Cow Handling Part 2 - Operator Safety and Control - Fred Hoekstra

In my last article I was writing about handling cows and the importance of them being comfortable. To refresh I suggested that there are 3 points to keep in mind when we deal with our cows.

1. The cow needs to be comfortable.
2. The operator needs to be safe at all times.
3. The operator needs to be in control at all times.

I will now cover the second and third points.

2. The operator needs to be safe at all times.

In this case, being safe and being comfortable go together. If you are uncomfortable you are unsafe and if you are unsafe than you are not comfortable unless you don’t know you are unsafe. This has happened to many people who have told us stories about breaking arms, loosing teeth or lying unconscious behind a cow because the cow kicked back. In many, if not all, of those cases the incident occurred because there were too many bars in the way, or the operator was kneeling down behind the cow reaching out to the back feet - certainly a combination of these two situations could end up with major repercussions.

When trimming a back leg of a cow the leg should be lifted from the hock and the trimmer should always stand beside the cow, in the same way a horse farrier stands beside the horse. The cow’s leg should be lifted high enough so that you can comfortably lean on the cow with your back pretty much upright or slightly bent forward. You can achieve this by going through your knees. Leaning onto the cow and keeping your back straight is the key to comfortable and safe trimming. You can keep that up for much longer than crouching down behind the cow. Also the physical touch gives the cow a sense of security and helps her to relax. This is another reason why you should have no bars or pipe work in the way.

Trimming should always be done with sharp knives. Blunt knives are very dangerous because you need to use a lot of force to get through the hoof. The quality of the job depends a lot on the sharpness of the knife. If you struggle to get your knives sharp give us a call. We will do it for free. After we have sharpened your knives it is even more important to ALWAYS keep your other hand BEHIND the knife. This is for very obvious reasons and yet I see many people not obeying that rule when I run hoof trimming courses. Some farmers admit this when they send us their knives for sharpening. Some of the stories would make you cringe. When we sharpen your hoof knives they are like razor blades and not keeping this rule can cause a lot of harm.

One last thing I want to mention about keeping safe is that when you trim a front foot always have one of the back feet raised. This way it is a lot harder for a cow to kick forward and she will also be standing in a much more stable position.

3. The Operator Needs To Be In Control At All Times

The third point is about the operator being in control. Cows sense whether somebody is nervous and lacking confidence. When a cow is tied up in a crush you should always be able to lift or lower her using winches without handles flying around by themselves. A braked winch with reduction is the answer here. Good facilities and some proper training are essential elements to being safe and gaining the confidence and control needed to do a good job.

If you wish to talk about any of the matters raised in this article, need help with trimming or equipment please give us a call on 0800 833 463.

Fred Hoekstra

Hoof Care Expert

Veehof Dairy Services

“Leading the way to healthy herds in New Zealand by raising the standard of hoof care”