Hoof care tool kit

Purchasing the right knives and maintaining them properly will keep you safer and make your job easier when trimming cattle feet. Make sure you’ve got all the essential items in your kit to care for your cows’ feet and prevent lameness in your herd.

Having the correct equipment is half the job. Make sure your kit includes the following:

1. Licensed treatments
   • Antibiotic spray
   • Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs)
   • Injectable antibiotic
2. Licensed disinfectant
   • Helps reduce the cross-contamination of digital dermatitis from hoof trimming equipment
3. Personal protective equipment (PPE)
   • Thick latex gloves
   • Neoprene wrist protectors, which are low cost and easy to clean
   • Eye protection, especially when using grinders
4. Foot-blocks
   • Keep a range of sizes and materials
   • Choose blocks to suit the cow, the environment (e.g. high vs low wear) and the lesions being treated
5. Grinders and hoof knives: You will need a left-handed and a right-handed knife, with a single-edged blade. Narrow blades are generally easier to use and sharpen. Old teat liners are useful for protecting the sharpened blade.
6. Hoof nippers: Shorter-handled nippers are easier for front feet and long-handled nippers are better for hard toes.
7. Hoof testers: An under-used but essential bit of kit which can make life so much easier.
8. Spreading pliers: Important for spotting and treating digital dermatitis in the interdigital space.
9. Measuring tool: To ensure accurate measurement of toe length and sole thickness.
10. Knife sharpener: There are different types of sharpening wheel available. Figure 1 shows rubber and cloth wheels used to sharpen and polish.

Figure 1. Ten items to include in a hoof care kit

In early cases of lameness caused by claw horn lesions, research has shown that NSAID treatment combined with therapeutic trimming and the application of a block to the sound partner claw has improved recovery rates.

NSAIDs can also help cows with digital dermatitis lesions, especially if they’re lame and in early lactation.

There’s also evidence that giving first-lactation heifers NSAIDs for three days after calving, and again at subsequent calvings, may reduce the risk of lameness.

Speak to your vet for advice.

Using the right knives and keeping them well maintained will make trimming safer and easier.

Make sure your foot care kit has all the essential items needed to care for your cows’ feet and prevent lameness.

More expensive knives have blades of harder steel (see Figure 2). This means they stay sharper for longer but are more difficult to sharpen.

Figure 2. Left-handed knives. The knife at the top has a hardened stainless-steel blade

Most new knives need sharpening before use.

Use a rubber grinding wheel or an emery band to create a gradual taper on the cutting edge, like the blade shown on the right of Figure 3.

This helps the knife stay sharper for longer and makes it easier to re-sharpen.

Daily polishing with a green buffer paste is usually enough to maintain sharpness.

Figure 3. Comparison of hoof knife blade condition showing worn edge (left) and sharper, well‑maintained edge (right)

Important things to remember when sharpening knives:

• Never sharpen the back of the blade
• Touch the blade up regularly
• Keep the blade tapered at about 20°

Figure 4. Sharpening a hoof knife using a honing steel

A purpose-made knife sharpener (see Figure 5) has a narrow sanding belt and a cloth polishing wheel. It turns in the opposite direction to bench grinders.

Wear goggles and make sure the sanding belt rotates away from you.

Figure 5. A purpose-made knife sharpener with a narrow sanding belt and polishing wheel