Topic of the Week - Beaks, spurs and nails

[TheTwoRoos]

I have let my roosters' spurs grow out in the past, and have found that they are not really useful as they can tear up a hen's back, and one rooster damaged a hen's vent. Also, very long spurs I've noticed can interfere with the rooster walking.

It was recommended by a veterinarian last year to start trimming the spurs after the cockerel is one year old, when the spurs start to grow more, and keep trimming little at a time as the spurs grow so that way the spurs never get too long. I have two one year old cockerels this year, and I will start trimming their spurs very soon.

A minor cracked beak heals on it's own.

The spurs have nothing to do with the tearing of the back,spurs are very useful,it is a good weapon.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

Great topic Sumi, thank you.

I look forward to input from others.

I'm pretty simple...as in I don't do much.

- How and when do you trim your chickens' beaks and nails?
Never seen the need to. They free range scratching all day long. Nails, beaks are fine.

- Do you remove your roosters' spurs and how do you do it?
My Barnevelder boy is about 2 years old, and just now getting some small to medium spurs. I've thought about trimming them. Has anyone tried the baked potato method?

- How do you manage beak problems, such as cross beaks, broken/cracked beaks?
Never had any. I would likely cull any chick with a cross beak. Broken/cracked...none of my birds have had any.
LofMc

 

[JanetMarie]

@kpolenz

I use pet nail trimmers, with the hole in the center. In the past I've only trimmed very long spurs, and since they were a good length haven't been able to really trim as much off as I wanted, since the quick grows out also, with the spur. Also, all my roosters have had light colored spurs, so can see where the quick is. With only keeping roosters that I can handle, I also have filed the edges of the trimmed spurs, so there's no edges to damage a hen's back.

To start trimming the smaller spurs, I'll just do the same.

 

[JanetMarie]

@TheTwoRoos

With no predator attack, no other things that a hen can go under to cause injury, and feathers have been getting less and less on the hen's back, there is a tear right where the rooster would mount, and a rooster who mates a lot. So if not the spur, what else do you suspect has torn the hen's back?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I suggest you look at your rooster's legs and feet. Look closely at the spurs. How many are there and how sharp are they. Then look at the claws, same questions. One additional question, what does a rooster stand on when he mounts a hen, spurs or claws?

There are big differences in cockerel and roosters. Cockerels often are extremely enthusiastic and many don't have great technique. A lot of the time the females, hens or pullets, don't cooperate either, so a cockerel is more apt to use force. A lot of the complaints on this forum concern cockerels that haven't grown much more than nubs for spurs, yet pullets or hens are barebacked and sometimes even injured. It doesn't do much good to talk about trimming spurs in this situation, the spurs are not causing the problem.

Roosters are a different story. They can grow long sharp spurs. These spurs can be a dangerous weapon. Some mature roosters never develop good technique. Some mature roosters don't have the personality to win the admiration and cooperation of the hens, they still have to use force to mate. With many flocks a mature rooster does not cause a problem with his spurs, but it certainly can happen. I'd suggest that most of the time the claws are what is causing the feather loss and sometimes the cuts, but with the feathers thinned out or gone, the spurs are much more likely to cut the hen.

Another time you may need to trim spurs, usually on older chickens, is when the spurs get so long they curl up and start to penetrate into the legs. Sometimes they get so long it makes it hard for the bird to walk. There have been a few posts with photos on this forum where this happens to old hens, not just roosters.

I hardly ever trim spurs or claws. When I do I use a Dremel tool with one of those discs used to cut metal. I wrap the chicken in a towel around the wings which keeps it pretty calm.

In some chickens the quick grows out pretty close to the end, in others not nearly so much. With some I can see the quick but usually not. I don't try to take a lot off, maybe 1/3 to 1/4 of the spur or claw. I'm interested in blunting the sharpness of the spur or claw not removing it. I occasionally draw a little blood but usually not. When I do it's just a drop or so. I don't know, maybe the spinning disc gets hot enough to cauterize the wound. You can keep stuff like corn starch or flour handy to stop bleeding if you wish, I don't. I just turn the chicken back with the flock, no treatment or anything. Another forum member uses a Dremel tool but instead of a cutting disc she uses a grinder. When she sees a drop of blood, she stops. There are plenty of other ways to blunt them.

 

[Allison Halter]

I cut my roosters spurs for the first time last night--I have a LF Cochin and a Frizzle that had VERY long spurs--the other roosters spurs are not long--I used dog nail clippers and cut off about 1/2 inch on the frizzle (no blood) and about 1/4 inch on the Cochin (a little blood but stopped in a short amount of time). Never had a problem with beaks or nails as of yet-have had chickens for about 3 years. The two above mentioned roosters were tearing up the backs of the chickens--they have saddles on now-will see how the shortened nails work

 

[sfgwife]

[QUOTE="ChicKat, post: 18550177, member: 92697"
Beaks:
Once had an Isbar with slight tendency to cross beak - and using a nail file on her beak enabled her to better eat her feed.

[/QUOTE]

Scissor beaks... how often did you file them? We have a boy with one. He eats jus fine and is growin like the girls are. We keep a brick in the tractor for them now. And when we get coop done will have somethin similar for them also. Didn't know if we need do it on a schedule alomst or jus watch and see when it needs be done or if at all as long as he is gettin along fine.

 

[ChicKat]

[QUOTE="ChicKat, post: 18550177, member: 92697"

Scissor beaks... how often did you file them? We have a boy with one. He eats jus fine and is growin like the girls are. We keep a brick in the tractor for them now. And when we get coop done will have somethin similar for them also. Didn't know if we need do it on a schedule alomst or jus watch and see when it needs be done or if at all as long as he is gettin along fine.

On mine it was a one-time thing. On yours it sounds like if he is getting along okay - you probably don't need to do anything. The one I had was very slight and perhaps even hard to notice, however, her feed consumption improved. Back in those days too, Isbars were super-rare -- so we all wanted to preserve every single one we could encounter. I see someone posted something about culling cross-beak. Part of the solution would depend on the severity of the chicken's difficulty and the intentions of the chickens owner IMO - Often with chickens there isn't a 'one-size-fits-all' solution.

 

[rottlady]

I trim my hen nails when I think of it but do the rooster every month

 

[meekasmom]

I just use a dremel to keep his spurs down to a nub.