cow hooves

[Skye]

How do you know if you need to trim a cows hooves? My jersey has a crack in the middle of one her "toes" on the top all the way down. How do you trim them or care for them? Thanks

[Eunice]

Is the cracked hoof bothering your cow? How deep is the crack? Are her hooves real dry?
In days gone by, I had my show cows hooves trimmed at the beginning of the show season, except for the Brown Swiss that had such nice hooves that all I had to do was walk them up and down the rough asphalt road for a touch up.
At the dairy where I work now, we trim cows' hooves as needed. Some cows need it every year and some cows never need trimming.

[Skye]

I think it has been this way since I bought her (about a year ago). Now the ends are chipping off and she doesn't run in for feed anymore. So I think they are bothering her. I am thinking about taking her to the vet to see if they will trim them. These are my first cows so I am still trying to learn how to keep them up properly.