Hooves & Posture

We maintain our herd's hooves twice a year right before the spring and fall rainy seasons. Any goat in need of re-balancing for correct posture will get a lower individual score. The resting posture of a goat should have their four corners stable. The front feet should be directly below the breastplate shoulder width apart. The back hocks should be in plane with the tail webbing and the dewclaws should be directly below the hocks body width apart. If a goat does not rest in this posture then it is most likely that there are hoof issues which may or may not be genetic which can be determined after about 3 trimmings. We keep an eye out for any posture issues or frequent rot, however, this has not been a huge issue with our West Michigan Kikos as they benefit by our well drained sandy soil. Please visit our Care & Husbandry page to learn more about rebalancing, posture correction, and trimming out rot. 

Here you can see Leroy Brown chewing his cud and standing at ease with perfect posture.