Rooster spur trimming for the hesitant owner.

Ridgerunner said:

The way I use the Dremel too is to wrap the rooster in a towel around the wings to keep him contained. He very seldom resists anyway but I do it by myself, not with someone to hold him. So wrap him in something. I don’t even have to hold him, just hold onto his leg. It might help keep him calmer if you cover his head as well as just wrap him but don’t suffocate him. It’s amazing how just wrapping him normally calms them down.

Using the metal cutter on the Dremel tool, cut off the end of the spur. It cuts through really quickly. You might want to practice on something else, like a nail, to get used to holding the tool and using it. You do need to hold it steady.

The spur grows something like a fingernail. It has a quick in it that can be hard to see. It grows sort of like a core out from the base. That’s what’s left when people twist off the spur. If the spurs are really light colored you might be able to see the quick, but that’s not likely with darker spurs. As long as you stay out of the quick it should not even bleed. Even if you cut into the quick the rooster will probably not even flinch.

I don’t know how long the quick is in that particular rooster. I haven’t trimmed one with spurs that long. You should be able to cut off half the spur easily without hitting the quick, but if you want to play it real safe, just take off about a third. If those spurs are curling like I think they are, 1/3 should be plenty.

When I finish I just take the rooster back to his flock and let him go. He immediately mates with a hen and goes about his business.

Stuff can happen. If he does bleed, it’s not that big a deal. It’s usually not much, if any. You can have some flour handy to use to stop the bleeding as a precaution, but taking off less than half you should not need it.

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Ridgerunner said:

I use the one for metal.

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