# Pastern issue--Pictures added!



## 4hmomwyo (Mar 25, 2009)

My friend's yearling Nubian doe kidded in May with a single. When I went to see her the other day, her rear legs came down straight to the pasterns then angled in towards her center line. She said that it started the last month of her pregnancy, but that it should improve. I've never seen anything like this, and they stayed tipped like that even after trimming her hooves to make sure they were level.

Has anyone ever seen this before? Does it clear up on it's own, or should she do something for her?

Thanks for any info!
Laura

Here are some pictures:




























Any help is appreciated!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

*Re: Pastern issue*

We don't do alot of second hand helping on here, because it never goes well. But to simply answer the question, it is usually either conformation (the doe simply isn't put together very well, has long pasterns and the weight of pregnancy ruined them for ever) or her feet trimming has been so bad during her younger life and her conformation of the foot is ruined, or she is so mineral defficient...usually bo-se and copper, that she has ruined her feet. You can improve does who are down in their pasterns with bo-se shots if this is a muscle issue or defficency, but to bring them back 100%, no. Does also can be so shallow in their heel, you never really can get them back up on their toes. A photo would help so we can't see what we are talking about. Vicki


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

*Re: Pastern issue*

I have a doe who tends to go down in her pasterns late in pregnancy. Bo-Se definitely helps her. This year, I am going to probably give her Bo-Se shots more routinely once she is bred.


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## Laverne (Apr 4, 2010)

*Re: Pastern issue*

Definitely Bo-se with my doe. She will start to get weak in the one pastern, collapsing a little, then I know she needs selenium. Straightens right up in a few hours.


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## ellie (Nov 17, 2007)

Back in the day before we knew how important copper was, I saw a lot of feet that looked exactly like that. Especially in the yearlings...


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## 4hmomwyo (Mar 25, 2009)

Would copper bolusing now make any difference?


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## ellie (Nov 17, 2007)

Unless you've been on top of copper all along, I think it sure couldn't hurt. Also be sure your selenium is up to par. I had some success with extra selenium for those does, like I say, before we knew how copper played in there with all the minerals...


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

That is not the kind of pastern issue I am familiar with.
Those are not long pasterns. It looks like a joint issue to me. She is cocked to the sides and weak pasterns in my experience make them cock back.
Can you photo the entire goat from the side- it may be a conformation issue up top.
It looks like she straddled a huge udder for a long lactation but as a yearling that is not likely.
Lee


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## hsmomof4 (Oct 31, 2008)

Yeah, that's definitely not what my goat who goes down in her pasterns looks like. Poor thing, she looks like a child trying to wear mommy's high heels and wobbling all over the place.


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## stoneyheightsfarm (Jan 19, 2008)

In my first year (which wasn't that long ago!) with goats, I asked if it was okay to breed them based on their weight. Some of the advise I got was to make sure I know my lines I'm working with and my management is what it needs to be, because without proper copper, selenium, and adequate calcium and protein for their needs, I could bow their legs and that it is a common problem in certain lines if they're not managed just right. They will pull the calcium out of their bones to give their kid(s). This looks like what was being described to me then. It also somewhat resembles some of Joyce's photos of copper deficiency affecting the legs. So, yes, I would copper bolus her, get her some BoSe, and make sure she's eating alfalfa. This is not a "down in the pasterns from relaxin around kidding time" thing. That would be rocking back, not sideways.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Can someone scan the photos of the sannens with bowed legs out of Goat Medicine...it shows the damage done to legs when you don't feed enough calcium, feed too much protein that binds the calcium they have to kids and then breed them early. Sorry but this looks structural, it isn't the right bow for this to be from that...or let me say that a different way, in the goats I have seen that bow their legs from defficency they are not weak in this area of their legs.

You can see in the second photo even in the front legs, she is very shallow in the heel and is walking on her inside toes, while her joint above the pastern is sprung in the opposite direction in the rear.

I would want a knowledgeable person look at the leg in the last photo, she has what looks like a old break on the inside leg, there definetly is something there in the photo. You can see it again in the 2nd photo, nearly like she is swollen in her hocks and pastern joints.

Has this doe been tested by the owner for CAE? We used to see knee and hock swellings. Although her hocks from the rear are not swollen.

I would love to see the rest of this doe to see if she is also posty or has buck knees in the front, she looks like she has poor conformation rather than a nutritonal or disease process going on. Vicki


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## Feral Nature (Oct 26, 2007)

My herd had leg issues until I started copper bolusing.


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## Squires (Jul 23, 2010)

Selenium deficiency can cause all sorts of muscle problems. Did I mention that while the usual suggestion for giving BoSe is twice a year, that some livestock need it monthly? Some bloodlines or genetics of livestock seem to go through it faster than others, so become more deficient sooner.


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## LamanchaLover (Jan 11, 2010)

We had a goat once that when she was pregnant she got really bad pasterns, but after she kidded, it went away. :really And she was fine. But it looked really painful.


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