# Post goat hoof trimming pics, please?  :)



## ChickenPotPie (Sep 22, 2011)

I've seen videos of goat hoof trimming but I realized recently that we're not trimming as much hoof as we could/should.  I would LOVE to see your photos of your hoof trimming results so I can get a clearer idea of how much I should trim.  The visual would be really helpful to me, and hopefully, to others who see them.  Before and after would be cool but only after pics are great, too because, I'd really like to see what your end result is so I can see what it _should_ look like when we're done.  Plus, if you have any tips/guidelines, will you share them?   

Thank you!


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## 20kidsonhill (Sep 22, 2011)

I will talk to my husband about helping this weekend get some photos, we have several we need to trim.


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## ChickenPotPie (Sep 22, 2011)

Thank you.    I'll take pics, too, for comments.  Perhaps it can be pointed out what we can do better.


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## freemotion (Sep 22, 2011)

There is also a great tutorial on www.fiascofarm.com.


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 5, 2011)

the start of my hoof trimming photos, many of them turned out blurry, so I will need to get more.   

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.199797833425408.49641.100001855770147&l=f48f84da2a&type=1


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## Hickoryneck (Oct 5, 2011)

If you could find a farm to visit so you can see it in person that would be much better.

I just disbudded a friends first goat kids yesterday she watched videos on youtube and had more questions then answers so she brought them here and had me do it she was surprised at how easy it was.


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## ChickenPotPie (Oct 5, 2011)

Hickoryneck, I may be going over to my neighbor's house for disbudding moral support this Spring.  Thanks for the idea.  

Thanks for the link freemotion.  I checked it out and still couldn't figure out how one could possible get a completely smooth hoof w/the crossing blades of scissored shears.  29kidsonhill answered that question for me w/those_ awesome photos _w/explanations.  Thank you!!!  They were great photos.  

Looks like the piece of the puzzles I was missing was the razor blade w/handle and knowing that "flat" or "level" means that the sole of the hoof needs to be paralel w/the top of the hoof where fur meets hoof.  That's how I interpret it.


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## marlowmanor (Oct 5, 2011)

I'll be learning hoof trimming this weekend. We will be taking BlackJack to get banded at my dads and I am going to let him show us how to do the hoof trimming too while we are there so we can learn the proper technique.


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## Hickoryneck (Oct 5, 2011)

20kidsonhill said:
			
		

> the start of my hoof trimming photos, many of them turned out blurry, so I will need to get more.
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> https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.199797833425408.49641.100001855770147&l=f48f84da2a&type=1


Nice pics. I also looked at your goat kid pictures you have a beautiful herd. Where in Va are you located? and about how much do you sell doelings for?


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## neener92 (Oct 5, 2011)

Hickoryneck said:
			
		

> 20kidsonhill said:
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I would like to know how much you sell doelings for as well 20kids!


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## redtailgal (Oct 5, 2011)

20kidsonhill said:
			
		

> the start of my hoof trimming photos, many of them turned out blurry, so I will need to get more.
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.199797833425408.49641.100001855770147&l=f48f84da2a&type=1


These pics are great.

I am VERY timid about going too close to the quick, and it was good to see that you got so close without it killing the goat, lol.

Was that a little bit of bleeding in the pics?  What do you do if and when, you do nip into the quick?

Could ya, would ya, make your pics into a educational page for the BYH forum? 

Please?


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 5, 2011)

redtailgal said:
			
		

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Yes, I can work on more picture and work with the moderators on an educational page, we have several more to trim in the next couple of weeks, I will keep taking pictures, I lost atleast half of what I took to being blurry, I guess i didn't give the camera enough time to think(focus).  

Yes that is blood, We try not to get them bleeding, but I would say on the average 1 out of every 4 goats we do, we end up with one foot bleeding a little, I made a big mistake over the weekend and cut one really bad, and we had to apply pressure and wrap it, The blood was actually spraying out of it. They recover just fine, but if you cut too far they may have a limp for a few days. We keep a bottle of koppertox on hand and squirt it on any hooves we cut too close or that are looking like they are having problems in general. Any of the "hoof n' heal" treatments work just as well.  You have got to take off some of the sole, if you aren't you are not trimming enough, The exception would be if you live on really rocky soil and your goats are wearing their hooves down on their own. 

It helps to trim a few on concrete(flat surface) so when you put the foot down you can see what kind of improvement or damage you have done.  In all honesty they grow back, so unless you are constantly making the same mistake you can improve on them next time if you make a mistake.


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## redtailgal (Oct 5, 2011)

I would FREAK OUT if I cut one and made it spray, lol.  Yes, I know, that wouldnt help the situation at all, but still, there would be running and screaming.  The goat might even join me.

I am slowly getting braver and taking off more each time, but I have yet to see any pink when I trim, lol. My guys' hooves a look pretty good for the most part.  They were too long in the toe, but I got that undercontrol, my next issue will be heels.


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 5, 2011)

Hickoryneck said:
			
		

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We live in the valley,  near west virginia.   We have been fairly affordable up to this year, (we just  purchased two new herdsires for a small fortune). We asked around $160 for most of the doelings last year betwen 12 and 16 weeks of age. A few higher than that, depending on how much boer they had in them.  

I will hopefully have  a few full-blood boer hitting the ground this year, they will be more than that as well. 

thank you for your compliments, Sometimes I feel pretty good about them, and sometimes not so much. Over the next couple of years we are going to experiment more with full-bloods and see how that goes. We just purchased 5 new does and two new herd sires. It may have been a waste of money, but people waste money on all sorts of hobbies and stuff. My dad said, "Well you could have taken a pretty nice vacation for what you spent on those last few goats, but if that is what you enjoy doing, go for it." Let's just say they were more than $160 each.


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 5, 2011)

redtailgal said:
			
		

> I would FREAK OUT if I cut one and made it spray, lol.  Yes, I know, that wouldnt help the situation at all, but still, there would be running and screaming.  The goat might even join me.
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> I am slowly getting braver and taking off more each time, but I have yet to see any pink when I trim, lol. My guys' hooves a look pretty good for the most part.  They were too long in the toe, but I got that undercontrol, my next issue will be heels.


at first I didn't realize how badly I had cut it, Set the foot down and moved on to the next one, looked back a half a minute later and their was a half a cup of blood on the concrete. Stood there and watched it and evaluated the situation and we decided to do compression to stop the bleeding. Wish I had some of that blood stop stuff. Not only was she bleeding bad, but I made the foot crooked, There was no way to cut the other half down as low as I had just cut that half.    Was a frustrating moment.


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## RareBreedFancier (Oct 5, 2011)

The pics are great, thanks. 

I have to make sure I trim more off the toes, I think I've been leaving them a bit long as I'm used to trimming the ponies.


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## Roll farms (Oct 6, 2011)

Sometimes when we are done trimming hooves, it looks like something was slaughtered on the milk stand.  

I have very small hands, carpal tunnel and tendonitis, and cannot do the mature bucks or big boer does feet and Dh is very "chop and go" when he does it.   
I do all the young goats b/c their hooves are usually softer and I have a smaller set of trimmers I use on them.

He also insists on rounding off their toes (HE thinks it makes it easier for them to step off.....  ) instead of leaving them level..... and I have asked, begged, and pleaded w/ him not to....but he does it anyway. 

Many moons ago when we were 'taught' how to trim hooves, the old farmer lady made one of her goat's foot bleed.  She reaches over on a shelf and grabs what looked like old nasty cob webs and stuck the wad of it to the goats' foot.  She set that foot down on the 'wad' and went to work on the next foot.  DH says, "What is that you put on her foot?"  She says, "Cobwebs....best blood stopper there is."

I have tried blood stop powder several times and wasn't hugely impressed.  The cobwebs worked.

But, I never in a million years thought *I* would stick old nasty cobwebs on *my* goats' feet....Until DH had one shooting blood and I freaked and started pulling webs down as fast as I could (it really does look like they're going to bleed out when you get them too deep sometimes - but they won't....at least none of ours have...) and stuck them on there and oila - the bleeding stopped after a couple minutes.  THEN I disinfected her foot w/ iodine and coppertox.  It didn't get infected and I've used cobwebs a couple of other times, but *now* I take gauze pads w/ me in our hoof trimming kit to put on 1st, then add the cobwebs, so they they aren't actually touching the hoof.

Now I have a little bucket down there w/ my own supply of cobwebs.


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 6, 2011)

enjoyed reading that Roll. 


We used to roll the tip of the hoof, but we have since decided we don't like it, and no longer do that, well except for the one I cut really bad, not sure what the heck I was thinking, other than her foot was really soft so it cut easily and she was kicking and jerking.  It was squirting so bad, it was pulsating with her heart beat. It was the first time I have seen my husband look like it was maybe serious, most the time if they are just dripping some blood we just squirt some koppertox on and keep going.  

Knock on wood so far my husband and I can both handle any of the trimming. If he is busy I will go out and just catch a couple and tie them to  a tree or fence post and do a light trimming on them, I keep a notebook where I record the dates and just slowly work through the list of does. We had around 40 of them to do this time. Our farm is at full capacity right now. We will be letting some of our older does go this spring.  

I told my husband that he has a following and he was actually blushing. I asked him to help me get more pictures this weekend. He seemed interested in it and I am sure he will help, but for the most part he picks on all of us.  He used to think that some of my new information that I learned on here was silly, but know he actually refers me to people to help them out that ask for his advice.


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## Roll farms (Oct 6, 2011)

My DH has started calling me, "Oh Great Spot Master"....making fun of my title here.  

We get some phone calls from newbies who need help or people who buy goats from us.  

Monday he answers the phone, listens a minute, and says, "Let me get you the "Great Spot Master, knower of all things goats, and helper of all" and then hands me the phone.  This lady only wanted to know if I knew anyone locally w/ an Ob buck she could borrow.  I'm sure she thinks we're idiots now....

I really, really wish I could do all their feet myself.  I can't get my hands to mind me anymore.  Too many years of repetitive motion work, combined w/ a small span won't let me.


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## 20kidsonhill (Oct 6, 2011)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> My DH has started calling me, "Oh Great Spot Master"....making fun of my title here.
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> We get some phone calls from newbies who need help or people who buy goats from us.
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I am sorry about your hands.   ANd your husband and mine could get together like an AA meeting and make sarcastic comments about BYH. They could call it spouses of "BackYard Herd Addicts." How to live with someone that knows so much.  

My husband is actually really good at trimming feet.  I admit it, "Better than I am." (Hang head)  Since he grew up helping his father on veterinarian calls and has also been in agriculture all his life, he is fairly handy to have around. but he gets busy at work and doesn't always appreciate all the extra work on the farm, when he comes home from working 10 hour days. I can't blame him. 

I sure wish we could have came by to visit. maybe when we head up to wisconsin next time. As it was we didn't get to the farm until 6, and all the anmials were outside with very, with some lighting, but not a lot.  

And again, so sorry about your hands, I am sure it is very frustrating.


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## RareBreedFancier (Oct 7, 2011)

Wow, I'd be mortified if I made mine bleed. 

I did my wether's feet this morning, he wasn't thrilled but he seemed happy once I was done and let him out.


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## 77Herford (Oct 7, 2011)

20kidsonhill said:
			
		

> Roll farms said:
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OO OO, weres the AA meeting, I want in... I NEVER use sarcasm.


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## Roll farms (Oct 7, 2011)

77, Admitting you have the problem is the 1st part of recovery....


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## BlackWatchLady (Oct 7, 2011)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> I really, really wish I could do all their feet myself.  I can't get my hands to mind me anymore.  Too many years of repetitive motion work, combined w/ a small span won't let me.


OOOO... another sufferer,   I have undiagnosed hand and wrist pain.  My wrist will do this catch snap pop deal and hurts like   I struggle on with it, it does it when I try to pour milk, or scoop feed, scoop  horse poo etc. And my fingers,  I no longer will shake hands with people, it hurts because people THINK they should/need to SQUEEZE    

 But its me who has to do the manure picking, hoof trims on the goats and the horses..  So I live with a wrist brace and tylonol not that it really does much good!


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