# What is wrong with my goat’s hooves?



## JillS (Nov 20, 2017)

I have 4 goats, 3 of which have hooves exactly like everything I've read about and seen online. However, I have one all white goat who is having an increasingly hard time with his hooves. They are obviously overgrown, and I've tried to trim them like I trim the others. His hooves are solid, and the trimming tool I have is completely ineffective. I feel so bad for him, as he spends a lot of time on his front knees because his hooves are so bad. What is the deal? Why are his so different? What do I do??


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## Davon (Sep 22, 2017)

Not sure what is going on with him. Could you post some pictures from the side/front? I have Alpines and they usually grow long in the front. 

What kind of trimming tool do you use? I use a shears and a rasp. The shears is a garden tool I think and the rasp is for sheetrock.

I like using hoof heal, but I am not sure it would help him.

You may want to take him to a vet or see if you can find a farrier.

Good luck!


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## fivemoremiles (Jan 19, 2010)

I agree we need to see more of the hoof


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## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

What is the diet of this goat as well?

When you try to trim - are you unable to trim anything off at all or do you hit blood very quickly?


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## nicolemackenzie (Dec 27, 2014)

Are your other goats does?

Are your clippers dull?

Are you hitting blood or just can't cut?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Very good questions and suggestions.

We need more info and pictures of him standing. A side view, front view and close up of the hoof and where you trim. 

Is there any swelling in the knees?


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## JillS (Nov 20, 2017)

The trimming tool I used was brand new. I would not think it's dull since it's new, but maybe it is and maybe that's the problem?

All 4 goats are wethers. The 3 normal hooved one's have a bit of black on them, and their hooves are black. This one is all white and has cream colored hooves. Not sure if any of that matters. I have not hit blood on any of them yet (knock on wood). I just took the trimmers to his hooves again this evening, and it's very difficult to even scrape a tiny bit off.

He does not have any swelling in his knees yet. His posture is definitely abnormal due to his hooves being so bad.

All 4 are housed together and eat mostly hay and grass, but also clean up grain (corn and soybean) spills around the farm. I bought all 4 of them together, guessing they are about 6 months old. White goat was born a triplet and had a bandage around one front leg to keep his foot from curling under. Otherwise he walked and ran and jumped like the rest of them until a couple weeks ago.

I tried to get a few more pictures tonight, that was harder than expected

Thank you all for your replies


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## GaGoats2017 (Sep 5, 2017)

I have a few friends that bought a certain related line of market Boer kids one year. Went to separate homes, but from the same genetics. All ended up with crazy horns and messed up crooked hard feet. Just hard to trim and they grow funny. It could just be that one goat has some bad hoof genetics. 

I had a doe with really big hard hooves a few years ago. They were straight, just super hard. I would put her on the stand, and soak her feet in warm water/epson salt for a while before I even tried to cut hers. Took a lot of time and effort, but it made it a lot easier. I liked using a rasp on hers too.


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## jschies (Aug 15, 2014)

I have one that started to curve like those. We have been really busy and somehow it just got away from me. I ended up cutting half an inch off. It was tender that day, but much better by the next day. Cut a little at a time watching for pink tissue. There are some good threads on hoof trimming on here. Someone suggested to draw a line on the hoof as a guide for yourself. Wearing work gloves also helps me when they are that hard....I'm not sure why...


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## BoulderOaks (Sep 24, 2014)

What kind of hoof trimming tool are you trying to use?


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## Redbarngoatfarm (Jul 8, 2015)

Those are awkward- looks like a combo of genetics and possibly mineral deficiency? I would rasp them back, maybe give him access to gritty surface, like shingles Are great to play on...or get him out on pavement for some playtime, that may help ware them a bit....


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## Goats Rock (Jun 20, 2011)

He may have foundered at one time. If the hooves are super hard, try soaking in warm water before trimming, or after he is out in the wet grass.


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## Davon (Sep 22, 2017)

Someone mentioned diet. In my experience overgrown and fast growing hoofs are often from too much grain. I only feed my buck about 2 cups of concentrate a day.

I would trim and use a rasp to trim them back as much as you can without getting blood. You can trim them back a bit more every week or two. 

I don't claim to be an expert in hoofs, but Alpines are notorious for their poor hooves, so I have had a good bit of experience with mine. 

You can buy Hoof Heal at Tractor Supply. I have found this to be helpful in strengthening the hooves and may help make them less tender.

Hope this helps. Good luck!


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

I agree with Goats Rock, soak in water or trim after a good rainy day so that hooves are softer. Some of mine have extremely hard hooves. It's all I can do to use a trimmer on them. I do use the electric hoof knife, and before I bought it, I used a grinder. All of which get a nice flat surface. But the hard hooved goat still takes longer to grind and I have to use a coarser disc.


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

Also, you need to trim until you can see pink just under the surface. Or until you get a tiny pin prick of blood. Then you know you have trimmed all of the excess off.


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## whisperingsage (Nov 19, 2017)

JillS said:


> The trimming tool I used was brand new. I would not think it's dull since it's new, but maybe it is and maybe that's the problem?
> 
> All 4 goats are wethers. The 3 normal hooved one's have a bit of black on them, and their hooves are black. This one is all white and has cream colored hooves. Not sure if any of that matters. I have not hit blood on any of them yet (knock on wood). I just took the trimmers to his hooves again this evening, and it's very difficult to even scrape a tiny bit off.
> 
> ...


He may have fungus, a hard one to heal, he may need more vitamin D. I found a good source, agrilabs electrolyte. I am way North and need to add this to a separate bucket if water or my goats eat my sheep's wool. Sheep's wool grease is one source of vitamin d tablets. 
The other thing, my Nubians are all quite large, females are often over 220 lbs, we use horse trimmers and hoof knife. However, we had a horrible wetness last year from all the storms and several came up with the fungal thickness. We will be getting the " electric hoof knife" . Hooves are just to be and hard to get through with both my husband and I trying to work them. Hubby's no tiny man and still strains to clip. The electric hoof knife is basically a 2" angle grinder with a special chain saw blade that shaves in layers. You can also get grinder blades ( I did) but I'd like to see how much shaping we can do with the chain saw blade. Blades are $40 each. I tried contemplating paying $150 for the angle grinder from a hardware site ( they are very hard to find in the 2"), but with the cost of blades, it will be about as expensive just to buy it as a kit under the electric hoofknife brand ($250). It's a killer for cost, but I think we"ll get alot more done more often if we do this. It was like buying a $300 sheep shears. If we take care if it, it should be worth it.


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## loggyacreslivestock (Mar 5, 2013)

Be careful using the chain saw blade. I have Boers and have never needed that. The silver coarse disc is as much as I need with 300 pound bucks.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree.

Just trim a little bit as you are doing, see pink stop.
Make sure you know the lines and how far you can trim to, when you do correct all you can, when you get to that point. 

Corn is not good for goats. Soybeans are not either.
A good 16% protein grain is better. 

White hooves are usually softer than darker ones.
All get hard, if there hasn't been rain. 
After a rain, it is a good time to trim, it does soften them up a bit.

It may be she wasn't trimmed for a very long time as to why she is that way. Neglect can really deform them, as well as mineral deficiencies. 

Doe they have access to free choice loose salt and minerals with copper and selenium?

I have used horse trimmers on the more stubborn hooves to get it started. After the first snip or two, I went back to the regular goat trimmers.

The hooves may or may not go back to true form. 
But getting them close helps.


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## JillS (Nov 20, 2017)

Thanks everyone. 

I’ll try soaking his hooves and then trimming. Otherwise the trimmer really doesn’t work on his hooves. It’s almost like they are rounded on the edges, and they’re so hard that the trimmer doesn’t cut through even a little bit. If that still doesn’t work after soaking, I am going to try a rasp.

Genetics could explain why the other 3 have normal hooves, and this one is so bad. They stay in their shed at night, but they aren’t fenced in during the day. They have access to the mineral in the cattle yard, but the generally don’t go in there. I’m going to put out mineral somewhere else for them too. 

Thanks again for the help!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good luck.


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