HOOF TRIMMING ‘CIRCUS’ NO LONGER IN TOWN

Southland dairy farmer Dave Edge remembers when trimming hooves could be a “circus”. Twenty years ago, it was widespread practice to tie a cow’s leg to a rail and treat them for lameness with little to no safety precautions – and Dave’s situation was not dissimilar before he spent four years working in the UK. “Before we left for England we did lame cows on the rotary platform or vet race - and it was a circus,” he says. “In England, they were far ahead of New Zealand and used really good crushes – some had full hydraulics and all the bells and whistles. “We thought, we’ve got to get something like this when we get home – and the Wrangler was by far the best we could find.” Milking 480 cows on a 212ha self-contained dairy unit at Otautau, Dave bought his Wrangler at Southern Field Days in 2006. “It was the first thing we bought when we got back from England, and it’s been tremendous,” he says. “Our Wrangler is just the basic model, but we upgraded in winter; it’s still the original crush but has had some mod cons added. “We use it for everything, including vet visits and treating lame cows. And the parts are so available – if you ever need to replace a part it’ll be there within a few days.” Dave finds the Wrangler to be such a vital part of a farmer’s animal health toolkit that he has no hesitation in recommending it to other farmers. “We’re currently overseeing another farm for a family who took over on December 1; we got them a new Wrangler, and they absolutely love it as well,” he says. “The Wrangler just makes handling cows so easy – whether it’s for trimming hooves or any other animal health problem.”