# Show me pictures of normal hooves



## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

Hey folks.

My goats had their hooves trimmed before I got them, and I've been keeping an eye on them since. They were in grassy paddocks, their area now has rocky spots and some hard play surfaces. It may be the first time they have had access to these - it took a while for them to work out how to play on them and be comfortable running up and down the play area.

Checking the hooves today, the older doe has what looks to me like a patchy fingernail texture on the outside of her front left hoof. I can see the layers as a result, as though some have peeled away, though there is no sign of blood, and it doesn't feel hot or smell bad. She is not lame on that leg. I'm not sure if this is normal or not - is it normal wear and tear? Maybe a reaction to jumping on rocks? Or is it a problem? I only know in depth what my goats hooves look like. I will try to grab a photo of it tomorrow, but I'd appreciate seeing any photos of goat hooves up close.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Can you post a picture of her feet?


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

A pic may help us figure it out for you, one side view, front view and pick up her hoof and show the bottom as well.


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

And of course it's rained like crazy and everything has been mud. I got these photos this morning, but will try to get front and underneath tomorrow. She hates me handling her feet at all and kicks and bites so it's a bit of a challenge. I got these after tying her up and putting her nose in a food bowl.

To me it looks as if there is a weird dip in the middle of the hoof. I don't like how it looks. This was after fought her to brush mud off it, but it almost looks still muddy as if the hoof is weird to me. The other hooves all end evenly at the ground, as does the other 'claw' on this same hoof.


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

That looks more like footrot the more I look at it, or at least something dodgy. But no limping or soreness - she reacts if I prod her foot the same way she does when I prod her butt.


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## ISmellLikeGoats (Oct 4, 2017)

That's definitely not normal. My guess would be hoof rot. Now for the fun question, what do they smell like? Hooves don't smell great to start with, but if it's really off putting, well, yeah, that's rot. 
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/hoofrot,hoofscald06.html

They suggest Koppertox, which is some cool turquoise stuff that works good for thrush in horses. Not sure if y'all have that down under though, but knowing that's a good thrush medication, I'd ask a local farrier what is good for thrush and go from there.


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

No smell. She was trimmed about 3-4 weeks ago same day I picked her up. Tomorrow I will attempt to wash the hoof out completely in warm water to get a better look at what is going on with it - I am wondering if perhaps her trim contributed given the change of environment afterwards.

I'll check out the feedstore tomorrow and see what the options for footrot treatment are, no harm in having a treatment to hand anyway.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Yes I have had this. I think basically it is hoof rot. I think there was a little pocket there where the was was separated at it kept getting crap in it and kept getting the hoof to separate and rot. I'm not sure if this was the correct thing to do or not but this is what I did, I or the trimmers and trimmed that outer wall so that there was no more of the pocket to get crud stuck up in there. I also gave a nice big copper bolus. (Air will help fight hoof rot) there is this stuff








I can NOT give it enough of a thumbs up/ 5 star rating on this stuff! It's really cool stuff! What it is is a mixture of clay to keep the area dry, copper to help fight the hoof rot, and medication to fight the infection. I used this on a mare after NOTHING else was working for her. You clean the area, put it on the area and then brush it in (I just used a old toothbrush). So although cutting back the wall fixed my doe I think either adding this too or just using this would really help. Personally I would probably still cut the wall back but again not sure if that would be fixed considered the right thing to do


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree.

If you can trim her more without bleeding do so, doing it every few weeks a little at time, would be good. Get as much of the bad stuff off of her as you can. 
Any pockets, on the sidewall trim it off.
And dig out any yuck.

Iodine and a tooth brush helps daily.


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

We are heading into autumn, so it is likely to be wet. They have a raised dry area for sleep, but the paddock is damp. Should I try to fashion something to keep the hoof clean once treated, or is bandaging more likely to trap bacteria?


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## yankeedoodle (Apr 13, 2018)

would still be nice to get some pics of the bottom of her foot...


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## yankeedoodle (Apr 13, 2018)

Try to make a dry place for them. I wouldn't bandage it.


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## yankeedoodle (Apr 13, 2018)

Here is a couple shots of healthy hooves...


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

OK, after a lot of shenanigans, this is the result.

First image: After everything has been cleaned and washed off.

Second image: After I clipped off what I could, separation now clearly visible between hoof wall and inner. Black material is spongy/seems dead. Nothing smells at all.

I cleaned the hoof, clipped back the hair to reduce things and removed some of the black material pretty conservatively. Sure someone used to it would have taken off more. I'm a real beginner, so don't know how this should 'feel', but to me it seemed to have a friable/hair texture rather than solid nail. I put her hoof in 10% copper sulphate solution for 20 minutes and was then going to do more, as I would hopefully be able to see better. Then I put her up on a board to dry.

By this point she was upset, lost her ever loving mind, managed to kick me despite being tied, and got copper sulphate in my eye, so I can't really see anything right now. I've had a shower to try to get it out and it isn't agony any more, but yeah, I think I'm done for the day. I can't focus yet.


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## Steampunked (Mar 23, 2015)

As for actual medication (aside from the copper sulphate bath), I could only get a natural remedy one at local stores. It's a spray on of tea tree oil and aluminium acetate:

https://www.naturalanimalsolutions.com.au/Shop/product/footrot/

I soaked the foot in that after the bath.

No copper bolusing as I can't find anything like that, but I have ordered a nutrition supplement which has copper in it that will hopefully arrive in a few weeks. I know it's not great, but I don't have the same options folk in the US do.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

You are right it doesn't look like much was cut off there.
Get all the black stuff off of there. 
It is usually dead stuff. Trim just a little at a time. Don't worry if you do acidently hit blood, having blood stop near and pressure helps in case. Or if bad, cauterize it, worse case.

Picture of the examples posted, is what you want to see. If you see pink stop, the next cut may be blood.

I would get a tooth brush and iodine and scrub it really good after trimming off the black stuff. 

It is strange though how it does not smell bad. 

Keep the goats out of constant wet, that is what causes this and keeps it going.

Putting down pallets with sheets of wood on them helps keep them out of the wet.

I am sorry you got that stuff in your eye. If you think it has done damage, I would go to the doctor.


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## yankeedoodle (Apr 13, 2018)

Riely4252, My favorite thing about your post is that there are no periods!:haha:


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh dear, LOL.


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