I'm sure this question has been asked and answered before, but my old eyes are not finding it. I noticed Milly limping this morning, and on inspection found what I guess is hoof rot. I've never dealt with this before, and so am quite perturbed. It appears as if the outside of her hoof on one side, from the bottom on up, is just eaten away. Looks pretty bad.

First of all, what do I do for her? Will I be able to get this cleared up, and how long should I expect a treatment to take on a bad case like this? Then, is this going to be contageous to my other goats?

Thanks for any advice or encouragement.

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), May 05, 2002

Answers

Hi Mary, makes a huge difference if Milly has this from just wet ground all spring, from not having her hooves trimmed enough (even in my herd some does need their feet trimmed much more often than others) or if she truly has hoof rot caused from bacteria. From the bacteria, yes it is contagious, though unless Milly is new or you have purchased a new goat that has recently brought this to you, most hoof rot in our area is from cattle previously ran on your pastures, and I would think you would have seen more of this by now.

If she also has heat in the hoof or is running a temp, than you should use a tetracycline injection, just go to saanendoah.com and read up on Biomycin, or Oxytetracycline or any other tetracycline you can purchase that is not LA200. Read the info on giving it subq. It is on her med site.

If she is not running a temp, than just pare the bottom of the hoof back to a normal stance, then cut away the outside of the hoof all the way up to the rotten place. So there is no longer a hole for the dirt and manure to get stuck into. If the whole side of the hoof is hollow and pulled away from the frog, than this isn't hoof rot, but is caused by wet ground. Keep the feet dry as best you can. You can toughen the hoof with iodine or kepertox. When it was really bad one time on a doe we bought back through the auction barn !!!! We soaked her whole hoof and dewclaw in 7% iodine 3 times a day, in a coffee can, when she finally pulled her hoof away from me, dousing me in iodine........that was when I knew she was on the mend and would make it.

We keep pallets in the pastures and right up next to the barns, we put solid tops on these, it give the girls a place to lay with their feet up out of the dew of the grass, so their hooves have a chance to dry a couple times a day. If your barn is not really dry you might want to make them some sleeping benches like this inside the barn also. Don't attach them to anything, so you can still clean your barn. Good luck and get back with us if you need more info. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 05, 2002.

Duh, Vicki I should have known you'd already suggested the soaking method. I'd better read up a while again before jumping right in. Think I'd better lurk a while!

-- Dennis (westwoodcaprine@yahoo.com), May 08, 2002.

Hoof rot, in my opinion is mostely detected by the "smell". This yr is my worst run with it.I have tried oxytetracline injections, sulpha bullose,I have trimed the hooves a little at a time, I have isolated her, and alternately sprayed her hooves with coppertox, bleech one to one with (half bleech and half water), iodine 7 % straight. Increased her nutrition. On my third wk now. Progress is s l o w>>>......she had triplets this yr and I think it ran her down also it is very wet here.close to the coast......sending one more e-mail with new home made spray.Oh good I see I have more room.1 package of tetracycline powder+ one cup of water+the rest straight alcohol to make a qt and I have been spraying the feet 2 times a day with this combo and I still am not out of the woods with her.....so. that is the best I have to offer currently Stana. Good LUCK!! Fias goat co is an excellent resource on the computer

-- Stana (vsh@ados.com), February 14, 2003.