# Trimming hooves on foundered goat



## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

I have a friend who is buying 2 foundered FFs and doesn't know how to trim their hooves. I've searched online and have found nothing about goats-only horse. Trimming hooves on normal goats isn't my strength-I sure don't know what to tell her about foundered hooves! 

Any tips?


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## saanengirl (Apr 7, 2009)

The hooves will be harder than normal hooves. If she can soak their feet for a while, that will help. After she soaks their feet, she needs to trim off as much as she can without causing them to bleed.


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## HappyFarmer (Jun 17, 2006)

One of my bucks foundered, still don't know why, he's been like that for over 9 months.

Yes soaking the hooves helps, but not much. After you get that hard part cut off (I'm at 9 months removing hoof), it seems to be softer, though I don't think they ever fully recover. He takes a lot more trimmings than my other goats, plus he limps on that hoof.

The ARS Hoof trimmers work well.

My advice: your friend should not buy those goats, founder is a pain.


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## bwanaswan (Apr 19, 2011)

I have a foundered Boer nanny that is just about to kid. I got her with the intention of putting a little weight on her and turning her around quick. Her feet look terrible but the rest of her looks better than most of my goats. Can't seem to do anything with her feet that remotely helps but she seems to have no pain that I can see and is one of the gentlest gals we have ever had. I may try a more aggressive tactic after she kids but for now I will leave well enough alone. I will follow this thread to see what others say.

Chris


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

HappyFarmer said:


> My advice: your friend should not buy those goats, founder is a pain.


Indeed. Founder is a pain not only for the human, but is incredibly painful for the animal.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

So what do you do with a foundered goat? Put it down? When you say a pain-is that physical pain or just a pain in the butt?


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## Creamers (Aug 3, 2010)

They are in pain, for sure, but I wouldn't recommend buying a goat with major hoof problems - that is a pain for her.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

PrettyPaisley said:


> So what do you do with a foundered goat? Put it down? When you say a pain-is that physical pain or just a pain in the butt?


If an animal were badly foundered, I would put it down because it would be in pain. 

Some folks feel that it's not necessary, and maybe there are times when the pain isn't too bad, but in my experience (admittedly limited to some friends whose animals foundered and some years spent working as a vet tech), foundered animals generally do not have flourishing health.

The way I look at it is this: How would you feel if the tissue under your big toe nail was chronically inflamed? Now imagine that your big toe nail is your whole foot and you have to walk on it to get around... Now multiply that by how many feet you have, and consider the impact it would have on your quality of life.


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## francismilker (Jan 12, 2006)

I've got a foundered mixed breed milk doe that I've been working towards hoof correction for over a year now getting a little at a time. Once you get the hard tips off and get into fresh tissue they start to bleed so you have to give her a little time to toughen up and then go at it again. 

Once I got her almost correct and then with two months of missed trimmings she went right back to the way she was before I started. 

I keep my goats on an area of ground where they have lots of exposure to rocks for natural trimming and honing but it doesn't seem to do her any good.


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## chewie (Jun 9, 2008)

i've had a foundered doe for several years now, and will keep her til her last breath. i found horse trimming tool work better for her and always do it after a good rain. i trim with the nippers, then the hoof knife, then rasp, just like a horse. i work on her feet more than the others, they are brick hard and oddly shaped. 

so yeah, a pain in the backside, but she seems to get around ok as long as I keep up on her trimmings. I have to give her a bit longer to get on the stand or get around anywhere. but she didnt want to dry up and was so much happier when I gave in an started milking her on the stand again. I made a ramp up and down both, so she doesn't have to jump ever.

she's a real doll, has been a great producer of kids and milk. she's the only one who's exempt from the sales list! but that said, i wouldn't be real quick to get 2 young goats with this issue, ethel was already middle aged when I got her, she's turning 10 this spring.


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## saanengirl (Apr 7, 2009)

Founder usually is caused by an animal getting into an excess of rich feed or by over feeding. To treat you reduce the feed, and in an acute case give banamine or another anti inflammatory. After that it is a matter of regular trimming until you get the hooves back into shape. It make take months for the hooves to regrow normally.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

do they have slipper hooves or are they just lame. I ask because sometimes hoof root can make them very lame and some people will say that the goat has foundered. One I just recently acquired a goat who was lame, within a month I found 10 abscesses just in her front hooves from them being overgrown and hoof rot. Might want to add some antibiotics in the mix if you find any sign of rot or abscess, it really helped my girl.


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## Cannon_Farms (Aug 28, 2008)

to add, foundered goats should not be sold, they should be given away unless there is something very special about them. There are no guarantees that they can recover and its a long road and they may never be fully sound again. 
I would take them free, but no way would I pay for them unless I intended on them being bbq and the going rate is about 1.25 per lb


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Okay-I messed up. Several times. 
I messed up because I brought the foundered goats home.  When I went to get the three goats several weeks ago I was presented with these foundered goats as two of the three for sale. I knew nothing (obviously) about being foundered but saw that they milked well and were semi-gentle, even if they had horns. I thought I was saving them from where they were. They were sisters so they had to go together. 
It took about two weeks for me to realize I had too many goats-and would be pushing the limits of my very tolerant neighbors. These two girls were soooo vocal, constantly vocal anytime anyone was outside. So I was telling my friend I had these two goats I was going to have to sell and she offered to buy them. I told her straight up about how loud they were, how they had horns and the foundered issue. She knows less than I do-but already has horned goats and lots more space than I do so she wasn't too concerned about the foundering. 
I tried to get their hooves in decent shape but they were too hard to trim and the goats did not cooperate. That's why I was asking for an example of how to do it. 
She took the goats and has no plans to feed them starchy grain-just lots of browsing and alfalfa with BOSS. They didn't seem to be in pain-they were wildly active goats. 
I know better next time. I know that I can't be bringing home foundered goats-no matter how desperate they might appear.  
Thanks for the help.


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## Suzyq2u (May 17, 2010)

Well, hopefully she can do some work on them. Lessons learned. 
Star has miserably awful hooves. Foundered? Maybe, I know they're way over grown and curved. I've been trimming a little off here and there trying to reshape them. They'll likely never be normal.... but it has to be more comfortable than it was when we brought her home. She doesn't appear to be in pain and has apparently been dealing with this issue for some time. I'll keep working on her - lessons learned here too


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

PrettyPaisley said:


> I know better next time. I know that I can't be bringing home foundered goats-no matter how desperate they might appear.
> Thanks for the help.


Your heart was in the right place. <shrug> We all do our best to do our best, and sometimes, it just doesn't work out.


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## andabigmac (Jan 10, 2011)

Half of my goats are "lessons learned" goats. If foundered hooves and horns are the worst thing about them, then you got off lucky. So far the story looks like its going to have a happy ending because their new home sounds nice.


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