Trimming the goat hooves; it’s the one job I procrastinate over the most.
The goats are feisty, my hands pathetically weak, and there’s always the huge fear that I will cut too much off and make them bleed. I have only done that once but that was more than enough.
But today was marked on the Homestead Calendar – hoof trimming day. – and it’s quite the undertaking. Farm Girl on vaxing, The Engineer drip feeding the incentive (sheep nuts), and The Bean Counter and I taking turns with the trimmers. Our backs hurt, we stink of the iodine we spray on their feet, and one of us narrowly avoided an outraged goat nip. Conversely, all five goats are now trip-trotting around on newly manicured tootsies, having also got their yearly shot of 5-in-1 vax and a squirt of Matrix, acting slightly annoyed we’ve had the audacity to invade their space.
As a reward, we opened up the sleepout paddock with it’s seed heads and dandelions – a goat feast they’re now joyfully scoffing. The weed control aspect of it is simply a glorious side effect.
It would be wonderful if they acknowledged how nice we are, providing such a on-the-money post trim reward. Or showed a little gratitude at how lovely it feels to have your feet all levelled up and free of footrot; that would be nice, too. But we all know that’s not a goats way.
Lucky we love them.
Union Homestead 
Sounds like quite a job! Glad those goats got a treat after you were done. Hope you all got a treat too.
My treat was sittjng close to motionless for the rest of the day
Handling livestock is hard work and, as you say, a nervous business too, so congratulations on getting the job down with your team.
Ticked off the list for another 3 months…which will stretch to 6 in all honesty
Which is harder – wrangling sheep or goats?
I think goats are easier as they’re smooth haired so can wear collars which gives you are way of restraining them a little. Sheep are a bit more flighty so you need to keep really calm around them which is not my default setting. Both hate having their hooves trimmed though…and goats have horns.