but definitely stop trimming for today. (It is not a
bad idea to brush a little iodine on it before you set it down in the
manure.) ?
Sometimes, the heel is the part that seems
to grow too fast, causing the goat to walk on the back of the hoof above
the heel. In this case, be sure that you trim the hooves more often, and
that you are not leaving the heel so long that the goat is walking on
‘high heels’. If the hoof was drastically overgrown, and you
didn't get it into the right shape, it is better to come back to it later
than to make the goat lame, or risk serious bleeding and infection, by
cutting too much at one time. Try again in one to three weeks. If it still
isn't right, come back in another two or three weeks. Sometimes it takes
a while to whip a goat's hooves into perfect shape.
Goat's hooves need to be trimmed regularly
(and don't forget the bucks!). That will mean different things depending
on your ranch and conditions. If your goats have plenty of rocks to walk
on, or are in a large herd that travels over many acres a day, you might
be able to escape this chore for four to six months. Some people even
build low platforms of rock and cement for the goats to play on to help
them keep their hooves in shape. In most cases, when the goats are walking
on grass or in pens, hooves should be trimmed every four to twelve weeks.
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