Instead of going in with the hoof clippers and snipping away, you’ll make smooth, shallow strokes so you don’t cut too close. Others prefer not to gunk up their trimmers so they’ll use the hoof pick. Fortunately, their small size makes handling them easy. Step #1: Tie up your goat so that they won’t take off on you when you start grabbing their feet. It usually weighs between 60 and 80 pounds, which is significantly less than a normal goat. Make sure you have access to a veterinarian who is familiar with the needs of goats. Trimming Goat Hooves with a Block Plane. Then you’ll get the hooves nice and even without causing the goat to bleed. You need to trim the hooves very slowly. Why is Goat Hoof Care Needed. A goat stanchion is an important piece of equipment for dairy goat owners, particularly when the goats are being milked.A stanchion restrains the goats, making hoof trimming, clipping and medicating them easier, but it’s almost essential when milking time rolls around: When a doe is on a stand, her udder is easily accessible. Nigerian Dwarf: The Little Workhorse of the Goat World And it's not just the breed's good looks that are catching people's attention: Female Nigerian dwarf goats produce a substantial amount of milk for their size. Like all goats, Nigerian Dwarf need periodic hoof trimming and deworming, depending on their diet and lifestyle. You have some time before the kids are big enough to need an actual hoof trim, but getting them used to having the hoof touched and examined early, will make it easier when necessary. Hooves will need to be trimmed about every six to eight weeks, unless you free range the Nigerian dwarf goat herd on terrain that includes rugged and rocky areas. We have five Nigerian Dwarf Goats on our small farm. Updated: Sep 25, 2019. Most people trim hooves every 4-8 weeks, deworm several times a year, and vaccinate annually. Provide 20 square feet (1.9 m 2) of shelter space for every 2 goats. Grooming a goat is pretty basic, and keeping a goat’s hooves trimmed is one of the easiest, least expensive, and most important parts of goat care. I personally just use the trimmers as the hoof pick because our Nigerian Dwarf goats have pretty small hooves so there’s often not much to pick out. Then once you get started with them, and kind of get a groove going with their basic care and it’s not so bad at all.. How often you trim depends on each goat and the conditions it … This is our ninth year raising Nigerian dwarf dairy goats and we trim all their hooves ourselves. Today we trimmed the hooves on our Nigerian Dwarf Goats. My kids (ages 9 & 11) milk our 3 family goats morning and night, and I jump in when it’s time to care for their other needs such as blood testing, herbal de-worming, breeding, trimming goat hooves, etc. If you keep the goats in a pen or a small pasture area, including rocks and rough logs for the goats to climb upon and over, the need to trim hooves can be lessened. Mar 19, 2018 - It's important to trim your goat's hooves, so you can prevent future hoof rot. Regular trimming takes very little time and cuts down on health care expenses in the long term. This is the trick to properly trimming goat hooves. However, there are some little tips and tricks that new goat owners don’t always think about. Getting Nigerian Dwarf Goats for the first time can seem overwhelming. Goats of Thundering Hooves Ranch. Goat hoof care begins early in life and is a regular part of a maintaining a healthy herd. 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