The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: Carl f k on May 14, 2013, 06:09:54 pm
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Our new goat came with her feet in a disgusting state..like she's wearing winklepickers,just had a go at trimming them as she started limping and the foot smells bad.. Advice please :bouquet:
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Carl, it sounds like there are some welfare issues with where she's come from :-\ where the previous owners elderly or struggling to care for them? do they have other goats there.
She could could have scald or more likely foot rot if her feet were that bad...does it smell like rotten flesh? her hooves will need trimming right back and that will include the rotten hoof, its not a job to be taken lightly and you may need to call in some help to stop this getting worse. She could be in need of antibiotics even.
There are preparations available to buy such as golden hoof but I'll leave that to people with much more experience in this than I have.
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When I first got the angoras, I found it helpful to wash their hooves in dettolly water and an old washing up brush so I could really see what was what.
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Yes wash the foot (well all four of them) in some warm water (and Dettol sounds fine for that), and then carefully trim the hoof (as in the nail bit). Don't do too much immediately, wash the feet first and see what is what. If it smells - that's foot rot. If the skin is raw and looks wet in-between her toes - that's scald. Not uncommon if the goats have been housed for most of the winter. If it is not too bad, you could use a Terramycin spray (blue stuff available from the vet's only) on the bad foot, and keep her on dry ground. Repeat a couple of times.
Re-check and trim a bit further every couple of weeks until it all looks fine, then every 4 - 6 weeks should be fine.
If you need some photos on footrot - googling it will show what it looks like. The smell is unique - you will know about it when you smell it... can't google that (yet)
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Carl, it sounds like there are some welfare issues with where she's come from where the previous owners elderly or struggling to care for them? do they have other goats there.
She's not old or infirm...got about 10 more goats,ducks hens turkeys..I think maybe too busy to care for them properly :(
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Thank you all :bouquet: will get the scrubbing brush out ASAP... Got sum blue spray that was at the feed shop antiseptic stuff
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If it's foot rot you'll need the antibiotic blue spray from the vets not just the antiseptic stuff.
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Ok thankyou
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If you have a SHARP trimming knife pare the rotten flesh away carefully until it starts to look a bit pink , but not bleeding, an iodine foot bath for a few seconds will help until you get the correct stuff from your vet.
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Carl, it sounds like there are some welfare issues with where she's come from :-\ where the previous owners elderly or struggling to care for them? do they have other goats there.
She could could have scald or more likely foot rot if her feet were that bad...does it smell like rotten flesh? her hooves will need trimming right back and that will include the rotten hoof, its not a job to be taken lightly and you may need to call in some help to stop this getting worse. She could be in need of antibiotics even.
There are preparations available to buy such as golden hoof but I'll leave that to people with much more experience in this than I have.
it disgustin the state of her feet poor sod'! not for long when we sort her! if i had my way id message that seller and tell her exactly wat i think! shudnt keep animals if u not goin to look after all their needs... :goat:
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Carl, it sounds like there are some welfare issues with where she's come from :-\ where the previous owners elderly or struggling to care for them? do they have other goats there.
She could could have scald or more likely foot rot if her feet were that bad...does it smell like rotten flesh? her hooves will need trimming right back and that will include the rotten hoof, its not a job to be taken lightly and you may need to call in some help to stop this getting worse. She could be in need of antibiotics even.
There are preparations available to buy such as golden hoof but I'll leave that to people with much more experience in this than I have.
it disgustin the state of her feet poor sod'! not for long when we sort her! if i had my way id message that seller and tell her exactly wat i think! shudnt keep animals if u not goin to look after all their needs... :goat:
Exactly how I feel too. I'm not sure messaging her would achieve anything though, too many people think they are doing well enough and really they are not meeting the 5 freedoms of animal welfare. I hope she's not breeding from these poor animals? This is why I asked Carl if she was elderly or infirm, I guess I was half hoping that there was a 'good' reason for this shocking level of neglect.
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Do you have a friendly sheep farmer? Always good to have a second pair of eyes as I tend to panic when I'm not sure what to do! it took me ages to dare to trim feet properly and even now I am a bit wet and don't a lot at a time!
Otherwise if you have a nice vet, they might come out for a routine check and not charge you too much if you say you want to learn - mine are pretty good and want me to do things right so have been helpful and not charged big bucks when i need advice
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Its also useful to be in a smallholding or goat club for same support/instruction etc. I think you mentioned you were joining a smallholding club (i may have dreamt that lol!) they would be good to help or like FIFI says, the vet - I was used to injecting people as a trained nurse but had never given goats jabs, the vet talked me through it, did the first and then watched as i did the rest. It was good for reassurance and obviously means that I now just do all vaccinations and don't have to call him out!
I remember Heidi saying she'd kept goats before so perhaps all this is teaching someone to suck eggs, if it is I apologise and am not meaning to come across as patronising!
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plums, hope u well . me and carl joined smalholding group now and it very interesting. we giving holly a good old pedicure tonight and we got sone antibiotic spray from vets too .,,,:)