One of the (many) things that surprised me to learn about sheep, is that we have to trim their hooves to keep them from getting overgrown! It’s a lot like clipping toenails (sorta) except we use big clippers that look a lot like garden trimmers.
Usually, this is a planned event – and we have a fancy chair we tip the sheep back into. In this position they are pretty calm and allow us to trim as needed.
Ideally, this is what a trim in the chair would look like. Mama White is just hanging out, and Brian is able to reach all her hooves.
However, sometimes our sheep step on something and get debris or a rock stuck in their hoof. “We’ve got a limper” is our call to each other for immediate action. And by immediate, we don’t wait for treatment. Brian, the expert sheep flipper that he is, got Mama Brown on her backside (notice the similar position to the chair), and she is calm and relaxed as he goes to work fixing her feet.
All the rain and muddy mess we’ve had lately had caused some dirt impaction, and Brian was quick to scrape that out and give her a little trim.
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