I have been having no prob keeping the hooves well trimmed on my goats. The only problem is not the hoof, its the heels. Those soft heels grow over fast. Thats were I have the most probs, keeping the heels trimmed down. How much heel can be cut off at a time? I am always worried of making them bleed and I cut to little most of the time. I spend most of my time trimming heels compared to the amount of trimming I need to do on the actually hoof walls. I'm trimming heels every 2 weeks. Hooves about once every 6 weeks. Any advice? Thanks in advance.
now that is funny I hardly ever need to trim heals! You can trim till you see pink. Some people use a rasp because they find it easer to keep from cutting to deep as the rasp only cuts a small even amount at a time.
Thanks. I didnt think of a rasp. I'll use that on my goats that have managed hooves and heels. We're on the river here and its sand country. So either the goats are on soft sand or in loose loam for ground. The sand seems to help wear down the hooves, but not the heels. What about heels that are really over grown? I have recently acquired some sheep and goats with over grown hooves, very over grown. I have never yet acquired a new goat that didn't have terrible hooves. Getting the hoof walls cut so they are in the correct shape again was ok. Getting the angle was ok, but the heels are grown out twisted to the sides. Is there a way to get them back to being heels that are just under the heel where they belong? So far I have just cut maybe 1/16th of an inch off. I figured wait a week and cut another 1/16th off and keep repeating till eventually there is no more heel growing and curving out to the sides.
yup every week cut a little more off, that is the way I did it with my rescue pygmies. It takes lots of time and patience but they do get better, maybe not perfect but better.
Thanks Stacy. I wish people would just take the time to keep the hooves trimmed. I walk around with my small trimmers in my pocket so I can check and do little touch ups when ever I am out amongst the critters and just feel like taking a look. Today I was walking through one pen and just real quick took a peek at a few of the youngest kids. A couple of snips here and there and all done, all good. I like maintaining more than having to trim. Its so quick just touching them up as I pet, feed, and just mess around with them all.
