Rooster spur trim?

[McNugget]

Is it save to trim a rooster's spur? If so, what do you use and how short do you trim it?

 

[Mother of All]

It is better to take a pair of pliers and grab the base of the spur and twist it off.

 

[Teach97]

i trim them with dog nail clippers...i just take the tip off

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:

I just can't bring myself to do it! LOL I usually use dog nail clippers & take off as much of the sharp part as I can...

 

[silkiechicken]

I've never trimmed mine, but found that every few years, when the spur gets to about 3 inches or so, the roo tends to break them on something somewhere and walks around with a bloody inch long stub for a day or two... and it just grows back and repeats the process.

If you trim, treat it like a nail, if you decide to remove the nail cap over the spur quick stop may be handy in stopping the bleeding if you what to do so.

 

[95yj]

I love the look of spurs, and i have sweet friendly bantam show roosters who don't even fight with each other (i have a reverse trio in one pen, two roosters and one hen and they all get along great, pretty sure my roosters are *fabulous*) so i never trim spurs unless they start getting too long and curving back up into the leg. But yeah, its completely safe to either trim it with dog clippers, file it down with sand paper or completely remove it. They have no nerves in their spurs, their kind of like finger nails. that can stab.

 

[Ridgerunner]

This thread may help. I used a dremel tool. I wrapped the rooster in a towel to keep it calm and easily cut the end of the spur off. With the white legs of my Speckled Sussex I could kinda tell where the blood vessels ended. With darker legged birds it may not be as easy or even possible to see where to cut. It was a lot like cutting your fingernails. As long as you stay out of the quick, it is no big deal. It did not bother him at all.

Trimming Spurs Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=92697

 

[krobin04]

If I use the plier method, which I am squeamish about, will there be much blood? They don't have nerves there, but it is like a fingernail quick? How can that be? Hurts like heck when I rip my nail off. My boys have dark gray ones, can't see where the "quick" ends... what to do, what to do...