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Kids: Coccidia

Coccidia are a protozoan internal parasite, that most goats have, in small numbers. In adults, this is generally not a problem, but if kids get an overload of coccidia, it can cause diarrhea, intestinal scarring, and ultimately death, if not treated.  The first line of prevention for coccidia in kids is to keep their areas clean. This may seem like an unreasonable expectation--it's a barn, for all love--but what this means is essentially making sure the kids have minimal access to poop--they pick up coccidia from mouthing poop, soiled straw, etc. This can mean cleaning out the pen every day, or it can mean adding a new layer of straw once or twice a day, or even both. A good criteria (picked up from Deborah at the Thrifty Homesteader) is that you should be willing to sit down in the stall. Then, it's clean enough for kids. If you're not willing to sit down (while wearing "barn" pants. Not wearing a fancy dress, for instance) it's not clean enough for kids.  In
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Hoof Trimming

Hoof trimming is a really important routine task for goat owners! If goat hooves are left untrimmed for too long, the goat's overall health declines. 

Hoofs should be trimmed around every six weeks. I like to trim once a month, because it's easier to remember when the designated day of the month comes around, but that's really up to you.

Essentially, the goal of hoof trimming is to go from this:


To this:

If you've seen an overgrown goat hoof before, or even one that has six weeks of growth, the top picture probably doesn't look like much: the hoof wall only protrudes above the frog (inner area of the hoof) the smallest bit, but I prefer to not let it get too overgrown. :) 

One note: goats will NOT stand still for this, so I recommend putting them into a stanchion and feeding them while you trim. Otherwise, it's a pain, and there is a large chance that either you or the goat will get cut. 

There are several techniques and tools that can be used for this process, so I recommend finding one that works for you, rather than just using one that's a "default". We usually use just a pair of hoof trimmers, but having a hoof pick, rasp, etc., can also work very well. 

Here are a couple good videos on the actual process, with different people using different techniques. 

This video is by our good friends Cody and Chelsea at Rainy Sunday Ranch. The video shows trimming both using trimmers and using a block plane. He also goes over the basics of how goat hooves work, and the best ways to restrain the goat. Overall, if you watch any video, watch this one.

You'll have to skip a bit in this video to get to the hoof trimming, but it demonstrates how to use a rasp in conjunction with hoof trimmers, for a slightly more refined product than with trimmers alone.
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