Foot Rot On The Farm

If you’ve raised livestock — or honestly, even just owned pets — you probably know the universal rule:

They always get sick or injured on the weekend…when the vet is closed…because of course they do. 😅

This past weekend, our newest addition Mary came up lame on her back leg, and the whole area was swollen. Out here, there aren’t many vets who make farm calls on weekends, and our regular vet couldn’t see us until Monday.

Thankfully, we already had to take another cow in for insemination that day, so we loaded Mary up, too.

🩺 The Diagnosis: Foot Rot

Once our vet took a look, it turned out Mary had a pretty rough case of foot rot. Foot rot is a bacterial infection in the hoof. It usually happens when: There's a tiny cut or scrape,and bacteria from wet or muddy ground gets in.

And with the summer heat?

Our cattle have been living their best lives standing in the pond to stay cool.

My dad calls them land hippos. He’s not wrong. 🦛😂

We also had quite a bit of rain recently, which hasn’t helped hoof health for either the cows or the horses.

💉 Treatment & Prevention

Thankfully, this was an easy fix: A one-time antibiotic injection, plus a mineral supplement to help prevent future cases in the herd.

We try to stay prepared for situations like this — especially when vets aren’t available — but farm life doesn’t always line up with business hours.

💛 Good News

Mary is already doing so much better and back to her sweet self.

Crisis over.

Until next weekend… because we all know how that goes. 😉