Foot exams - a necessity!

[azygous]

Careful with the talons. They can be deceptive. Some chickens have longer ones than others. You need to get the chicken in good light and look closely at the nail. If the tip of the nail is more than a quarter inch from the quick, then you can carefully trim it, always being aware that the quick is never far from the nail tip even with the longest nails. Most of the time, chickens wear their nails down naturally, and trimming isn't necessary. But occasionally, a chicken will have fast-growing nails, and they can get dangerously long if you don't trim them.

Another issue with feet, especially in large breeds, is nails that break off at the toe. This can be caused by lots of things, but jumping down from a perch that's too high is the most common. Almost all my Brahmas have lost their toe nails. When it happens, they bleed, and if the nail is hanging, you need to remove it, and treat it with some Blu-kote or Betadine.

They get along okay without their nails, but you would rather they keep them so they can forage more effectively.

 

[azygous]

I discovered my Dremmel works great to trim long nails without the danger of cutting into the quick.

I noticed my five-year old GLW Irene had a couple of very, very long toe nails. I usually just assume they'll wear the nails down scratching around in the dirt, but occasionally, I notice some abnormally long ones, usually on older chickens.

As I mentioned previously, these long nails have quicks deceptively close to the tip. I just feel horrible when I cut into the quick, and it bleeds as well as hurts the chicken.

I used a sandpaper attachment on the Dremmel, and it ground down the nail slowly but surely. When the quick arrived, it was just a pin prick of blood, not even enough to form a drop.

This is what I'll be using from now on to trim nails on the flock.