How to trim hooves

[Dawn Waller]

hello
I have two 2yr old kune's and can no longer ignore the fact that I need to trim their hooves. I have been preparing for this by getting them to lie down while i hold their feet, tap their hooves and generally mess with them so am ready to 'have a go'. Can anyone advise on the best tool to use for this - shall i get a sheep's hoof trimmer from the farm store? Also i can see where the hoof is (rather than the foot) as it's quite see through but am still rather nervous about cutting it. Any techniques to use? I did wonder about filing them down with a horse's hoof rasp if I could get my hands on one. Does anyone use this method?
Many thanks
Dawn

[Di]

I use the clippers I have for sheep feet. Get someone to keep scratching their belly while you clip the feet. You may need several goes, say one or two a day, if they won't lie still. I just keep snipping back gently until I have taken off enough.

[Dawn Waller]

Thanks Di, will do it gently while (rather bemused) hubby rubs their tummies then. It's not the worst thing he's had to do, he didn't really enjoy holding the sheep while I washed their bums several nights on the trot to prevent fly strike.

[redgeorge]

Also try putting some solid ground in their area if they dont already have it, ie: paving slabs so that they can naturally wear their hooves down on the solid surface.

[wendy scu]

trimming hooves should not really be necessary if the pigs are kept at the correct weight. if the pig is overweight and the joints are not able to cope, the pig will walk 'down at heal' and then the toes will overgrow.

in a few cases it will be just bad conformation and the overgrowth is then unavoidable but more often than not its just that the pig is too fat. slimming them down and putting them on some had ground as redgeorge suggested should be sufficient.

[Dawn Waller]

Thanks Wendy. Looks like a diet is in order then rather than a trim. I find it difficult to tell whether a kune is overweight or not, it's not as easy as the dog.
They are free ranging in my field with no hard standing at all. I limit their pasture in the winter to stop them ploughing the whole field and they hate being penned up - so i set them free in summer. I'm just too soft. It's just coming up to their favourite time if the year too - when the big apple tree starts to drop it's load! they're going to hate me

[wendy scu]

you have to be cruel to be kind!

[anmol77]

I have been preparing for this by getting them to lie down while i hold their feet, tap their hooves and generally mess with them so am ready to 'have a go'. Can anyone advise on the best tool to use for this - shall i get a sheep's hoof trimmer from the farm store??????

[The Rushbury Pig]

Sheep clippers are good and I also use a file too - mine is actually a horse hoof file but I suspect any similar metal file will work well too. Good luck

[The Rushbury Pig]

Have you seen the you tube film clips?

Here they are in case you haven't:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03H23Zyitz4 - Trimming Feet - Part one - USA clip


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GCGaQfh1iQ - Trimming Feet - Part 2 - USA clip