Hoof trimming nightmare

[KrisW]

Hello all,

I’m trying my level best to trim Holly’s feet, did it 2 weeks ago with not too many problems. She has turned into a royal pain and now I can’t do it. She fights me so hard I can’t physically do it.
She has always been somewhat of a pill, but it has gone way beyond that now. She kicks, sits down, struggles so hard she has broken the wood milk stand and I have bruises on my arm.

She’s an Alpine/tog mix and 150 pounds, I weigh the same but she seems to be 900 pounds of anger and wrath this lately. I’ve tried this every other day this week with the same result. I know I should never let a goat win in any situation. I talk nicely to her, then, it gets to the point where I just have to walk away or I’m going to lose my temper and go ape like and do something I’ll really regret.
Leave her in the milk stand and ignore her. Try again, same wrath, Let her off the stand and ignore her, she sidles up to me trying to be all kind and nice, I turn my back, she try’s and trys to get my attention, I ignore her for a good hour.

One thing I have learned is she has to pee before I trim her feet, so I make sure she does that first.

It’s odd, because she jumps right up on the stand to get food, (If I’m late getting out there, she sits down on her milk stand and waits for me). She hangs around me, rubs on my legs when I’m out in the goat arena, she’s not mad at me in the least bit. But as soon as I pick up one of her back legs she turns into a banshee.

I’m thinking I should invite some strangers over, someone she has never seen, that way she will be concentrating on them and not what I’m doing to her.

What do I do now? How do I handle this? Help please.

Kris

[RiverPines]

I have had ones like that. I still do. A big Angora buck that just hates his feet getting touched.

I am small, 5 ft and 120 so even a pygmy can win over me.

What I do is call the hubby.
He Holds while I trim. If the goat is real hard to work with, my hubby gets them down on the ground on their side or in shearing position and I trim.

For some goats it takes team work.

Also I never give treats till I am done. I dont want my goats going nuts for treats before I work on them! I prefer calm goats!

[mare]

i used to have to hog tie a couple of mine--its a pain. is she coming into heat?

[steff bugielski]

do her feet hurt? mine will put up a fuss if there is a problem.

[oldcj5guy]

our fainting goats never give me problems......

Of course you have to learn how to do it with them on their backs

[sweetsagefarm]

we don't use any sort of stand for our boer goats. my husband handles the goat and i handle trimming. or worming or whatever needs done. he puts them on their rump and i go to work. we have found that whatever size they are if you put them on their rump, they struggle way less. the only one we don't do that with is our big spotted boer buck. he doesn't struggle and i can just pick up his feet and do what's needed.

[jil101ca]

i get my hubby or son to hold the goat while I trim. Got a goat foot trimming date on Sat actually

[jennigrey]

Hog tie the goat (or stretch-tie if you have three points you can tie them to) and wear ear plugs. Had to do that for the first few trims on one of our goats till he learned that 1.) he can't escape and all the hollering in the world won't make me let him go and 2.) I'm not going to hurt him. Standing loose for hoof trimming has to be earned with good behavior.

[GrannieD]

I agree with Jennigrey..I tie so they can't do anything but submit...& I do it on the ground against a fence with the goat standing "stretched " as she says ..front tied to one fence post ..one hind leg tied off the ground to another post..& a strap around the middle hooked to the fence..just switch leg ties to do both hind feet..& leave a hobble on a hind when you do the front..they quit struggling when they find it doesn't work...Always tie with no slack to allow thrashing...It doesn't have to be a one sided "wrestling match"..GrannieD

[Tracymichele]

I had trouble with my rowdy boer buck...I'd wrestle him down and sit on him and then call the husband to help...he laughed so hard watching me "goat wrestle" that he was no help *LOL* I finally learned to do it alone...took awhile...'course eating him solved that problem *LOL*

[HappyFarmer]

Most of mine I can do right in the field. A few I have to tie to a fence but then they stop struggling.

Hog tie her to a fence both head & rear to get the job done, or get a goat sling & raise her off the ground. While she's tied you might want to try training her with a cotton rope hooked to her hoof. Raise it & lower it repeatedly until she gets used to it, might be easier than holding the hoof with your hand. Careful you don't give her a rope burn or she somehow gets tangled in the rope.

Personally if I had a goat that was that bad, but good genetics, I'd breed her, keep a kid or 2 & handle the feet from the start, then sell/cull the doe. Not worth it to me struggling with a goat when I have 19 more to trim by myself. Not to mention cutting myself or her by accident because of the struggling.

Happyfarmer

[mygoat]

My girls know not to give me sass. I've worked on all sizes from miniature (One of my miniatures is the WORST on the stand!) and to a very large dairy doe. I get up on the stand with them, straddle their hips, and pull their leg up like a farrier does with a horse, so I'm looking down at it. My knees keep her from kicking forward usually, and I give a good holler when they misbehave. If they do it repeatedly, I'll give a spanking. I find that volume threats work best with goats, though.

I have had to sit on a doe before. 120lbs of yearling fury in the milkstand. I knocked her down, sat on her for a good minute. Every time she'd lift her head I'd push it back down so she was laying. Then I worked on her feet whether she liked or not. She took to the stand pretty well after that.

[Bricheze]

We just pull them over on their backs and hold them the way you do when you sheer a sheep. If we have a problem goat, we will have one person holding them on their back, and two other people holding down their legs.

[jill.costello]

I used to trim my 4 goats by laying them down, sitting on the ground, and hooking my leg over their neck. They'd bellow a few times and then go into a sort of "i'm dying" trance.

By the time everyone here let me know that they should be trimmed standing, like a horse, all 4 were GLAD not to be thrown over and sat on!

[terry stewart]

just did mine the 1 just fell asleep on the stand the rest just wanted more food just get next to thier ear and wisper BBQ works every time

[BethW]

My ND Peanut hates to have his feet trimmed. When I takes him by the collar and say "time to trim feet!", he instantly lies down. And when I use my mock stern voice and say "Pea! Get UP!" he rolls over on his side with his legs in the air and looks at me.

He's such a goofball. I know I shouldn't encourage it, but it cracks me up. Glad I can pick him up

[southerngurl]

You can just train a goat to accept having it's feet handled instead of having to force it- like we do with horses.

First you get them comfortable just having their feet touched.
(with the goat on the stand) Pet/rub the leg or shoulder, up high enough the goat is comfortable with it, move your petting down the leg a few inches and back up, work like this, going down to where the goat is just uncomfortable, stay petting there (if they move, just move with them) until they relax, then retreat back to their comfortable zone. Work this way down the leg until you get to the foot and they become totally comfortable with you touch all over the foot.

Then you start picking up the foot.
Pick up the foot, and try to give it back before the goat gets upset or pulls away. If the goat pulls away, keep ahold of the foot if possible, don't try to hold the foot in place at all, just hold you hand on it and let it move wherever. This is important because they learn no matter where they move their foot, you hand stays on it. As soon as they relax for a second, give the foot back. Pet them. Try to keep things light as possible, you need to have the attitude of having all the time in the world and things will go much quicker. Don't drill, if it's taking a long time, find a positive place to quit.

Of course you will have to do this with each leg/foot.

Continue like this over a few days, picking up the foot and giving it back only when the goat is not fighting. Pretty soon they will just stand there and chew their cud while you work.

When trimming, I never give the goat it's foot back while it's fighting. I just let my hand go with the foot wherever it moves until they decide that's not working and stop fighting, then I give it back.

[KrisW]

Thank you for all the advice everyone, it really means a lot to me (as well as other beginners).
The one thing I really don’t want to do is tie her up or hobble her. I have been able to trim her feet these last 2 years without too much trouble. She’s just become a monster this last 3 weeks.
She’s not in heat, nor do I see any hoof trouble, it’s just a glance (at her feet) with all the hissy fits on her part I’m lucky to see a foot at all!. I’m getting close to the hissy fit mode myself, might do me some good, who knows, might make us all feel better LOL.
This is what I did, I separated her from the other 3, I laid down on the ground and counted 1,2 3 ..
It took her to 50 to come over to me and she sniffed me from head to foot, probably about 5 minutes worth of her checking me out. Then I started petting her. Now keep in mind this is my brave goat, she’s always the first one to come up to something or someone new, she has no fear of anything, just a bit cautious.
So I’m thinking, OK, I have my work clothes on, they smell like goat, sometimes I get a bit of milk on them, the odd teat squeezed at the wrong angle, milking gone wild as it were LOL.
One thing my DH pointed out is maybe she is envious of the time I spend milking her sister. Time use to be equally divided between the 2 sisters, now I have to spend a LOT more time milking and Holly is getting left on her stand alone (next to me, not unattended) for a lot longer than she ever has in the past. Yes I have 2 milk stands. One of each adult goat.

It really makes a lot of sense to me, she must be jealous and feeling left out right about now. I need to get that separate milk room done, that way I can spend time with each as they deserve.

Kris

[DairyGoatSlave]

watch yourself when you do trim her though. My herd queen wont let me trim her feet with out a struggle, then she "goes limp" and give in. and all of a sudden WHAM! kicks me in face. Happens almost every time. good luck. I the attention thing is it and you can spend more time with her