From dairy farmer to bovine podiatrist,
By
Fran Alt
It's been 25 years since Lee Hammond, Jr., left the dairy farm he grew up on in Buchanan, Virginia. But the road that led Lee away from the farm where he was born also allowed him to travel down many a new farm road in the last 25 years.
Lee began farming when he was six years old, driving a tractor, doing fieldwork and feeding calves. By the time he was eleven he was milking cows. Like most dairy farmers, he really enjoyed working with cows. It was a trying for him, when his dad announced he was selling the family farm. That was 1975, and Lee was determined to somehow stay connected with dairy.
Lee, in his early twenties then, told the local veterinarian about his feelings. The vet thought for a moment, then turned to Lee and told him about a relatively new field - hoof trimming. He encouraged Lee to give it a try.
Lee immediately liked the idea, even though he didn't know much about trimming. His father's cows always grazed, and rarely had hoof problems. But this was 1975, and new situations on the dairy farm necessitated a need for trimmers.
The vet, who traveled three states, checking cows for pregnancy, introduced Lee, to a trimmer from Maryland. Excited about the prospect of a new career, Lee tried to get up with the trimmer. "The fellow was always busy. By now I was determined to be a trimmer, so I found someone else to teach me." Lee smiles.
Hoof trimming schools did not exist at the time, and Buchanan's only trimmer traveled from Pennsylvania. Eventually Lee found a hoof trimmer in Maryland who was willing to train him. They worked together, traveling throughout Maryland and Pennsylvania for a few months, then Lee went off on his own.
"There was a big article in one of the dairy magazines at that time. I read the article and it talked about a set of plans to build a table for trimming. I ordered the plans and built the table. By that time my dad's farm was sold and we were totally out of the dairy business. The veterinarian set me up with farmers whose cows needed some trimming. It was kind of slow starting."
Lee found work at a local rock quarry and did his hoof trimming on the side. Within six months the trimming business picked-up enough and Lee left the quarry to become a full-time trimmer. In less than a year the young man had more work than he could handle.
He traveled throughout, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia trimming hooves for the veterinarian's clients and picking up new farms along the way.
"Cows used to feed on grass, hay and some silage but not as much grain," Lee said. "Now they stayed on concrete and were getting too much protein and not enough fiber." Within a short time the concrete and hard feeding, resulted in new leg problems - including the sudden onset of foot warts. Gradually the demand for hoof trimmers increased.
Hoof trimming is an art.
Lee studies the cow's foot, looking at the angle. "Some are very bad," he says. "You can not even imagine some of the problems I've seen." Much like an artist, he gets a picture in his mind of what he wants the cow's foot to look like and works to that end. First he cleans the foot, then shapes it with a grinder. After grinding he uses a knife and nippers to work the foot to the shape he thinks it should have. If there are abscesses and warts, he takes care of them. If the foot is very bad, he uses special glue to hold a wooden block to the cow's good claw. This in turn raises the wounded claw and allows it to heal.
Lee advises new trimmers - do a good job and don't hurry. Lee averages twenty cows a day, and says there are some trimmers who do as many as sixty. "I did forty once. I wouldn't want to do it again. You cannot do that many cows and do a really good job. Take your time. Do a good job and you will have more business than you can handle."
Lee now lives live in Kingsport, Tennessee, where his wife Mitzi teaches school. Lee says he married Mitzi two years ago, after meeting her at a wedding. "My best friend married Mitzi's best friend."
The farms Lee visits include many of the same farms he went to twenty years ago. He has a regular clientele and his route includes parts of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. Lee is hoping to narrow his travels and start working closer to home. He confided that he and Mitzi plan to have children.
Lee has two grown sons, Lee III, 24, and Hugh 22.
For dairy farmers, Lee stresses the importance of caring for a cow's feet. "Eating produces more milk, and a cow needs to stand to eat. If her feet are hurting, she can't stand at the feed trough as long."
If you are looking for a trimmer, Lee recommends you ask around. "Word of mouth is good advertising," he says, adding, "more importantly, get references!"