Saturday, June 21, 2008

Worthless Crook

I recently bought a crook from Premier Supplies based on their glowing description.
Most functional and satisfying neck crook we've used. Lightweight, strong and quick in the hand. Top is molded from very tough plastic--so it will never lose its original shape and almost never breaks. Shaft is coated fiberglass. We love everything about it. When given a choice, we always grab this one.

At $39, it was also the most expensive crook that they carried, but I wanted one that would last.

I decided to try it out and do some hoof trimming today. Things were going great, but on the third goat I caught, the top broke right off! I was so disgusted. I've had nothing but good experiences with Premier and their products, so I hope that they will give me a refund when I call them on Monday. I might try out the leg crook instead, which is made of solid aluminum. Presumably that will hold up better with strong goats.

Speaking of hoof trimming, this time I used a homemade rope halter (based on this design) to tie each goat to a tree while I trimmed her hooves. Tally decided to take a nap and enjoy her pedicure. She was stretched flat out on the ground, completely relaxed. I was actually a little bit worried, because that is not normal behavior for a goat, but she got right up once I untied her and gave a little tug on the halter. None of the rest were as cooperative.

2 comments:

Tracy said...

Are you sure you don't want Steven to hand-make you one (a crook) like he did for himself?

Mel, Foxtail Farm said...

Actually, I was planning to try to do that myself. I just need to do the research to find which of my local woods is the strongest, and then find a sapling that's the right size.

Your goats are rather tamer than mine, though, aren't they?