Joe Salaman, Farrier
Dreamtime wishes to extend a huge thank you to Joe Salaman, our U.K.-Certified farrier, who began in the summer of 2005 to donate his services to keep our animals’ hooves in top condition.
Not only does he care for the horses and burros but he also trims the pigs’ feet to the accompaniment of their deafening screams. It's a dusty job that requires rolling and holding the pig on its back so as to carefully trim the hooves. Joe has made it possible for one little crippled girl to walk again. Her feet have extra toes which grow in painful places and the overall appearance of her untrimmed feet suggests a lobster’s claws.
Joe offers farrier services in Austin, Texas and the surrounding area. Call: 512/495-9968
Farrier's Corner
I have been taking care of the many hooves at Dreamtime sanctuary for a couple of years now.
Recently Nancy asked me if I would be interested in writing the odd little article to be included in the newsletter. So I thought I would start with one about trimming pigs' feet, because that was a new experience to me and its amusing.
When Nancy first asked me if I could trim pigs feet I thought she was joking, until I saw the feet of some of the pot bellied pigs she had. Her description of lobster claws was perfect.
Armed with only my horse trimming tools and a vague idea of what a pig's hooves should look like, we got to work.I say we, because without Nancy as my pig wrestler the task would be impossible. She had the great idea of using the half round feed troughs to lay the pigs in on their backs. It worked like a charm because the pig really can't do much but squeal, the first five minutes is ear splitting and earplugs are definitely recommended, after that they seem to relax and the screams turn to snores. The smaller pigs can be carried by their feet and placed in the trough. The larger ones require a different strategy. We tip the trough on its side then get the pig alongside it, one person tips the pig, while the other tips the trough, all in one fluid motion. As you can imagine this takes a little practice.
So now we have our pig contained, what to do with these feet? For a start pigs have four toes. Two main ones that they walk on and two smaller ones on either side that don't seem to bear much weight but probably help in soft mud. Although these look similar to cows or goats hooves, they are much harder with a hard layered sole not a soft pad. This sole builds up in layers and follows the growth of the hoof wall forming a claw rather like a dog's. This means you have to "trim blind," with no obvious guide as to where the quick is. The exception here is with the white feet, where the quick shows pink through the translucent horn. With the black feet I just had to nip a little at a time and admittedly mistakes were made at fist, but luckily no long term suffering ensued. I also discovered that the sole part of the hoof flakes off easily with a hoof knife, until you reach a solid layer and that is a good stopping point for trimming the hoof wall.
Nancy tells me the pigs seem much happier and are walking a lot better, but if anyone out there can give me more advice on this subject I'd be glad to hear it. I have not come across any books or articles on trimming pigs feet yet, and didn't learn about it in farrier school either.
That's all for now.
Joe
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