# Severely overgrown hooves



## rsobaje (Nov 6, 2011)

Hi there! My very close friend just bought two goats today. She has never had goats before, but I have and I told her I'd help her, plus she did a lot of research. Anyway, I went over to see them today. They are two very sweet la mancha does, two years old. I guess the last owners had a lot of goats and other obligations, and somehow severely neglected the hooves of these goats. They were so overgrown that the side walls had curled totally around the underside of the hooves, and the back part of the of has grown so thick that the two halves of the hooves are being pushed apart. We got some good foot rot shears and trimmed the hooves a bit today first thing since they weren't standing right and they had pink knees from being on their knees so much.  I feel really bad for them. Anyhow, after I trimmed a good deal of the hoof off (not to the quick- I know we have to do this in steps!) they seemed so much happier- running, jumping up, playing, ect. I guess my question is, how long should I wait to trim them again? A week? I have trimmed hooves before, but never ones that were so overgrown that it changed the position of the goats toes and legs. Also I am wondering if they will ever be normal again. Their toes still kind of roll inwards because they were like that so long. Will it just take time? They don't seem to be in terrible pain now that they have had a trim, but I am worried when they are really heavy and about to kid they will have issues getting around. I just hope eventually we can get their hooves looking close to normal...


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## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

give it at least two weeks and see if they have grown a bit -- use sharp trimmers to shave the top layer off. Or even better yet use a a hand plain


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## freedomstarfarm (Mar 25, 2011)

A lot of the goats I have gotten had very overgrown hoofs some as bad as you are describing. I trimmed weekly in little amounts giving muscles a chance to adjust in-between trims until they were trimmed correctly. They should eventually go back to normal unless possibly they have been this way for so long that there is some sort of damage.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I agree.....it all depends on the severity and how long it has been going on....

with time... most hooves are corrected pretty well..... :thumb:


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

Oh gosh, I do not have anything else to add. This just makes me sad. I feel so guilty when mine just get a little overgrown. I hope that with your help they are able to be totally corrected.


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