24. May 2019

Poland | Voivodship Swietokrzyskie | Monthly report May: Farm Animal Service

Krajno. Trimming cattle is always more challenging.

Przybyslawice. A new dog kennel with a wooden roof.

Zlotniki. We are trimming an old mare with laminitis.

Bronkowice. We are washing infected spots of skin with medicine.

This month, our Farm Animal Service (FAS) farriers are called twice to treat lame cattle. First, they visit a farm in Krajno where a young bull has problems with walking. His front leg is deformed which causes abnormal hoof growth. We trim his claws in a way that helps to restore his balance. Then, we go to Grabkow to see another lame animal. Here, the problem is merely overgrown claws. We trim them and the cow can walk again without pain. We educate the owner about responsible husbandry principles so that the situation does not happen again.

Next, we are going to Przybyslawice. We are positively surprised to see a new dog kennel with a wooden top to protect the animals from weather conditions. The owner is also going to put metal sheets on top as a means of additional protection. As a reward, we trim the hooves of his young foal for free. At the next farm we trim the hooves of two young horses. The owner is sad because he needs to sell his animals. He is going abroad to work to provide his family with a steady income.

After this visit, we are going to Zlotniki where we trim the old mares with laminitis. During the work we find a solution for the dog that spends a lot of time locked in a shed. The yard is very narrow with a low-quality wooden fence and the dog cannot run freely. We will come back very soon to help the owner to implement our idea which would allow the dog to move around. Then, we are called to a farm in Bronkowice. One of the horses has a skin condition that looks like a fungal infection. We wash the infected area with a special liquid. We will come back in two weeks to check if it works. In the meantime, the owner is required to buy halters for his bulls and use them, instead of tying them by the horns.

Finally, we visit two farmers that are interested in joining our FAS program. We briefly explain the general rules and leave them documents to read. They will call us in case they decide to join.

In total, this month our farriers visited 20 farms, some of them several times. They trimmed hooves of 13 horses and the claws of two cattle. Also, one young foal with a skin infection was treated.