Feet - an alternative discussion

  1. Sorry, in my eighties it seems to me that you dairy guys do not understand why cows suffer with bad feet most of this serious problem can be mostly avoided by always feeding your young stock with food that has been well dampened with water, think about it thousand of years ago cows in the wild never had access to dry food anyway, that in itself is telling you that dry food is not natural for bovines, I dont think that there is much profit in allowing cows to become lame, please dont let this annoy you, as there is no profit in that either, I'll wait for some responses , please tell me why your cows are lame, that will be better than blowing a gasket, Signed, that Welshman
 

jimmer

Member
Location
East Devon
  1. Sorry, in my eighties it seems to me that you dairy guys do not understand why cows suffer with bad feet most of this serious problem can be mostly avoided by always feeding your young stock with food that has been well dampened with water, think about it thousand of years ago cows in the wild never had access to dry food anyway, that in itself is telling you that dry food is not natural for bovines, I dont think that there is much profit in allowing cows to become lame, please dont let this annoy you, as there is no profit in that either, I'll wait for some responses , please tell me why your cows are lame, that will be better than blowing a gasket, Signed, that Welshman

wet feeds are the worst thing to feed to cattle especially young stock , i cant explain it scientifically , but its as if the proteins and starches go down into their extremities causing bad feet especially as they grow older
the feet in holstein heifers are better than they used to be years ago especially when people bred for milk milk milk and forgot that they have to be able to walk to the parlour to extract it
cows get lame due to either excessive contact with concrete , diet , genetics, husbandry and breed plus a few others
 
i was producing and selling beef bulls rearing them up intensively, up to 2 kilo a day gain in weight on average,the food conversion rate being 6 1/2 to 1 without having any bad feet, each one had a 2 mile walk on council roads every day,try beating that, i never fed reconstituted rubbish, every feed was fed damp, all sold as sound in feet and limb to repeat customers, concrete itself does not harm feet, wrong diet is the problem, starting on the day the calf is born. The three cow guy
 
i was producing and selling beef bulls rearing them up intensively, up to 2 kilo a day gain in weight on average,the food conversion rate being 6 1/2 to 1 without having any bad feet, each one had a 2 mile walk on council roads every day,try beating that, i never fed reconstituted rubbish, every feed was fed damp, all sold as sound in feet and limb to repeat customers, concrete itself does not harm feet, wrong diet is the problem, starting on the day the calf is born. The three cow guy
Walking 2mile a day and doing 2kgs a day? My issue here is 'I was' why arnt you now? You sound like the most profitable beef farmer there was?
 

jimmer

Member
Location
East Devon
i was producing and selling beef bulls rearing them up intensively, up to 2 kilo a day gain in weight on average,the food conversion rate being 6 1/2 to 1 without having any bad feet, each one had a 2 mile walk on council roads every day,try beating that, i never fed reconstituted rubbish, every feed was fed damp, all sold as sound in feet and limb to repeat customers, concrete itself does not harm feet, wrong diet is the problem, starting on the day the calf is born. The three cow guy

WALKING BEEF BULLS ALONG COUNCIL ROADS EVERY DAY
 
regards cattle with bad feet,I dont do cattle now as I am 82 yrs old, the main cause of bad feet is feeding too much of the wrong food that does not make the animal contented enough to lie down, OK, Please answer the following, Why were cattle originally designed with such small feet, compared to humans? A large cow is capable of carrying how much weight of food in her stomach, The three cow guy.
PS, If you dont know have a think about it but please answer.
 

cfr1964

Member
regards cattle with bad feet,I dont do cattle now as I am 82 yrs old, the main cause of bad feet is feeding too much of the wrong food that does not make the animal contented enough to lie down, OK, Please answer the following, Why were cattle originally designed with such small feet, compared to humans? A large cow is capable of carrying how much weight of food in her stomach, The three cow guy.
PS, If you dont know have a think about it but please answer.
I'm confused ,I don't really understand what you're getting at
But more importantly I don't understand how you're 82 when your profile page says you were born in 1967 o_O
 
My friend - you are completely wrong.
I don't think he is, used to know a chap 40 years ago reared bulls exactly as thethreecowguy describes, every bull walked 2 miles on council roads, used to take them to perth to sell. All you read on here is how pedigree bulls don't last, are over fat when sold, and have bad feet, perhaps in their keenness to avoid too much physical work, the bull breeders have lost the art of presenting a bull for sale, the bulls were kept in concrete floored pens with a small bedded area at the back, and did road work every day. I think this is one chap who does know what he's talking about.
 
Thank you to Below average for your consideration, I,m not here to tell lies, I notice that no one even tried yetto answer my question. Why were cows initially designed with such small feet, compared to humans. If you dont know please say so, have a serious think it could lead to you understanding why you got cows with bad feet nowadays ,if you dont know say so, its no good thinking you know the damm lot just yet, Ask and it may be given to you. The three Cow guy.
 
Thank you to Below average for your consideration, I,m not here to tell lies, I notice that no one even tried yetto answer my question. Why were cows initially designed with such small feet, compared to humans. If you dont know please say so, have a serious think it could lead to you understanding why you got cows with bad feet nowadays ,if you dont know say so, its no good thinking you know the damm lot just yet, Ask and it may be given to you. The three Cow guy.
I along with everyone else don't know. Please can you spill @thethreecowguy
 
regards cattle with bad feet,I dont do cattle now as I am 82 yrs old, the main cause of bad feet is feeding too much of the wrong food that does not make the animal contented enough to lie down, OK, Please answer the following, Why were cattle originally designed with such small feet, compared to humans? A large cow is capable of carrying how much weight of food in her stomach, The three cow guy.
PS, If you dont know have a think about it but please answer.
We need bigger feet because we walk upright, so need more balance? I suppose cattle got by without too much lameness because they weren't being farmed and exposed to all the pressures that brings. The moment the first cow was domesticated we removed some of the selection pressures on the animal and so evolution stopped working - we controlled the breeding rather than nature. Now we have cows which have to be managed differently to wild bovines. Obviously diet is a part of that. I'm not really sure where your coming from so its difficult to answer. Why not tell us the answer as you see it? Maybe your not getting too many answers because your posts are a little confusing (at least to me) and don't seem to have much factual backing. Sorry no offence meant but please elaborate.
 

DaveGrohl

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Cumbria
Thank you to Below average for your consideration, I,m not here to tell lies, I notice that no one even tried yetto answer my question. Why were cows initially designed with such small feet, compared to humans. If you dont know please say so, have a serious think it could lead to you understanding why you got cows with bad feet nowadays ,if you dont know say so, its no good thinking you know the damm lot just yet, Ask and it may be given to you. The three Cow guy.
It was "designed" by evolution. Cows are cloven footed animals like lots of animals in nature. Also cows have four feet, humans have two (ahem). The targeted breeding by farmers is a relatively recent thing, especially going down the route of a cow that can produce oceans of milk. Feet have deteriorated as a result as a cow in nature wouldn't be eating masses of food and producing oceans of milk, she'd be producing a little bit of milk for her calf and that'd be it. Her own natural selection has never had a chance to adapt to the demands of intensive farming, but then why would it? Nature would never have gone down this road.
 
Cows were designed with small feet originally so that they would get tired while feeding and then go and lie down, to hide from the predators that were around at the time,(likewise with sheep) Their food then was naturally rich and they were contented so they laid down to rest their tired little feet,today most feeds do not satisfy your cows so they eat more trying to find what they know is missing, and therefore carry too much weight in their stomachs,hence bad feet and low profits, if you think this is a lot of balls, tell me why do your calves chew on any red or orange plastic string they can find, they know what is in it, do you? contented cows lie down longer and eat less so are more profitable,and will produce more on less proper food without damaging their feet ,Look forwards to comments or questions before we move on, That long winded, Three cow guy.
 

The Happy Herdsman

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Wirral
Cows were designed with small feet originally so that they would get tired while feeding and then go and lie down, to hide from the predators that were around at the time,(likewise with sheep) Their food then was naturally rich and they were contented so they laid down to rest their tired little feet,today most feeds do not satisfy your cows so they eat more trying to find what they know is missing, and therefore carry too much weight in their stomachs,hence bad feet and low profits, if you think this is a lot of balls, tell me why do your calves chew on any red or orange plastic string they can find, they know what is in it, do you? contented cows lie down longer and eat less so are more profitable,and will produce more on less proper food without damaging their feet ,Look forwards to comments or questions before we move on, That long winded, Three cow guy.

Can I be the first to say that's the most entertaining load of rubbish I have read all day. Did the nurse forget to give you your medicine today?
 
Location
cumbria
Cows were designed with small feet originally so that they would get tired while feeding and then go and lie down, to hide from the predators that were around at the time,(likewise with sheep) Their food then was naturally rich and they were contented so they laid down to rest their tired little feet,today most feeds do not satisfy your cows so they eat more trying to find what they know is missing, and therefore carry too much weight in their stomachs,hence bad feet and low profits, if you think this is a lot of balls, tell me why do your calves chew on any red or orange plastic string they can find, they know what is in it, do you? contented cows lie down longer and eat less so are more profitable,and will produce more on less proper food without damaging their feet ,Look forwards to comments or questions before we move on, That long winded, Three cow guy.

Not sure about cows taking so long to eat that they need to lie down is a good thing.
If this naturally rich food is so good, why are they taking so long to eat it?
Also what is this naturally rich food?
You are bang on later about filling them fast so they can ruminate longer, but that contradicts the first half of your statement doesn't it?

I like 3cowguy(y), his thoughts deserve its own thread.
 

multi power

Member
Location
pembrokeshire
Not sure about cows taking so long to eat that they need to lie down is a good thing.
If this naturally rich food is so good, why are they taking so long to eat it?
Also what is this naturally rich food?
You are bang on later about filling them fast so they can ruminate longer, but that contradicts the first half of your statement doesn't it?

I like 3cowguy(y), his thoughts deserve its own thread.
I would love to know what this rich food is, horse people go on about hay being too rich but when questioned they don't know what actually is. Is it energy? Protein or what?
 

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quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

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