A listing photo can hide a lame foot. On sheep, goats, and cattle, the claws tell you whether the animal will walk off the trailer or spend the next season in a pen. Price the feet before you price the breeding record.
Sound feet are not a bonus. They are the difference between an animal that grazes and one that loses condition the week after you unload it. A ewe with overgrown claws can still look round in a photo. A doe with footrot can stand square for thirty seconds. Cattle with a cracked outer claw often walk fine on soft ground and fall apart on concrete.
What you are actually buying
You are buying mobility. A small ruminant that cannot keep up with the flock eats less, breeds later, and is the first to go lame in wet weather. A cow that favors a foot puts uneven weight on the other three, and the next claw fails.
Ask the seller three things before you travel:
- When were the feet last trimmed, and who did it?
- Has this animal been treated for footrot, scald, or a sole abscess in the last year?
- Can you watch it walk on a hard surface, not only on bedding?
If the answer to the last one is no, treat the listing as unfinished.
Sheep and goats: claws, not just the headline photo
Stand beside the animal, not in front of it. Lift one front foot and one hind foot. You are not doing a full trim. You are looking for problems a buyer should not inherit.
Check these points:
- Claw length. Tips that curl under the sole, or that cross, mean the animal has not been on hard ground or has not been trimmed.
- The interdigital skin. Red, moist, or foul-smelling skin between the claws is scald or early footrot. Do not buy that animal into a clean flock.
- Sole and white line. Black tracks, a soft spot, or a flap of horn over a cavity can be an abscess that has not burst yet.
- Heel. Swollen heels on more than one foot, especially in wet lots, are a herd problem, not a one-off.
Footrot spreads. One lame doe in a group listing is a reason to walk away from the group, not a reason to negotiate ten percent off. If the seller says it is "just mud," ask to smell the foot. Mud does not smell like rot.
On a breeding ewe or doe, also look at the pastern. A sunk pastern with long claws is a structural fault you will see again in the lambs.
Cattle: the outer claw does the work
Beef and dairy feet fail in a pattern. The outer hind claw takes more weight, cracks, and abscesses first. A steer that "walks a bit short" on the right hind is not a small thing if you plan to finish it on concrete or ship it again.
At the viewing:
- Walk the animal out and back on gravel, a lane, or a yard floor. Soft pasture hides a mild limp.
- Watch the head. A nod as the sore foot lands is a weight shift.
- Look at claw shape from behind. One claw taller than its pair, or a corkscrew twist, will not correct itself with age.
- Check the coronary band. Heat and swelling there mean the problem is active, not an old scar.
A dairy cow sold as "still milking" with a wrapped foot is a hospital case. Ask for the treatment date and the drug. You need the withdrawal period before any milk or meat leaves your place. If the seller cannot name the product, do not guess.
What a good foot looks like
You do not need a textbook angle. You need a foot that matches the animal's job.
- Sheep and goats: claw wall about the length of the sole, no curl, dry skin between the digits, even wear on both claws.
- Cattle: both claws of a pair similar in height, a clear white line, no sand crack running into the coronary band.
- All species: the animal tracks up evenly, without a head bob, on a surface harder than bedding.
Trim history matters less than the foot in front of you. A fresh trim can hide a wall that was rotten last month. Look at the new horn. Chalky, thin horn grows back the same way.
Questions that save the trip
Send these before you book transport. Written answers are better than a voice note.
- Photos of the sole of one front and one hind foot, taken today, with the foot lifted.
- A short video of the animal walking away from the camera on a hard surface.
- Any foot treatment in the last twelve months, with dates.
- Whether other animals in the same pen have been lame this season.
On Occuin, ask for those files on the listing before you bid or pay a deposit. A seller who can lift a foot can photograph a foot. A seller who will not is telling you the foot is the problem.
When to walk away
Leave the deal if you see any of these:
- More than one animal in the group with interdigital inflammation.
- A wrapped or blocked claw and no treatment record.
- Claws so long the animal rocks back on its heels.
- A seller who will only show the animal on deep straw.
A lower price does not fix a footrot introduction. Isolation after purchase does not clean a claw that is already underrun. Fix the decision at the listing.
A simple scoring pass
Use the same pass on every animal so you do not talk yourself into the pretty one.
- Watch the walk on a hard surface for twenty paces.
- Lift one front and one hind foot.
- Note smell, moisture between the claws, and sole integrity.
- Compare both claws of the pair for height and twist.
- Ask for the last treatment, if any, in writing.
If steps 1 and 2 fail, stop. Do not move on to teeth, condition, or papers until the feet are acceptable. Those checks matter, but a lame animal fails the purchase first.
Feet are visible, liftable, and cheap to inspect. They are also the most common reason a sound listing animal is sore by the weekend. Check them before the money moves.
