# Advice on Goat's Hoof Problem - Updated Pics 6/26



## journeysend (Jun 23, 2011)

I got a doe this morning and her feet are in bad shape. I trimmed them as short as possible, but I wanted to know what else I can do to help her. It must be painful for her to walk on her hoofs like that. If anyone has advice or tips it would be greatly appreciated. Is this caused by improper hoof trimming or something else?


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## Island Creek Farm (Jun 24, 2011)

To me it looks like neglect, though someone may chime in here about Bo-Se or something that might help?  Looks like if you keep up with trimming the inside edges, eventually it will allow the outside to become more upright.  I don't know if the splayed toes will ever tighten though.  We've got a doe we've been working on for the last year who had hooves similar (though not quite that severe) that we are FINALLY seeing progress on.   I'd keep up with it, hopefully given patience it will improve! 

A note..our doe was exceedingly copper deficient-do you know if your doe is up to date on it?  I read that can contribute to hoof issues...


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## Ariel301 (Jun 24, 2011)

You'll need to do some pretty aggressive trimming to get them looking better. Like every couple of weeks for a while. They may not ever be perfect though, the splayed toes may be a conformation thing, in which case, she'll always have that.

The way the toes are mis-shapen kind of reminds me of my doe with laminitis, her bad foot has toes that are sort of curved that way.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 24, 2011)

Pretty much what they said trim every week or 2.  If there was nosoft spots or ozzy spots all you can do is just keep trimming and hope for the best. I am sure they will never look normal. But you will beable to get her more comfortable. 

I look at them and want to grab a trimmer and cut more off the inside to get rid of the curled up edges. Hmmmm.  I bet those were frustrating to trim.  It is like trying to find a hoof shape somewhere in all that mess. 

Good luck with her.


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## Roll farms (Jun 24, 2011)

A shot of BoSe may help....certainly won't hurt.  1cc per 40#.  
Keep trimmin'.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jun 24, 2011)

It looks to me like you'll have to get really aggressive trimming the inside hoof wall.  I agree with giving the BoSe.  Even with proper trimming she's probably going to be open toed, but maybe you can at least reduce the severity of the splay.


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Jun 24, 2011)

I'm by no means an expert... But a friend of mine has donkeys and they used duct tape to almost make a shoe out of it.... Do you experts think it would work if you put one on a goat to keep the two parts of it close, and maybe they could grow that way? 

Like I said, I'm no expert, but It might help, although I don't know if it would work


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 24, 2011)

Dreaming Of Goats said:
			
		

> I'm by no means an expert... But a friend of mine has donkeys and they used duct tape to almost make a shoe out of it.... Do you experts think it would work if you put one on a goat to keep the two parts of it close, and maybe they could grow that way?
> 
> Like I said, I'm no expert, but It might help, although I don't know if it would work


Hmmm...   i have read were people use duct tape to help the hoof soak in oxytetraclene for a couple days when treating hoof rot.  It mentioned you can't leave it on too long, or you do more damage than good. i am wondering of a donkeys outer wall of the hoof would beable to handle it better than a softer goats hoof. 

I would like to give it a go trimming those hoofs. I think more needs to come off the inside, but it is not fair to judge the trimming job from a picture and not being there. I do now it takes several trims to straighten a badly bent hoof.  But you can also, make it worse, but not trimming in the right places. 

MY suggestion to the OP: If you don't have a lot of experience trimming hoofs, consider hiring someone who does for one or two of the trims to see if it will be a permanent deformity or can be trimmed out of her. 

good luck with her. Not sure what the story is about why you have her, but I am sure she is lucky having you as her new owner.


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## ThreeBoysChicks (Jun 24, 2011)

Ouch - That is all I can say.  That can not feel good.


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## Goatmasta (Jun 24, 2011)

I would say she has foundered.


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## journeysend (Jun 24, 2011)

She sits on the back of her hooves kinda funny, so it makes me wonder if this is some type of permanent deformity. Sad thing is this doe is only 1-2 years and I've seen older goats that never had their feet trimmed look better than her. 

I think she may be copper deficient because I noticed earlier today that she is very dark red in certain places on her body and others only a dull, light brown. That and her tail is bald on the tip. I'm feeding a good feed, and I also have loose minerals in various containers all over the pen. I'm thinking about bolusing sometime very soon.

You get BoSe from the vet, right? I thought about getting some for my doeling as well. Anyone have any ballpark estimates on the cost for some?

While I consider myself a novice at all things dealing with goats (even after raising them for 5 years), I have trimmed lots of hooves in my time. I think I am just going to keep aggressively trimming them, do the BoSe, work on the copper issue and with luck, hope it works. I will try to get more pictures of her feet as time permits.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 24, 2011)

Bo-Se around $16 to $25 bucks.


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## Goatmasta (Jun 24, 2011)

I would say she has foundered.  
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/founderingoats.html
   At least read the first paragraph.  I promise she is foundered.


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## journeysend (Jun 25, 2011)

If she is foundered, would that mean she would be walking on her knees a lot (the article seemed to mention this a lot)? I have never seen her do that, since I got her Wednesday morning. She doesn't seem to be in any kind of pain at all (except while I'm milking her, then she thinks she is dying lol). I have examined her feet more closely and I think it is from improper care/not trimming the right way. The bone of her foot does not seem to be affected, but I admit that I am no expert on goat hooves.

The lady I got her from was using horse nippers I think, she also had no idea what she was doing. I told her about using a small hand-held pair of garden trimmers (a total cost of $3.50 at our local dollar store) and she looked at me as though I was an alien  

I will say one thing, she sure does run darn fast on those bad feet. I finally managed to build her a smaller pen to confine her while I work with her feet/milk her. Today was my first day milking ever and I got an entire quart this afternoon (counting almost half that was spilled/never made it into the bucket).


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## PattySh (Jun 25, 2011)

Can you post a picture of the bottom of the hooves? Looks like the sole was trimmed only and not the toes for quite some time. Or wonder if she grew up in the mud (or worst yet deep doodoo?) If she is running around I doubt founder. Founder equals pain. There doesn't look like any thickness (swelling)around the coronary band area and the hoof walls don't look thickened. I suspect someone not trimming right, Not sure how you would use hoof nippers, I have horses (and hoof nippers) and have not used nippers on the goats, that would seem difficult. A pair of shears (goat or pruning) or even a hefty pair of scissors  is needed.


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## journeysend (Jun 26, 2011)

I will post pictures as soon as I get more batteries for my camera (had rechargables but of course they are lost somewhere). After I milked her this morning I trimmed them as far as I dared and now they actually resemble hooves. I basically had to trim, trim and trim. I have never trimmed so much from a goat's hooves before. I think I need to invest in something to level out the soft inside part of the hoof, I am going to see if TSC has a small hoof rasp that can do this job.

ETA: Ok, I have new pics. One foot is better than the other, but she was losing patience with me quickly and I didn't want to push her too hard today. When I compared these pictures to the one in my first post, there is a fairly big difference. I was only able to get the bottom of one of the hooves, the other turned out too blurry because she was wanting me to leave her alone.


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## SuburbanFarmChic (Jun 26, 2011)

SO much better! 

 It will take time and she may still splay a little but if you continue to trim the inside edges you should be able to get the toes closer to each other.


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## Dreaming Of Goats (Jun 26, 2011)

Much, MUCH better!!!!!


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## Goatmasta (Jun 26, 2011)

PattySh said:
			
		

> Can you post a picture of the bottom of the hooves? Looks like the sole was trimmed only and not the toes for quite some time. Or wonder if she grew up in the mud (or worst yet deep doodoo?) If she is running around I doubt founder. Founder equals pain. There doesn't look like any thickness (swelling)around the coronary band area and the hoof walls don't look thickened. I suspect someone not trimming right, Not sure how you would use hoof nippers, I have horses (and hoof nippers) and have not used nippers on the goats, that would seem difficult. A pair of shears (goat or pruning) or even a hefty pair of scissors  is needed.


Laminitis is painful.  Founder is not necessarily painful.  There is a difference.  Laminitis is treatable, and leads to founder.  Founder is when the coffin bone releases from the hoof wall and sinks and rotates.  I would be very careful aggressively trimming the bone can come right through the sole.

 PS:  The only way to tell for sure is to x-ray the foot.


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## ThreeBoysChicks (Jun 27, 2011)

Looks much more comfortable!!!  How is she at walking, does she seem to be in pain.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Jun 27, 2011)

Trimming looks like it made a big differance!! I would keep trimming and give her some time.  It does take a bit of time when they are ignored like that.  Good luck with her...Poor girl!


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 27, 2011)

I would just give her a couple weeks with what you have done so far, and go at it again.  She is lucky to have found you.   It looks a lot better already.   



We use a file, It is hard work, but does really help get it more level.


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## Roll farms (Jun 27, 2011)




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## peachick (Jun 27, 2011)

thanks for posting this thread.  It makes me  (and probably others)  more aware of our goats feet.


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## journeysend (Jun 27, 2011)

She is walking better today, almost totally flat on the bottom of her hooves instead of on the sides like before. I think with a little time she will be almost normal. The splay is not as noticeable so I am also hoping that it won't be permanent. For a FF (and half-wild) she is a good milker and I want her to be as comfortable as possible. Having her with her problems is keeping me on top of my other goat's feet, cause I definitely don't want this to happen to any of them.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jun 28, 2011)

That's great you're getting such quick results!  She's a lucky doe indeed.


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## JusticeFamilyFarm (Jun 28, 2011)

Wow, they already look so much better!  She's lucky she has you as her new owner.  I have no experience trimming, so I would for sure have had to hire someone.  I'm nervous enough about trimming my goats, and they have been trimmed regularly and look fine.  I wouldn't have known what to do with that.  Great job and let us know how she's doing!


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## Mossy Stone Farm (Jun 28, 2011)

your doing a great job!!!!!


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## ChksontheRun (Jun 29, 2011)

That looks so much better, and after only one trimming!!!  We got 2 goats and their last years kids last August.  One had horrible feet and was walking on the side of her back hoofs.  It has taken me this long to get her hoofs to the point that she actually walks on them normally.  For the first 2 months I could not even get close to her (wild) and then it took bi monthly trimming to get them down a bit.  Now I trim a little bit about once a month till I get them a bit shorter.  I encourage you to keep going but take it slow from here.  You have trimmed off all of the horrible stuff, and now it is a matter of working them down.  You can get a wood rasp at Lowes(the fine one) that helps to get them level once you get them trimmed down.  

She is one lucky girl to have you to care for her.


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## journeysend (Jun 29, 2011)

Thanks everyone for all of the support! 



> *ChksontheRun wrote:*
> 
> That looks so much better, and after only one trimming!!!  We got 2 goats and their last years kids last August.  One had horrible feet and was walking on the side of her back hoofs.  It has taken me this long to get her hoofs to the point that she actually walks on them normally.  For the first 2 months I could not even get close to her (wild) and then it took bi monthly trimming to get them down a bit.  Now I trim a little bit about once a month till I get them a bit shorter.  I encourage you to keep going but take it slow from here.  You have trimmed off all of the horrible stuff, and now it is a matter of working them down.  You can get a wood rasp at Lowes(the fine one) that helps to get them level once you get them trimmed down


This goat (which now has the name Ophelia) is wild as well. I built a small pen for her because she was teaming up with my very wild Nigerian mix and they both were running rampant. I can now pet her a little on the nose, I milk her daily and I have been letting her stay out of the pen during the day. I think she appreciates what I have done for her because when it's milking time, she walks into the pen without me even bribing her at all. She doesn't struggle and after our first milking fiasco, hasn't spilt the milk once. I hope she appreciates her new name as well... Ophelia has come a long way in only a week.

I think I will keep this post going with updated pics after I trim her feet again. Maybe seeing how bad hooves can get will encourage everyone to trim hooves regularly.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 30, 2011)

OUr herd got behind last year due to some family health problems, and I reallly wish I had hired someone to trim feet for me.  It was a tough winter and spring trying to get everyone back in shape. I had 3 out of 20 adults limping badly going through the winter. I just know got the limps out of  them after many trimmings and foot baths. Poor girls, they didn't deserve that.


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