Mani-Pedi Day!

When goats scramble around on rocks, they naturally file their hooves down. When they spend their days in fields, they need a hand keeping those tootsies trimmed. Every couple months, they're rounded up and take turns with their spa treatment.

9 goats in a tiny corner, listening careful to the salon manager's advice.

We built a makeshift corner fence in the pen and draw them in with the grain bucket. They'll go anywhere for that bucket. They instinctively crowd into a corner and settle down once the snuggle in.



Our last spa day included hoof trimming, spraying eyes for some pink eye making the rounds, and spraying a few of their mouths with iodine to treat Orf. Orf is it's own special article waiting to happen. Nasty looking stuff.



The salon technicians pull a goat onto its side and hold him still. The goats put up a fuss for about 3 seconds and then lay still until it's over. It's wise to have extra hands holding the horns just in case they test the freedom before you're finished.



Typically, the hooves look like the picture below. The edges start to grow out and curl in, similar to fingernails.



A little snip, snip with a good pair of shears:



And then they're good to go.

This was our second mani-pedi day and we found this poor guy who slipped through the cracks during the first mani-pedi. His feet were a bit nasty.

I love to listen to Chris talk to them as he works. "Dahhhling, what HAVE you been doing? You've really let yourself go!" 

We hope to eventually move the goats to our back field, which is covered in bluffs and rocks. I'm curious to see how this affects their feet. 

Minerva, spa manager