The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Goats => Topic started by: Tree Farmer on June 18, 2015, 10:59:35 am
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Thanks so much to everyone for your help on the AN hooves problem thread. I am really grateful. I think it's a complex situation of laminitis, footrot / scald, bruised soles. Perhaps low levels of all of them as this is not acute at all, but chronic.
So, I am planning to cut out concentrate entirely to treat for laminitis - and probably better improve all round, I think I have been over feeding. But I have ordered some Brinicombe's supplement so how do I get this into them? Maybe I can add to some readigrass or something? I'll play around...
BUT my main question here is regarding the Golden Hoof Plus I have ordered for foot bathing. How do people manage footbathing their goats?
I only have the two so a race is a bit OTT, is it just a case of a bucket, one hoof at a time?
Thanks again everyone.
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Don't laugh, but the best method I've found for treating individual sheep is to make up the solution in a child's wellie, then hold the hoof in the wellie. (The flexibility means it works much better than a rigid pot, since you can hold the top of the wellie closed around the leg. This means they can kick all they like but can't knock everything flying :thumbsup:.)
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I don't have goats (yet!) but for my smallish flock of sheep the cheap footbath solution I found was these Garland 1.2m square trays (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garland-GP127B-1-2m-Square-Tray/dp/B0090HKORS). They're sturdy enough to hold up and a good size to fit hurdles around. And they double nicely as duck paddling pools.
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I would do individual feet as Womble says. I have used milk bottles with the bottom cut off, lid securely screwed back on of course and then had a handle to hold sheep's foot in it. I have used "Lameless". But goats will probably kick a lot more, so something flexible (and you want to wear gloves for this!) and a second person to help holding the goat may be better.
You could try and give the goat balancer with a small amount of soaked sugar beet shreds. As it will have a strange (for them) taste I would start with really small amounts, but maybe they do like it. I give mine some garlic and seaweed like this. For the really picky ones I dribble over some virgin olive oil to mask the taste.... the length's a goatkeeeper goes too.... :D - it's unreal at times...
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Thanks everyone, great ideas.
Thyme my goats are too big for this I think - and it would involve me having to build some kind of 'wall' around to have a hope of getting them to stand in it. It would work for smaller more malleable goats though I'm sure.
So I think it will be the welly boot / milk carton approach. It's going to be tricky. The stuff I've ordered is basically zinc sulphate with a surfactant that apparently helps it to penetrate - it's fume free so that's something but I can't imagine I'm going to get through this unscathed.
My other half will be helping, he has to when it comes to hoof trimming too as I can't manage them on my own.
I went to the Three Counties Show over the weekend (I was stewarding Dairy Goats) and I was constantly amazed at how much smaller most breeds are than my ANs. What was I thinking, ha ha...!
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also zinc oxide nappy cream is soothing for them
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Don't laugh, but the best method I've found for treating individual sheep is to make up the solution in a child's wellie, then hold the hoof in the wellie. (The flexibility means it works much better than a rigid pot, since you can hold the top of the wellie closed around the leg. This means they can kick all they like but can't knock everything flying :thumbsup: .)
Sorry, Womble. I couldn't help it. I :roflanim: I have this lovely image of goats in wellies, sloshing around. If only I could draw.
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if you're planning to do each foot individually you could try dog paw washers
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How do you think I feel Scarlet? We don't have children, so I had to go out and buy a pair of child's willies especially.
Hang on a sec, my computer just autocorrected willies to willies.
Willies. WILLIES!!! Darn. I hate technology! >:(.
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Don't laugh, but the best method I've found for treating individual sheep is to make up the solution in a child's wellie, then hold the hoof in the wellie. (The flexibility means it works much better than a rigid pot, since you can hold the top of the wellie closed around the leg. This means they can kick all they like but can't knock everything flying :thumbsup:.)
Fantastic idea! :thumbsup:
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It wasn't original - I'm sure I got it from a thread on here somewhere.
BTW, why will my computer let me type wellie, but not willies ( >:( again)? Weird eh?
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I'm just off into Ledbury to run errands - which includes buying a pair of children's wellies!!!
The Brinicombe's supplement has been delivered so that starts tonight, and I have started reducing concentrates, will do this over a few days.
Also, did a bit more inspecting last night (and tiny trim - just milimeters off one hoof) and found it really beneficial to bathe hooves in a warm water and towel dry first. Made it so much easier to see what was there.
Am so grateful to you all :-)
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I don't have goats (yet!) but for my smallish flock of sheep the cheap footbath solution I found was these Garland 1.2m square trays (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Garland-GP127B-1-2m-Square-Tray/dp/B0090HKORS). They're sturdy enough to hold up and a good size to fit hurdles around. And they double nicely as duck paddling pools.
I also use a small tray (it's actually the base to an old plastic hutch). Yes, you use a lot more stuff than in a bucket (or wellie!) but I have found it a lot easier and quicker to get them to just walk into it (took a bit of wrestling the first few times but now they know they get treat so just step in!). 2 minutes is fine for scald but if they have foot rot it's half an hour which might be a bit tedious one foot at a time!!!
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How do you think I feel Scarlet? We don't have children, so I had to go out and buy a pair of child's willies especially.
Hang on a sec, my computer just autocorrected willies to willies.
Willies. WILLIES!!! Darn. I hate technology! >:(.
:roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: I laughed so much that I am crying. Need a wee now. :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
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I have to wonder how the child feels about wearing wellies that are cast offs from the goat?!?!?!
should be fine , just a big kid after all :D