Girls Day Out???

As almost any girl will tell you, one of the most popular outings on a "girls day out" is a quick trip to the local nail salon for a group mani-pedi! I personally don't like getting my nails painted just because my hands are constantly getting dirt and I my toes are always hiding in boots, but the massage and nail care is a luxury that is not lost on me! It is actually very good for your hands and feet to get that special treatment every now and then as it promotes good nail health and foot hygiene--I'm looking at you, boys. Something I bet you didn't know about mani-pedis though, is that diary cows get them too!

The above picture shows a cow getting her hooves trimmed! Some dairy farmers to it semi-annually, but on our farm we have hoof trimmers come in once a year to get our girls' feet into tip-top shape! The machine you see in the picture may look horrible and scary, but it is actually very safe and keeps the cow and trimmers from getting hurt while the girls are being pampered. The cow walks into the shoot, she is secured in place by two very strong straps placed under her belly, and then the shoot tilts onto its side. The trippers then secure the cow's feet to keep her from kicking, which can potentially hurt the trimmers and the cow. It takes them about 3-4 minutes to trim up the cow's hooves into a healthy, clean state then back to the ground for Bessie and off she goes back to her feed bunk for a snack! The whole herd gets this treatment and it takes a whole day to get everyone done!

Hoof trimming is something that farmers invest in because it helps keep the cows from having foot issues that can cause them to become lame. Hooves are like nails in that they are constantly growing and if they go completely unchecked, they can get over grown and cause the cow discomfort when walking. Also, just like people, they can get cracks in their hooves that are very painful if the hooves aren't taken care of properly. In the industry today, most milking cows live in barns with concrete floors so foot health is very important to maintain because anything that could be wrong would only be made worse by the hard flooring. Many farms will call out trimmers for spot jobs when they have a cow with a bad hoof crack or anything that might be causing her discomfort when moving around.

Most farmers also use foot baths that the girls walk through on their way into or out of the milking parlor that are meant to dry out their hooves and keep them from getting cracks/sores from being overly moist. This is a very effective way to promote good hoof health in general in your herd, and the girls don't really even seem to notice the foot baths. The concrete barns are completely cleaned of any urine or waste material 2-3 times a day, but their hooves do still get dirty--just as they would in pasture--so the foot baths are very important to minimizing any hoof related problems. Dairy cows use a lot of energy to make milk thus they eat a lot. If their hooves are uncomfortable they get up to eat less. If they get up to eat less they produce less milk. For this reason, as well as all other production practices used, dairy farmers like to keep hooves healthy because it keeps their girls happy and happy cows make more milk! Herd health and comfort is always a top priority on dairy farms and thus, our girls get pampered like the dairy queens that they are!

So the next time you go out with all your girl friends to get that much needed mani-pedi, just remember that you aren't the only one that enjoys such luxuries! So do dairy cows!!