The Goat Spot Forum banner

Trimming sheep hooves. Like goat?

1.6K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  littleheathens  
#1 ·
I have a friend who would like to pay me to trim their sheep’s hooves. They have 6. I can trim goat hooves pretty good, are sheep’s the same? I’ve never seen a sheep’s hooves, much less trim them. I’m just wondering if there are anything different about them vs goat hooves. Thanks!
 
#2 ·
Yes...their hooves are trimmed the same. What we do for sheep..as they do not do a table well..my son would pull one back on to his lap while he sat on his knees. So the sheep's back was against his chest and feet/hooves faced out. The sheep are very calm this way. I then quickly trimmed away.
 
#4 ·
More or less the same but it depends on breeds too...I have Mini and Nigerian goats and Katahdin sheep. I find it pretty tiring to trim sheep hooves and would prefer them in a sheep chair. Reclining them back works but some of our ewes weigh more than us, so then it's hard for two people! Bigger shears would help me, but you could be in the opposite situation if you had full size alpines and little woolly sheep. As far as what/how you trim, same.

If you stand them in a headgate or similar, I like to kneel on one knee and put my other under their ribs for a little support. Sometimes I can't get the position right but they seem to stand better that way. I always end up good and poopy after 8-10.