About Goat Hooves
Cloven hooves may get a bad rap on the devil, but they work just fine for prancing and dancing goats. Goat hooves adapted over time to be slightly angular and using only the front two toes and ignoring the back two but have otherwise stayed the same for thousands of years. Goats in the wild walk over enough rough stuff to keep their hooves in check, but domesticated goats need proper care of their hooves to stay their healthiest.
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Function
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The main purpose of the goat's hooves is to protect the goat's feet. The thick layer of hoof keeps the tender foot pads safe from twigs, rocks and other shards of debris that could hurt the goat. Although goat hooves may appear unable to dance and prance on anything but flat ground, the softer, inner sole allows goats to scale rocks and even climb trees.
Features
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Each hoof on a goat has two toes. Each toe is surrounded by an oblong hoof wall, usually black or dark brown in color. The toe part surrounded by the wall is the sole of the foot, or soft frog, and should be flush with the hooves. While goat hooves don't need to be shod to be protected as horse hooves do, they do need proper care to maintain them.
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Care
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Unless a goat is wild and wears down its hooves during daily use, goat owners need to regularly trim their goat's hooves. This prevents an overgrowth that makes it difficult for the animal to walk and also helps prevent against a wide array of foot ailments that can strike neglected hooves. Hooves should be trimmed with some type of very sharp shears and should be trimmed often to keep them manageable. Trimming off too much hoof can cripple a goat just as easily as neglecting it can. Instructions for hoof trimming can be found in agricultural publications or online (see Resources below).
Prevention/Solution
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Proper care for goat hooves requires more than just trimming. The front area of the hooves should be regularly checked and cleaned out with a hoof pick to remove dirt, debris and other things lodged inside. Goat hooves grow in the heel area of the foot and also in the central part of the foot in small buds on the inner area of each sole. These areas, too, should be trimmed down during regular goat hoof maintenance.
Warning
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Goats' hooves that are neglected can be more than just an eyesore. They can curl up, not unlike elf shoes, and make it nearly impossible for the goat to walk. Hooves that become too long may make it painful for the goat to walk, which will cause him to stomp romping and even eating. He could even become crippled if the hooves are left too long to languish in overgrowth. They can also develop foot sores for the goat or harbor bacteria that can lead to disease. Foot rot and foot scald are two of the most common ailments, both of which cause the hoof material to appear it is rotting off the foot.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Photo of Slim and Shady by Ryn Gargulinski
