Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Trimming very overgrown hooves

A few weeks ago the neighbor bought a little buck with very overgrown hooves. He obviously had not been taken care of. So, since I am the "goat farrier" in the neighborhood, I trimmed him up. It actually wasn't that bad, except that his front feed were really hard and long, so I had to get out the horse nippers to trim the really long hard stuff off, before I could even trim it with my goat clippers. But, I got him all done and he walked MUCH better afterwards!

before,


I should have worn gloves, my hands stunk for the rest of the day! He was a nasty little buck!

after,



Hope you have a great day! We are getting really dumped on here in Oklahoma. . . everything is very wet and muddy!

Suriyah



8 comments:

Brenda said...

You did a great job. I'm sure that little guy felt much better when you were finished.

Last kidding season, you posted about a doe that was losing a lot of blood with the kidding. You mentioned using shepherds purse to stop the bleeding. Could you post on the procedure for using shepherds purse. Did you use a tea or tincture?

Thanks!

Good Goats said...

Hey Brenda,

I'll try to do a post on Shepherd's Purse tomorrow. But real quick, incase your needing the info, I use the tincture as it is MUCH easier to administer - the doe just needs a dropfull or two. The tea works well also, but you have to have it made up beforehand and give the doe a good cup of it at least.

DebH said...

very nice job on those feet indeed! I carry my snippers in my back pocket at all times...and if someone is standing close...grab and trim. I used to be slow at getting everyone lined up to do it, now I feel so good for them when I do some quick trims that I look at the feet everytime I milk or feed. Not that I'm overzealous but it sure makes me feel good when I see straight smart little feet running around. I bet that little buck was prancing after that!

Answers for Life said...

Help! I have a doe that was given to me about 6 months ago and has REALLLY bad hoves. I have been trying to trim weekly but am not getting very far. In your pics it looks like you went down pretty far for how long they were. So am wondering can I cut into the overgrown area without causing a problem? I can take pictures to show you what I am trying to fix if there is somewhere I can send them to you. Thanks, Kristy

Good Goats said...

Hello Kristy,

You can cut it down very far. The best place to stop is when you can see pink (blood underneath). If you go a little too far and actually make the goat bleed, don't worry they will be just fine.

If you want to send me some pictures, my email address is sf@goodgoats.net

Suriyah

Anonymous said...

i have a female goat who has bad hooves and i'm wondering how far should i go back on her hooves she just had a kid and was wondering if it is ok to trim her hooves back all at once or should it be a week by week process and she is haveing trouble walking on her hooves i have only had her about a year and was trying to figure out how to fix her feet before i got her she never had triming done to her so how would i go about this i have a farrier and he is willing to help me do hooves on my goats but i'm worried that it wont work very well and i have 9 adults and 1 baby
galina

Anonymous said...

i have a goat who has overgrown hooves and it is hard for her to walk on them it has been a long time since she has had them trimed and i have 9 adult goats and 1 baby goat
not even a week old

Good Goats said...

I would trim it far until you see red (blood just underneath the hoof). If that is not far enough, wait to keep trimming for a few days or a week, and then trim as much as you can again.