Today when I was looking at the newborn calf we brought from the pasture to the barn, I was looking at its hooves.
Now, picture what a hoof looks like. Got it? Did it look like this?
They're not smooth on the bottom when they're born!
Also, they're not hard. They're soft, since they've been in liquid for the last nine months.
In fact, after this calf walked around a little bit, it left part of its hoof on the floor. (This shedding is normal, according to Kris and the internet.) I prodded it with my toe and it was positively mushy. Not even a little bit hard. The boys were all gently petting its hooves after I told them this.
So, little newborn calves have soft, malleable hooves. Even though I've been on this farm awhile now, I'm continually learning.
And I have some little malleable minds learning along with me.
3 comments:
They’re born with soft hooves as not to tear or cut the uterus.
When do they harden? How hard do they get?
My newborn is six hours old and has not stood yet I did not know if the hooves were the issue or not
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