of life. It can also make them more prone to problems like foot rot. Fortunately, trimming small ruminant hooves is quick and easy once you know how to do it.
Firstly, you will need a pair of hoof trimming shears, and a way to restrain your sheep.
It also doesn’t hurt to have some blood stop powder on hand. If your sheep have a full fleece of wool, they can easily be tipped up on their rump for hoof trimming. They even make special chairs to hold sheep in this position. If you have the more athletic hair sheep, this does not work as well. They are typically able to flip themselves back over. Our preference for trimming our tame flock of Katahdins is to tie them to something with a dish of corn for distraction. Then we trim their hooves in a similar manner to how a farrier trims horse hooves. You will have to figure out what works best for your sheep and setup.
Once you have the sheep restrained, you can pick up a hoof and dust it off. You will notice that there is a rubbery section at the heel, and thin hoof walls around the outside of their two toes. The hoof walls often, and heels occasionally, over grow and require trimming. If the hoof wall is overgrown, it will typically fold over the bottom of the foot. This creates a pocket to trap manure and debris and can cause serious problems.
What you want to do is carefully trim the hoof walls and heel back until they are flush with the sole of the foot.
Try to maintain the natural shape of the foot in the process. The shape of the foot should be obvious from the shape of the sole. The goal is to trim back the excess hoof wall without cutting into the quick. You don’t want to draw blood. You do not want to trim into the sole when trimming off the walls or you will draw blood. Sheep feet are fairly thin and soft so it is easy to cut too deeply if you aren’t careful.
Typically, the trickiest part is trimming the toe. Many times, the toe will get very long and pointy. This excess toe material needs to be carefully removed little by little so that you don’t accidentally cut too deeply. You can scrape out any dirt and flaky material as you trim. This way you can see when you reach the actual sole so that you don’t cut into the quick.
If you do cut a bit too deeply and draw a few drops of blood, don’t panic. Put some blood stop powder on the spot. Then keep the area clean until it has a chance to stop bleeding. Your sheep will probably be a bit sensitive on that foot for a little while, but they will be ok.
Don’t be afraid to trim your sheep’s hooves for fear of messing up.
Don’t vow to never trim again if you accidentally draw some blood. The damage done from not trimming their feet is a much greater risk than the harm of accidentally drawing a few drops of blood trimming them. Plus, as you gain experience you will become less likely to accidentally cut too deeply.
Sometimes if the hoof has gotten very overgrown and misshapen, the hoof wall can separate from the sole. This creates a bulging pocket that is often filled with manure. If this is the case with one of your hooves, go ahead and carefully remove the separated section of hoof wall up to where it is attached. This will allow it to grow back down properly. You must remove the separated section. Otherwise, it will continue to separate due to the mechanical force of them standing on it. Additionally, that manure filled cavity is a fantastic place for pathogenic bacteria to proliferate. Get rid of it.
Sheep with good feet that have not been allowed to overgrow should never have this problem.
Selecting for animals with good quality feet and excellent confirmation will make your job easier. These animals will wear their feet uniformly resulting in less overgrowth and distorted hooves to fix. While we strive to select sheep that have good confirmation and excellent feet that require little to no trimming, we still like to check our sheep’s feet a couple times a year. Many of our ewes need very little hoof care, but we find that it is much easier to address any overgrowth problems frequently than it is to fix a grossly overgrown hoof.
Additionally, checking hooves a few times a year makes it obvious which sheep have poor confirmation and hoof quality. They show up with horribly overgrown, disastrous feet every single trim, and often require remedial trimming. We consider them good candidates to consider for culling as they are likely to pass these traits on to their offspring.
Lastly, if your sheep are living on very soft ground where they require frequent trimming (more than 1-2x a year) to maintain their feet, you can add abrasive surfaces to reduce the need to trim hooves. Having to walk over rocks or rough cement to reach the feeders or water will help increase the wear on their hooves and reduce your workload.
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