The worst hooves...

[alidansma]

My neighbor asked me to come over yesterday and look at their buck's feet since he was walking funny and they thought he needed his hooves trimmed.
The goat had come from some guy who couldn't care for his goats anymore.

His hooves were so overgrown...I didn't think it was possible for hooves to grow like that - I think they had never been trimmed in his life and he must have been about two or three years old. I wish I had taken a picture.

It sure wasn't the neighbors fault - they just took this guy in - and to their credit the were really interested in learning how to get his feet looking nice.

His hooves were rolled all the way under - like seashells. His sole had also grown out with the hooves. His back feet were much beter than his front feet.
So I trimmed the best I could without drawing blood, at first I cut too close and got a little blood, but I backed off and went a different route once I realized what I was looking at. I ended up taking over an inch of hoof wall off the out side of both front feet and a lot of sole with that too.

My question is how often should his feet be trimmed to get them back in shape? will the blood vessels retreat from his overgrown soles so they can be trimmed right? We are in dry sandy soil out here.

Thank you much.

[Sweet Goats]

That sounds like a goat a friend also took in. They were like sea shells and sleighs all in one. We trimmed them back about once a week until we got them decent. They were never normal again. The toes were so splayed that they would never grow back together. He ate on his knees all the time because I believe his feet always hurt. This fall his feet hurt so bad that he really stopped walking and he ended up dieing of bloat because he could not walk around anymore.
Take you time in trimming those feet because he will be very sore, and it is amazing how fast they had to be trimmed once you get them somewhat normal.

[fishhead]

I've read that yes the blood vessels will retreat as you trim if you give them a week or so between trimmings.

[hoofinitnorth]

Depends on the animal, but yes, the vessels should retreat and he may recover fully, or in the case of Sweet Goat's friend's goat, he may always have problems. Steady, patient work and he should have the best chance for recovery. Might also want to have a vet look at him.

[alidansma]

This young couple kind of inheirated their parents house + animals.
I am not sure they are interested in calling a vet, and I am pretty sure that there is no vet in the area that would be willing to help with hoof trimming - maybe a fairrier, but even that is iffy. They had asked everyone they could think of to help and no one would even tell them what they needed to trim feet. I think once they saw how it was done, and the goat was VERY good about it, I think they will be more than willing to keep up on it. I had them over here to see how my goats' hooves look so they knew what we are trying to get to. The outside of his hooves were totally rolled under and growing UP through the middle of his toes!
I will check on him in a couple of days and see how he is doing. when I had finished trimming yesterday he was running around the pen and still coming to momma and daddy for pets - so he didn't seem TOO traumatized.

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

We always went about it differently. When bringing in broker animals, mostly dairies going out of business, death or divorce type situations, by the time the animals were being sold, they were is pretty awful condition. We would use a belt sander and grind the feet down. The heat of the belt sander would cauterize any bleeders and yes they would be lame, but some banamine and it was over in a week. Much easier than making them limp for weeks as you pare them down carefully. Always revaccinate, worm and delice stock in this condition. IF feet are this bad you can imagine the rest of his care. Also don't go moving him quickly to this new lush diet, he is used to living on air, grain can kill him if introduced overnight. Vicki

[KikoFaerie]

I do not know if this works or not, and have not tried it myself, but I've been told that when one has extremely overgrown hooves like this that spraying the entire bottom of the hoof with 7% iodine helps "draw" the quick upward faster. Someone I know does this once a week with any she acquires that are really bad - trim a little, spray, wait a week, trim a little, spray, wait a week, etc. until they are in good shape and she swears by it. Like I said, I have never personally tried it.

[alidansma]

Where do you find 7% iodine nowadays?

[Jillis]

Originally Posted by Vicki

IF feet are this bad you can imagine the rest of his care.

This may be true in general, but I have to say, I take great care of my goats...but I am a little lax on the feet.


I don't know why, but I just don't get to them as often as I should. Most of them are pretty good anyway---I have big rocks in their pens and they wear down that way. But there are one or two that I notice when they look goofy.

Part of it is seasonal. Mud season...hate to do it then. Now that I have my milkstand set up, I have been keeping up a lot better.

[Cygnet]

Make sure the goat isn't foundered.

I have a goat who has awful feet in the back -- they look terrible. I trim a bit off every few months, but I can't take more than a little, or change his angles, or he's dead lame until it grows out. I KNOW he's foundered -- he had a bad encounter with a fence as a yearling and lost half a foot in the back. (He only has one claw on the right.) He foundered on his good foot from bearing all his weight on it while he healed, then foundered on the bad one later.

He's more-or-less sound, as long as I don't mess with his angles.

[KikoFaerie]

Originally Posted by alidansma

Where do you find 7% iodine nowadays?

I was fortunate enough to have a friend at the local co-op stockpile it for me.