limping doe

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My grand daughter's yearling doe is favoring her back leg. I have checked her for dislocation, and swelling, etc. Her hooves are fine, nothing abnormal there. She is bred but not too far along so not any weight problem. She is probably the nicest doe in my herd as far as confirmation and good feet and legs. My grand daughter keeps her 4-H doe with me as she has no place to keep her at home. I have gone over everything including the feed and just don't know what to do There are no vets around here that know much about goats and some hate them. She is eating and drinking, her stools look good, she just really limping and has been doing this for about a month. She is in with other goats and 3 sheep and I have not seen any serious butting going on but it could be possible. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Thank you. karen

-- Karen Mauk (kansashobbit@yahoo.com), January 21, 2002

Answers

A limp going on for a month is alot more big a deal, than if she had just been limping a few days. Pare here hooves down, really look, and press all around. Since asking on Countryside for help with all the hoof abscess questions I have been getting, and no nothing about :) this is quite common up north. It is usually felt as a buldge, and though not always usually right at the coronary band where the hoof meets the meat of the leg. They can take forever to come to a head and you have to pare it out like a boil to relieve the pressure, once the pressure is gone they are better. If it is more in the hip area than put her on MSM for horses, a joint problem can make them limp, there are good ones in jeffersequine.com that also contain glucosomine and chondroiton. Other than that how about a good friend who also has horses, and could do a once over of her for you? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), January 22, 2002.

Thanks Vicki, I will check the top of her hooves, never even thought of looking there!! I do have a good friend who raises horses, and will ask her to check her out too. I live in Kansas and not used to thinking of it as being up "north" although all my friends in Tennessee tell me it is north too.

-- Karen Mauk (kansashobbit@yahoo.com), January 22, 2002.

Have you trimmed her hooves lately? Could there be a splinter or something like that between the toes? I had a buck that always grazed kneeling on his front legs, with his back end up in the air. I thought it was just habit and his preferred way of grazing, he had done this for months. When I got around to trimming his feet, there was a big thorn embedded in the sole of the hoof. It happens a lot here, sometimes it goes in far enough that it can hardly be seen, just looks like a faint black dot.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), January 22, 2002.

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