ugh!!! Like for the last 6 months I've been battling this stupid hoof problem three goats started out of the blue, all of their hooves are always nice and short they started limping, one on one front foot, one on one back foot, and the other on both front feet (though the 3rd has had founder when she was a kid I was told). So, I tried 5 days of penG on each goat, after 3 days everything cleared up, but a month later the 3rd and 2nd started limping again, the 1st never got it again. I'm in Alaska, and in the spring it gets muddy, you guys would know how it can get. So, I tried the penG again, and it worked for a month, then returned in the 3rd and 2nd. I'm thinking I'll trim tomorrow, put on thrush-buster (similar to kopertox) and spray with blukote and move them to a dry area. I dont want to keep using PenG on them, but it seems like a bacterial infection. any thoughts?
The problem I have is keeping the goats in a dry area while treating. I saw some goat boots the other day in one of my magazines for $12, I think it's worth buying them. I only had 1 goat have a problem last year. It cleared up with daily treatment. I thought BioMycin was good for hoof rot? But you don't really know why their limping do you?
Something else you can do is spray their feet daily even twice a day with a bleach water mix. 1 part bleach to 12 parts water. It will help, but the best thing is to try to keep them dry. I know you know that already, I just had to say it. :hi5: But the problem with the boots is they do get wet and now the moisture is trapped in there. I would not use boots.
Lori, I'm glad you said something about the boots getting wet. I just assumed as I'm sure a lot of people would that the boots wouldn't allow moisture in.
So today I'll go ahead ad treat the two, then move them over to a dryer spot. let you know how it goes
DO they have access to fescue? read this link... http://farmtalknewspaper.com/editorials ... escue-foot
I live in Alabama and we have had a very rainy past few months. I used Dr. Nylor? and LA 200. I think the stuff had Miracle grow in it! I've had to trim every few weeks instead of every 6 months.
I trimmed last night, and I inspected every inch of their hurt hooves. found a bit of pus between the claws, So I wash the area and applied iodine, blukote and gauze, then wrapped everything up with vetwrap. The hay theyu've been eating since fall is a timothy/grass and clover mix, hasnt caused any problems except i these two...
Did you try to squeeze the pus out? It is best if you can get it out.... Is it possible to flush it with a syringe of diluted iodine..... if so ...I would try to flush it daily....for 4 to 5 days.. and allow it to drain... when you treated the goat.. with the penG ...it was the right thing to do... for 5 days....however...if the abscess didn't get all the yuck out... then it most likely it re-festered again...is why it keeps returning....
I rinsed out the area and scraped it with a hoof pick, knew those things would come in handy some day. Maybe I should try something stronger than penG? The weren't limping today, kinda weird. so much for any dry pens though, it snowed 3" today :doh:
I've been fighting this as well here in rainy Oregon this year. I've had fairly good success with the following. After clipping, washing, scrubbing and picking I spray with 5% iodine then sprinkle well with zinc sulfate. It's cheaper to by moss control products that contain zinc sulfate than products made for hooved animals. In my area it's called Moss-B-Ware. It's 99% zinc sulfate. In hard cases I mix a 10% zinc sulfate solution and soak the hoof for at least 5 minutes. 10 minutes is better but easier said than done with some goats. Whenever I get some spare time :ROFL: I plan on building a foot bath tank and by using cattle panels to make a narrow path way to the barn force the goats to walk through the zinc sulfate solution. Putting foam rubber in the tank keeps splashing to a minimum. But like I said that won't happen until I catch up with other needed chores. :slapfloor: I'm thinking about using a drench of Di-Methox powder as well. Pasted this from a supply catalog. "An effective treatment for coccidiosis, bacterial pneumonia, e-coli, mastitis and foot rot. Constitute 1.25 teaspoons of powder with 1 cup of water and administer 15 cc orally for 5-7 days. There is a 10-day slaughter withdrawal. Do not administer while giving penicillin. No information is provided concerning milk withdrawal."
I got Di-Methox from my local feed store. Remember it says not to use while using penicillin. Paragraph I copied came from Hoegger's. PBS sells it as well. Here's a link. http://www.pbsanimalhealth.com/details/ ... 13-42.html Just used it for the first time yesterday. Am also treating with iodine and zinc sulfate. If the foot rot goes away will not know which product did the trick. Will not care. Just so the problem goes away. Di-Methox is off-label for goats.
I went and picked up Thrush Buster, its supposed to work in one application. I used it on them, then wrapped their feet in duct tape to keep the moisture out...so far no results as of 5 hours
well as of 8:30 am #1 isnt limping or showing any discomfort and #2 is a little wobbly, but much better. maybe?
I can't remember what it is called off the top of my head but there is a product used in house hooves that works wonders. I will get back with you on the name, sorry. Antibacterial footbaths can work, but the problem is getting goats to walk through them. Then there is Formalin (10% buffered formaldehyde) is an excellent disinfectant for controlling problems such as hoof rot/scald/abscesses. Systemic injections of antibiotics are helpful when used in conjunction with footbaths and uninfected pastures. Oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml (LA200 or equivalent) is particularly effective in combatting infectious hoof diseases. Hope that helps...
