Sophienee
Chillin' with the herd
What hoof trimmers do you guys like? I'll need to trim for the first time soon and am unsure what to get.
TIA
TIA
We use a small set we purchased from Tractor Supply Co. and then bought another bigger set that are serrated for bigger hooves. We don't have to trim hooves often but when we do, we like to be well prepared. When you are trimming hooves it is always good to have a small bucket of disinfectant to dip the trimmers into between goats to aid in the prevention and spread of hoof rot and other harmful bacteria. When we are finished trimming hooves, I always take the trimmers apart and thoroughly clean each part, put it back together, sharpen the blades, and spray it down with WD-40 before putting them away in my goat toolbox.What hoof trimmers do you guys like? I'll need to trim for the first time soon and am unsure what to get.
TIA
Unfortunately this doesn’t seem to work with many dairy goats. When we had sheep they hardly needed anything done to them. Same thing with the meat goats. Dairy goats on the otherhand, oh myOver here we have the exact same hoof trimmers as Latestarter.
Just to say that our veterinary advice is now not to trim hooves.I haven't had a case of footrot for about 4 years since I have been following this advice (bearing in mind that we have acres of mud in this soggy climate!). There's a so-called '5 point plan' for lameness over here. It involves seeing the animal as soon as you can, and definitely within the first 48 hours....examine the hoof and determine what the problem is due to. If there's scald ,common when the grass is long and wet and in young animals, then an iodine spray is all that is needed. If the hoof shows a lot of overgrowth, then the reason for that is down to the animal not placing their full weight onto that hoof (they're limping). If you cut back the overgrown hoof, then the tender area is exposed to the ground and they will limp more. When the animal can use the hoof normally and put the full weight on it, the hoof will rapidly wear off.
If there's footrot, they are infectious and need to be isolated. A single injection of a long acting tetracycline and iodine pray to the hoof will usually cure it.
The days of routine foot trimming are over (thank goodness)! However, there is still a place for the hoof trimmers. Sometimes there's a trailing piece of broken hoof either to the side of the hoof or under the base. It traps soil and little stones etcThis is what I use my foot trimmers for.
So Use of hoof trimmers? 'Less is more' or so they say.