Grooming
- Grooming comprises brushing the hair coat of animals.
- It is performed for:
- Performed for cleanliness and appearance.
- To massage and stimulate the cutaneous blood and lymph circulation.
- To remove waste products like skin secretion, scurf and loose hair.
- To remove lice and other skin parasites from hair coat.
- Vigorous brushing also keeps skin in loose and pliable condition and brings out the natural oil in the hair.
- Brush made of stiff whisk fibre, whisks made of paddy straw or hay or body brush made of stiff bristles can be used for grooming.
- The brush is held in the left hand for left side and right hand for right side; the groom facing the animal’s tail. Brushing is done in sweeps.
- Grooming is begun at the neck behind ears and brushing is carried out in the same direction as the flow of hair.
- However, brushing has to be done against the fall of hair for removing dried mud, dung etc, sticking to hair. One has to lean hard upon the brush during the sweeps, standing well away from animals.
- At the end of each sweep the wrist is given a turn so as to bring out of coat the dust and debris, which the brush has collected. Face should never be brushed but wiped with a clean cloth.
- Cows are regularly groomed before milking so that no dust falls in milk. Grooming cows includes brushing of the rump, sides of thighs and buttocks, washing of their udders with warm water containing an appropriate antiseptic and final wiping of udder with boiled damp cloth.
- Wiping is done to remove the superfluous water, which would otherwise drop to into the milk pail. It is advisable, however, to the surface of the udder damp as this prevents dry dust etc. from falling.
- These operations should be carried out immediately before milking. The actual brushing of sides of thighs etc, should be finished in the loose houses and then cows taken into the clean dust-free milking sheds.
- Work bullocks too need grooming before and after performing work. This keeps them active and the massaging will permit them to recover from tiredness and fatigue quicker.
- Generally, only the legs, including shoulder and hips of bullocks are brushed using paddy straw or hay whisks.
