Possible hoof rot. Need advice

[Hippie hollow]

I feel terrible that hoof inspections have fallen short lately. Between their shelter flooding and repairing the roof so that doesn’t happen again trees falling on their fence during the storm. Portions of our yard flooding and running around scrambling trying to figure out how to get everybody water when our power was out way longer Then we expected. On some of their platforms and play areas we have put down shingles and have concrete pavers and gravel and things for them to walk on which keeps their hooves then we expected. On some of their platforms and play areas we have put down shingles and have concrete pavers and gravel and things for them to walk on which keeps their hooves shade down and we rarely have to clip them We stay on top of checking on them but always looked good until we got all this rain

 

[Hippie hollow]

I will post another picture tomorrow after my husband is there to help me. I’ll send a picture of them cleaned up. After the picture I tried to clean them up a little bit but she wanted no part of me touching them. She usually doesn’t have an issue with that but I guess cause she’s in pain she didn’t want me messing with it. And I was on my own So it was hard to restrain 140 pound goat and clean her hooves

 

[greybeard]

Ergot has a strange place in our history. I saw a'podcast' (as they called it) on an NPR program where researchers believe the erratic behavior that resulted in the Salem Witch trials was caused by ergot on cereal rye. Some types of ergot cause hallucinations and the fungus is bad in wet times, where as other strains show up once it is hot and dry. It was a very wet year in New England in 1692 and the most common grain was rye. The program postulated that the supposed 'witches' had been afflicted with fits and hallucinations by infected rye. The following 2 years, the climate was very dry and no more 'witches' showed up.

Fescue is still a dirty word in my part of the state tho I know from talking to farmers in Va and Mo that it is an excellent forage when managed right, but my neighbors would probably gather at a windmill with torches and pitchforks if I were to ever try to grow any here. Seeing more and more of it sold tho, as a lawn grass to take the place of native Bahia, which homeowners don't like because it sends up tall stems with black immature seed heads on it even before the leafy part of the plant really gets going good. You can mow on a Monday and around Friday, your yard looks awful because of all the tall black stems sticking up 10-12" above the leafy part.
Oddly enough, those black immature seedheads do somewhat resemble the beginning of ergot fungus..

 

[Mini Horses]

Here in VA the most sold Kenturcky 31 variety is NOT for horses!!! Or other livestock, for that matter. There are endophyte free fescue varieties. The issues with pregnant horses are horrid. Lack of milk, long gestations, foals too large to deliver, if they deliver often are "dummies", on and on.

There was/is a product, domperidone, developed to help clear the system of the chemical from the endophyte and counter many of the pregnancy issues. Suggested to begin some 3 months prior to delivery, completely remove mares from the grass -- AND fescue hay -- among other things.

 

[Alibo]

I know about fescue toxicity but have never heard of the above. Could you explain further? Pics if possible. This is very interesting and would definitely like to know more about this tail thing.

Greybeard beat me to it! I have poured over those sites and others before getting an official diagnosis. My vet had never seen a severe case like that in goats before but glad to be on the right track now. Unfortunately I do not have any pictures but it looked like someone had banded all of the tail tips of my kids. They would fall off within weeks of each other by their second spring. I did not know how to fix it and the vet (doesn't treat cows) did not know what to think either. They now look permanently "fish tailed"

As to your problem Hippie hollow you might try soaking her foot in Epsom salt and then dusting with garlic powder. We have 2 feet of mud whenever it rains and a heavy dusting of garlic powder seems to do the trick when anyone is looking thrushy

 

[Alibo]

Lol, realizing from your posts she might not let you soak her foot. You can soak a pad of gauze, apply to the foot, wrap with cellophane and then horse wrap for a couple hours. Sounds like you will need a helper though. Hope she heals quickly!

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

All the rain of course can lead to bad feet but please do not overlook fescue toxicity. It is something I deal with starting every spring until the end of fall. If you are on a fescue heavy pasture please look into it. On top of hoof rot and sore feet in general it can cause poor weight gain and looong tough pregnancies. Also every kid born on my pasture has lost their tail tip to necrosis. We are finally on a cattle fescue balancing mineral and starting to see improvements.

Yes, the mineral mix works. Our mixes all have it in them.

 

[Donna R. Raybon]

Foot rot is different from foot scald. What you describe after heavy rains sounds like foot scald. When you check between toes you will see raw skin and it smells funky.
What I do is clean with paper towels, and then use Koppertox (wear nitrile gloves btw as both scald and koppertox stink!!) It just takes a few drops to coat the skin between the toes well. Usually, one treatment does the trick with the Koppertox. The bacteria that cause foot scald lives in soil for about two weeks. So, in theory if you can get all your goats treated/clear you can eliminate it. Easier said than done, though.

Also, hydrogen peroxide works, but you have to treat every day until it clears up. Bleach works, but they will sling it all over you and spot your clothes.

Avoid anything with formaldehyde as it super hardens hoof and makes more troubles done the way. I don't think it is available much anymore due to toxicity and a known carcinogen.

New Zealand foot bath worrks, too. It is zinc sulfate, water and soap. If you mix it up from scratch make sure to use warm water, add the soap and then slowly stir in the zinc as it is sort of hard to get to dissolve. I think the brand name 'Hoof n' Heal' is this mixture. BTW works well on fingernail and toenail fungus in humans, too.

 

[Southern by choice]

We have never had luck with koppertox but the Naylor hoof and heal has been great it is zinc based. Works incredibly fast.
This year with months and months of rain some of our does suffered some hoof issues. We literally had a tractor come in and scrape mud away from the heavy travel paths. The barn was dry and the fields had good ground cover - it was the areas between the barn and field and all the major travel routs that became a horrid mess. We even have drainage grit and that wasn't enough. The mud was horrid this year.

Severe issues can be treated by a process they use on horses and cattle but you must have some type of dry lot etc to put the goat in.
Clean and trim hoof.
Topically use LA 200 if you can find powder form apply that as well. Usually only the vets can get the powder form. Wrap in gauze then in vet wrap. Not too tight!
The goat will look like a racehorse.
Reapply dressings and treatment every other day. In 10 days you will have beautiful hooves.

 

[Hippie hollow]

Hoof and heel was the only thing i could find at our feed store. Now I have one of my younger one starting to limp a bit. I ha to work day and night shift yesterday got off at 7 this morning so just woke up. Husband says co worker said it would be too painful to trim right now. We are going out now to check exactly what I is