I’ve always taken great pride in how well I maintain and care for my goats.
I’ve always done all their grooming myself—from bathing to brushing, to even the dreaded hoof trimming.
It’s saved me tons of money on groomers, and it gives me some serious bonding time with my goats, too!
However, circumstances have changed a bit recently.
I’m going to have to be away from the homestead for longer periods of time, and no one else wants to take up my old jobs—at least not the hoof trimming.
We’re probably going to have to hire someone, then, so my first thought would be how much it would cost.
So, how much does it cost to trim goat hooves?
Depending on the trimmer, and the size of the job, it should be somewhere from $40-$50. It could be around $20 per goat, so if you have at least two goats it should be $40 at least. It could well be more than this, though, if you have large goats with tough hooves.
The bottom line, though, is that it’s not massively expensive.
The other questions, of course, are going to be about how often you ought to do it—which will, of course, factor into overall cost.
Let’s look further into this.
How much does a hoof trim cost for goats?
It’s naturally going to depend a lot, but a typical cost is somewhere from $8-$20 per goat.
Goats vary hugely in size, and this is going to have a greater effect on the cost of the job than you might think.
Some goats, like Boers, are truly large, with formidable hooves that will take a lot of trimming.
This is where you’re looking at the $20 region.
On the other hand, diminutive pygmy goats will cost a fraction of that to trim.
It may also depend a little on the goat’s temperament.
If your goat is very relaxed and has no problem being trimmed, then it should cost the usual amount.
If your goat is very rowdy, especially a rowdy and uncastrated male, then the trimmer may naturally wish to charge a little more.
Often, trimmers will quote you a price before the job and let you know it will be subject to change if you have particularly large or difficult goats.
The bottom line, then, is that it’s going to depend.
The other big question about cost is going to be how often it needs doing.
How often do you need to trim goat hooves?
The simple answer is more often than you might think.
In the wild, a goat’s hooves are naturally trimmed by the amount of walking they do, but also they trim them some themselves on rocks and other natural formations.
This might not be possible in a homestead environment.
The best rule of thumb for how often to trim your goat’s hooves is every 6-10 weeks.
This might seem like a lot, but hooves grow like fingernails.
They can be really annoying for the goat if they get much longer than they ordinarily would after this amount of time.
Your goat may simply have faster-growing hooves, and you’ll need to keep an eye on that.
In general, though, you won’t need to trim them more often than every six weeks.
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What happens if you don’t trim goat hooves?
Imagine if your own toenails were simply allowed to grow and grow unchecked without being trimmed.
This is pretty much the same problem for goats.
If you don’t trim their hooves, they can’t walk properly, they will lose their balance, and they may injure themselves breaking part of it off by accident.
Whatever happens, though, if you don’t trim your goat’s hooves regularly enough, they’re going to end up with trouble walking.
They will be off-balance and unable to properly plant their hooves if left long enough.
So, we can’t understate the importance of trimming your goat’s hooves.
It’s going to be a bit of an expense, but there is no price on your goat’s welfare.
They need to be healthy.
The question I always get asked about this, though, is just whether they really need to have their hooves trimmed.
Though I think I’ve made my opinion clear, let’s just look at this question for a moment.
Do goats need to have their hooves trimmed?
Yes, they do.
The main reason people tend to ask this question is that they, understandably, wonder what feral goats do if they don’t get their hooves trimmed.
Granted, hoof trimming is an activity using specific tools and human hands to get it done, and this can’t possibly happen in the wild.
So, what do feral goats do?
Well, feral goats do trim their hooves, they just do it in a different way, without really noticing.
Often, for goats, and indeed many cloven-hoofed animals, the simple act of their grazing and moving around trim their hooves down a lot already.
Furthermore, if they need to, the goat can find a suitable rock or surface to trim their hooves on slowly over time.
So, whatever happens, and whatever you do, you need to trim your goat’s hooves.
Whether you are doing it or you’re hiring someone to do it for you, your goats will suffer if they don’t get their hooves regularly trimmed.
It’s not the most glamorous job, but it’s not the most expensive to have done, either.
Furthermore, if you’ve got the time, learning how to do it yourself isn’t all that difficult!