Another Boer question--hooves

[mary,tx]

How often do the Boers need their hooves trimmed? I see pastures full of them around here, and can't imagine that the farmers are trimming all those hooves. Do they need to be trimmed as often as the dairy breeds?
mary

[DQ]

your right. generally speaking the boers or meat goats are not getting trimmed like the dairy girls. the profit margin is slim for a commercial meat herd and animals that need lots of care are not profitable. I am in the early stages of developing a boer herd and it is hard for me sometimes coming from a background of having "pets" where your main concern is the quality of your care, to make the transition into "livestock" where one of your main concerns needs to be frugality and naturally healthy, hardy animals. if they need lots of intervention, they are culled. I think due to the nature of having a dairy goat, particularly as a family milker, they are more "pet like". a family likely only keeps a few milkers for their own use and has the option of providing more individual care. even in a commercial dairy setting, each working goat is seen on an individual basis everyday anyway for milking, they have to be grained to keep up production which increases their value due to more money in them and loss of 1 good milker due to hoof/kidding/ problems is pretty serious considering the loss of milk and the genes for a good milker as well as the $ spent to get them and keep them in milk. so it worth spending more in preventive maintenance, such as hoof trimming, worming, scheduled breedings etc... in a dairy herd. it just isn't worth it in a meat herd, where you might have a one time sell for meat for 60$, instead of a whole goat lifetime of production and profit through milk.

[topside1]

Mary, I trim mine at about the same frequency as my dairy goats (every four months) but keep in mind I only have seven Boers. Some rarely need trimming others grow much quicker...Like DQ mentioned, trimming really depends on the number of animals you own and the time you have available.

[homesweethome]

Our field goats get it once or twice a year, if they need it when they get caught for their yearly CD&T vaccine or worming. Some do need it more than others, it varies.
I talked to a guy who raises show goats who keeps his girls fitted and feet done once a month! Like a beauty salon, I expect!

[Jim S.]

Hoof growth is genetically determined in goats, and highly heritable. You can cull for fast hoof growth. It is a conformational defect for ANY producer, meat or dairy, who wishes to have low labor inputs.

If you do not have rocks in your pastures, you can have a pile of rock or concrete construction debris hauled in by dump truck. That helps a lot on hooves. But the main thing is to cull out rapid hoof growth. Nature would!

I know much has been said about how dairy is so different from meat. In matters differentiating a low-labor input herd from a high-labor input one, there really ought be no difference. And my belief is that any farming operation can benefit financially from lower labor inputs.

[Jan in CO]

Mary, two of our Boers have hooves like one of my Togg cross dairy girls--they seem to grow overnight. One we bought with terrible hooves, and have never been able to get her hooves to look like what they should. Her kids have not had that problem, but then they have been market goats for 4H and haven't lived to adulthood. I think as JimS said, it probably is an individual thing with some of them. We don't do ours as often as I think we 'should', either. Jan in Co

[deetu]

I do a trim twice a year but have never had a real problem with their feet. I also have alot of boulders and trees in their "pastures" that they are constantly climbing on.
A friend has grass pastures and her goats were all terribly overgrown. I recommended her putting a pile of cinderblocks in her pasture.