Product Code Database
The hoof (: hooves) is the tip of a toe of an ungulate mammal, which is covered and strengthened with a thick and horny keratin covering. are even-toed ungulates, species whose feet have an even number of digits; the ruminants with two digits are the most numerous, e.g. giraffe, deer, bison, cattle, goats, gazelles, pigs, and sheep. The feet of perissodactyl mammals have an odd number of toes, e.g. the horse, the rhinoceros, and the tapir. Although hooves are limb structures primarily found in mammals, hadrosaurs such as Edmontosaurus possessed hoofed forelimbs. The marsupial Chaeropus also had hooves.
There are four layers within the exterior wall of the hoof. From the outside, a hoof is made up of the stratum externum, the stratum medium, the stratum internum and the dermis parietis. The stratum externum and the stratum medium are difficult to distinguish, the stratum externum is thin and the stratum medium is what makes up the bulk of the hoof wall. Inside the hoof wall is a laminar junction, a soft tissue structure that allows the hoof to withstand the demands of force transmission it undergoes. This tissue structure binds the inner surface of the hoof wall, the dermis parietis and the outer surface of the third phalanx.
Most even-toed ungulates (such as sheep, , deer, cattle, bison and ) have two main hooves on each foot, together called a cloven hoof.The term "cloven hoof" therefore being a technical misnomer as nothing is actually "cloven". Most of these cloven-hooved animals also have two smaller hooves called a little further up the leg – these are not normally used for walking, but in some species with larger dewclaws (such as deer and pigs) they may touch the ground when running or jumping, or if the ground is soft. In the mountain goat, the dewclaw serves to provide extra traction when descending rocky slopes as well as additional drag on loose or slippery surfaces made of ice, dirt, or snow. Other cloven-hooved animals (such as and ) have no dewclaws.
In some so-called "cloven-hooved" animals, such as , the "hoof" is not properly a hoof – it is not a hard or rubbery sole with a hard wall formed by a thick nail – instead it is a soft toe with little more than a nail merely having an appearance of a hoof.
Some odd-toed ungulates (Equidae) have one hoof on each foot; others have (or had) three distinct hooved or heavily nailed toes, or one hoof and two dewclaws. The tapir is a special case, having three toes on each hind foot and four toes on each front foot.
Hoof trimmers trim and care for bovine hooves, usually Dairy cattle. Hooves can be trimmed with a sharp knife while the cow is restrained and positioned with ropes. Professional hoof trimmers tend to use and some type of hoof trimming crush to make the process quicker and less physically demanding on the hoof trimmer. A hoof trimmer using modern machinery may trim the hooves of more than 10,000 cows per year. The trimmer shapes the hooves to provide the optimal weight-bearing surface. A freshly trimmed hoof may be treated with copper sulfate pentahydrate to prevent foot rot.
==Gallery==
.jpg/){kind=link}
