Sheep feet reward routine attention and punish neglect, because lameness spreads through a flock quietly until several animals are affected at once. The answer on frequency is a rhythm rather than a single rule: feet get a look at every close handling, plus planned inspections at regular intervals, tightened whenever ground conditions or history say risk is rising.
The checking rhythm
As a working pattern, inspect feet thoroughly roughly every six to eight weeks during routine flock work, and check any individual sheep the moment you notice limping, grazing on her knees, lagging behind the flock or reluctant to bear weight. Wet seasons, muddy gateways, poached pasture around troughs and stony tracks all justify checking sooner and more often, since softened horn and mud packed between the claws create the conditions where problems start. Keep the rhythm written down rather than remembered: a flock whose feet were 'done recently' by feel often turns out to have gone a full season when the dates are checked honestly. Agree the interval with your vet in light of your ground, your breed and your flock's history, and tighten it after any outbreak of lameness rather than returning straight to the relaxed schedule.
What to do at each check
Work in a clean, dry handling area with good light, and gather a hoof pick or stiff brush, foot shears if you are trained to use them, gloves, and a notebook before the first sheep enters the race. Restrain each sheep safely, sitting her up or using a cradle if that is your practiced method, and clear every foot of mud and trapped stones. Examine all four feet on every sheep, not only the lame one, because the opposite foot often carries the early stage of the same problem. Check between the claws for redness, swelling, moisture, a sour odour or heat, and inspect the horn for overgrowth, cracks, separation from the underlying tissue or damage. A healthy foot is dry between the claws, odourless, and evenly worn; anything departing from that earns a note with the sheep's identity and the foot involved.
Trimming: a learned skill, done properly or not at all
Overgrown horn needs paring back to restore the foot's shape, but trimming cuts close to living tissue, and a heavy-handed cut causes bleeding and lameness of its own. Treat trimming as a skill to be taught, not improvised: learn alongside an experienced shepherd, a farrier or your vet, practise on a few feet under supervision, and use sharp, clean shears. Trim in small amounts, follow the natural plane of the foot, and stop at firm, healthy horn. If you are not yet trained, record which sheep need trimming and book the experienced help. Clean and disinfect tools between sheep when disease is present in the flock, and always between flocks.
Signs that route you to the vet
Suspected footrot, a spreading lameness affecting several sheep, swelling above the hoof, a foul smell with raw tissue between the claws, or any lame sheep who fails to improve within days of attention belongs to the vet, not to home treatment. Note which sheep are affected, in which fields they have grazed, and when each case appeared, because pattern across the flock guides the vet's advice on isolation, pasture rest and management changes. Keep affected sheep off clean pasture used by healthy lambs where the vet advises it, and handle lame sheep last in any session to reduce spreading contamination on boots and tools.
Records that make the rhythm work
Log each session with the date, how many sheep were checked, which individuals needed trimming, and which showed problems, plus what action followed. Reviewed across a year, that log reveals whether lameness clusters in one field, one season or one family line in the flock, which turns foot care from reaction into prevention, such as resting a problem pasture or improving a muddy gateway. Seasons later, the record inside KinsLe turns dated foot notes into lameness patterns pointing at gateways needing drainage work, filed under the flock's own Pet Passport.