The Importance of Hoof Care

This past weekend, I spent more time learning about goat feet than I ever have before. Hooves are not something I usually obsess over. I trim my goats' hooves usually twice per year. Our pasture has rocks to climb on and concrete pads, and this seems to keep them worn down, so trimmings are not a big deal.

Last week, I brought home two does which I had previously sold last spring. The owner had not trimmed their hooves in that time, and they were on a dry lot without the natural manicures that my goats receive. The hooves were pretty bad. It took me several hours of painstakingly trimming a little here, a little there, asking some experts, trimming a little more...and now they're looking much better. But I wanted to express why it's so important.

(This is not a knock on the owner. Life happens, and we have all taken on more than we could keep up with at some point in our lives. But it was an opportunity to really show the difference between an overgrown hoof and a properly trimmed one)

Imagine you had to wear high heels every day. Now imagine that the heel was not symmetrical, and actually made you walk with your ankle crooked. Imagine they were two different heights. Now imagine you are pregnant, and still wearing these awful shoes.

You'd be walking funny, right? And when you walk funny, you put strain on the rest of your body. Add more seasonal pregnancy weight, and you're even more at risk to serious injury.

Neglected hooves cause the goat's alignment to be off. They rock into the back part of their foot. It can seriously impair how they stand and walk. It can affect their appearance too, throwing off their topline. In the graphic above, I took photos before, after the first trimming, and then after several more small trimmings. You can really see the difference in the angle in the back leg, from hock to floor. It should be straight up and down. In the front legs, you can see the difference in the distance between the pastern and the floor.

You can also see that in the first photos, the toes are very spread out, and a proper trimming brought them much closer together.

I will do a how-to video soon, but for now, here are some tips:

1. People rave about the Hoof Boss. I do not personally have one, but it's on my list now! It would make all of this much easier.

2. I use some basic green-handled hoof trimmers from our local farm store.

3. Start by cutting the tip of the hoof vertically. Take it back in small increments until you get close to the quick (The fleshy part of the foot). Then you have an idea of how far to cut back the rest, and it makes it easier to access it.

4. Cut the sides. The main growth will be on the outside of each...clove? Toe? Demi-hoof? I dunno. Let's call it a toe. But there may be some growth between the toes as well.

5. Here's the part I didn't know before: You can cut the squishy part at the back of the hoof! And you will want to do that. That builds up thickness as they rock back away from the overgrown front of the hoof, so you want to bring it down to be level with the rest of the trimmed hoof. This part can also grow inward, and is responsible for the spreading of the toes. You'll want to trim a little at a time, because there is a quick under there. I was advised to trim until I see pink, then stop. It worked out for me to cut all the way until it was even with the rest of the hoof.

Doing this made me want to go through my whole herd and be a little more brutal about our hoof trims! It really improved these two girls' overall appearance so much! LOL...one day at a time.