Hoof triming 101

[pattyjean73]

That's very kind of her. I wish I could find someone around here to help me out with some "lessons". I know my older doe needs hers trimmed. They're not terribly bad... but they're bad enough. Me and my husband may go out today and see if we can at least trim off the bad and then wait to get help on getting it done shorter and more correctly.

 

[FarmerMack]

That's very kind of her. I wish I could find someone around here to help me out with some "lessons". I know my older doe needs hers trimmed. They're not terribly bad... but they're bad enough. Me and my husband may go out today and see if we can at least trim off the bad and then wait to get help on getting it done shorter and more correctly.

The secret seemed to be that there was a "grow line" or "ring" trim back using it as a cutting line. the little boys she cut to close so they bled a bit but were fine this am at feeding time

 

[RedStickLA]

Update , A nice lady from a local dairy goat farm, hollow tree hill farm www.hollowtreehill.com took the time to stop over yesterday and we got all 5 goats trimmed. The best of the bunch was my shaggy angora buck "Rasta" goat. True to his name he just rested his head against my thighs as i rubbed his nose and she trimmed him up, as if to say "no problem mun" "it's all good". The nice lady said she would return in a few weeks for the final lesson . Thank you Hollow tree hill farm




Farmer Mack love those built in handles

That's great!
Mitzi

 

[pattyjean73]

My husband and I watched some videos on youtube showing how to trim hooves. I'm sure that isn't the best way to learn but there were a couple of them that gave pretty good detail about what he was doing and why. After watching and listening multiple times... we went out and gave it a try. It wasn't so bad. But, unfortunately, my does hooves were worse off than I thought. Her front ones weren't too terribly bad but the back ones were. She was walking on ridges! Poor thing. We were afraid that if we took too much off at once we'd make her feet sore so we simply cut off what was curled and the ridges making them as flat as we could. We'll go back in a few days and trim off some more. I figure we'll take it slow and easy... a little at a time until we get them to look like they do on the videos.

The doe was quite cooperative though. She kicked a little on the hind legs but nothing that couldn't be handled. She was really enjoying the loving that I was giving her as my DH done the trimming. We figured it would be better for me to do the reassuring since I'm the one that handles them daily. It worked out pretty good. She even befriended my DH after he was done. Apparently she was appreciative.

 

[norcal]

Where do I get hoof trimmers? Tractor Supply? Also, do you guys use a file or some sort of planer after the trimmers?

 

[()relics]

best is to watch someone, who knows what they are doing, first hand. If you can't find anyone to show; go to this link at You tube ....watch all the videos and you will be an arm chair professional...buy some clippers, pick out a likely candidate and start your learning process...If you want to see the perfect trim on a goats hoof; just look at one of your newborn kids....they are born perfectly trimmed....usually



http://www.youtube.com/results?feature=moby&search_query=goat+hoof+trimming&search_type=&aq=f


good luck and don't worry you won't hurt the goat...start by trimming less than you think is right...you can always trim more later

 

[mully]

Update , A nice lady from a local dairy goat farm, hollow tree hill farm www.hollowtreehill.com took the time to stop over yesterday and we got all 5 goats trimmed. The best of the bunch was my shaggy angora buck "Rasta" goat. True to his name he just rested his head against my thighs as i rubbed his nose and she trimmed him up, as if to say "no problem mun" "it's all good". The nice lady said she would return in a few weeks for the final lesson . Thank you Hollow tree hill farm




Farmer Mack love those built in handles

Some of the nicest people I meet are goat people, always willing to help and do it out of kindness. That is what is so great about this site!!

 

[nightshade]

I trim mine all once a month so that they do not have a chance to get too long and collect nasty stuff that causes them to rot. I was told that you want the hair on the top of the foot to almost cover the hoof for them to be the correct length. I also worm and give any booster shots at this time. It makes it easy to do them all at one time so you remember it all. I so the same with my horses doing worming, any shots and hair cuts at the same time I am trimming hooves.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

That's very kind of her. I wish I could find someone around here to help me out with some "lessons". I know my older doe needs hers trimmed. They're not terribly bad... but they're bad enough. Me and my husband may go out today and see if we can at least trim off the bad and then wait to get help on getting it done shorter and more correctly.

The secret seemed to be that there was a "grow line" or "ring" trim back using it as a cutting line. the little boys she cut to close so they bled a bit but were fine this am at feeding time

so how do you know what the 'grow line' is????? i'm doing a terrible job trimming my goats! can you describe it?? i sat there and watched a gal do it but when i look at their feet it all looks the same.
:-(

 

[Chaty]

the grow line is the Coronary band at the top of the hoof where it attaches to the leg. That is a straight line and then you go to the bottom of the hoof and check to see if its straight and if not trim a little at a time till it looks good. Sometmes they can get overgrown and you need to trim and not make them bleed. If its gets pink stop till it grows some or they will bleed. My motto when trimming is less it better and dont be in a hurry or someone will get hurt.