If you care about your goats then you’ll take the time to trim their hooves. Since our goats aren’t climbing rocky grounds they are not naturally wearing them down. We as owners need to help them. We got a few new goats this weekend and a few of the older goats’ hooves needed attention badly. I check my goats hooves every three months. Some of them don’t need trimming when I check them. Every goat is different but unless I look, I won’t know if there is a rock or something stuck. I feel that the more often I trim their hooves the easier it is for my goat and I. It also goes by faster and the risk of one of my goats getting foot rot is lower.
Now the way I like to trim my younger goats’ hooves is by laying them down on their backs between my legs. My armpit and upper arm hold their head. My legs hold their lower legs until I need them. This way I am able to use both of my hands to effectively trim their hooves. When I do it this way, I can do it on my own without any assistance. It is easier for me and my goats. Some of my goats get so relaxed they almost fall asleep. There were two goats who were heavier and older that I wasn’t able to turn over. After trimming our new goats hooves my body ached the following day. I felt like I wrestled a bunch of goats who weren’t used to getting their hooves trimmed. I find that sharp shears work best. I always wear gloves. The shears are extremely sharp and some goats tend to move a lot. I don’t want to cut myself.
We have written about our goat enclosure as well as how to bottle feed a baby goat.
Below is a chart that I found online on how to trim a goats hoof. It really isn’t that hard.
Thank you for reading our blog post.
Danielle
Thank you for sharing.