trimming hard hooves

[ahahahni1]

We have two goats that have extremely hard hooves. The others arent so bad for some reason. Anyone have some tips? Someone once told me lock them up in a pen and flood the ground and by morning they will be soft but really rather not do that. Any tips?

[Alice In TX/MO]

Make little booties for each hoof and put a wet sponge in each one overnight.

[LoneStrChic23]

It does help to soak them prior to clipping.

One my girls was/is very copper deficient and came to me with poor hooves.

They needed corrective trimming but were too hard to snip easily. I soaked her feet in warm water on the milk stand for about 15 minutes, then used my cordless dremel (10.8 volt) with a grinding stone (one of those pinkish/orange stones, not the sand paper tips) and used it on high in the bad problem areas....especially handy for rock hard bits inbetween the toes.

She's still a work in progress, and I do her feet at least once a week, but its already looking so much better.

[AuntKitty]

And she let you get near her with a running Dremel? Wow, mine would never allow that! But I bet the Dremel works like a charm. Hmmm, maybe they make Nubian ear plugs....

Kitty

[ahahahni1]

Alice how do they not pull the booties off?

[DWH Farm]

I try to catch mine in the morning when they are wet from dew, or after a rain. Softens them up a bit. I know what you are saying though, really hard on the hands!

[LoneStrChic23]

Originally Posted by AuntKitty

And she let you get near her with a running Dremel? Wow, mine would never allow that! But I bet the Dremel works like a charm. Hmmm, maybe they make Nubian ear plugs....

Kitty

Yep..... I have the cordless 10.8 volt dremel with the lithium ion battery (bought on Amazon)....holds a charge really great, is powerful enough to buzz down the rock hard edges I couldn't clip AND it's surprisingly quiet.... I put the girls on the stand, buzzed a bit on low and once the "new, freaky" wore off and the grain become more interesting than the weird thing I had, I turned it up and buzzed away. Love it!

I still use my rasp & trimmers, but I use the dremel for inbetween toes, parts I can't clip and on my standard girl who gets cracks on clipped edges, I buzz those down smooth so they can't crack or peel more.

All my girls fussed more over getting a dairy/pre-kidding clip than they did over the dremel.

[julieq]

I've never had problems with hard hooves on our goats, but if I did I'd try one of our horse hoof treatments on them. There are a variety on the market and would be easy to paint on as opposed to soaking the hoof.

[BethW]

Originally Posted by Nivensfamily

I try to catch mine in the morning when they are wet from dew, or after a rain.

I do the same thing...DH knows if we've had a good rain, the next morning will be hoof-trimming day.

As for the Dremel, I use mine to trim scurs

[ahahahni1]

Well no rain in the forecast, since we are in a drought. Sigh. What are the hoof treatments called I have never heard of them

[motdaugrnds]

The hooves on our does have never been so hard I could not get them trimmed; however, the "front" hooves on our bucks are hard as rocks!

I bought a pair of "booties" with velcro straps. I use those on the front hooves and just before closing them up with the straps, I fill them up with a mixture of Hydrogen Pyroxide and water. In just a couple of hours, those hooves are nice and soft!

The booties are a heavy rubber; so all I need do is wash with soapy water and dip in a mixture of clorox & water before turning them upside down to dry; then store to await the next time I need them. (The velcro strap hold them on nicely as it goes around the tops of the boots themselves, which is above the hooves just under the ... ummm forgot name .. dew claw?)

[ahahahni1]

Where do you get them