Topic of the Week - Beaks, spurs and nails

[Chickassan]

I use one of those pedicure tools to dull the tips of my roosters spurs when it is necessary it is like a dremel tool for your feet. I hardly ever have to do it but the tool is quiet and I only smooth the tip so it isn't uncomfortable for him.I don't want to disarm the guy just make life a little less scratchy for his ladies and his own legs.Nails don't get clipped since mine free range and the one cracked beak I've experienced was bonded with kids non toxic nail polish, not professional by any means but it worked.

 

[guinealeghorn]

I know I don't have a good balance of hens to roosters. I have 7 bantam roosters with 3 bantam hens. The roosters also mate with my 6 white leghorn hens, so the ratio is 7:9. I didn't mean to get 7 roosters, but they came from an auction, so I didn't have much choice. I don't believe in killing the extras, so I have quite a few roosters. The backs of my hens are good yet, but their necks are bare. Right behind their heads, they have a patch of pink skin where all the feathers were plucked out. Is this just because of too many roosters/bad technique?

 

[guinealeghorn]

P.S. My boys are still cockerels.

 

[sonshine15]

We had to remove my Silkie roos spurs a couple months or so ago. Poor guy. He couldn't walk properly and was really messing up the girls back feathers. It was much more traumatic on me than it was him. I held him while DH applied some light pressure on the spurs with a pair of pliers. He did bleed on one a bit so I put quick stop on it and placed him in a carrier until I was sure he was doing well.
P.S. I learned you do not put them in a carrier with shavings if they just had the spurs twisted off. The shavings aggravate the spurs.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I know I don't have a good balance of hens to roosters. I have 7 bantam roosters with 3 bantam hens. The roosters also mate with my 6 white leghorn hens, so the ratio is 7:9. I didn't mean to get 7 roosters, but they came from an auction, so I didn't have much choice. I don't believe in killing the extras, so I have quite a few roosters. The backs of my hens are good yet, but their necks are bare. Right behind their heads, they have a patch of pink skin where all the feathers were plucked out. Is this just because of too many roosters/bad technique?

Yes too many Roos. Most people say 8 or more girls per rooster. Some people say less is ok. I know how you feel. People think I'm crazy I don't want to kill off extra boys just because their boys. If they were nasty to me or the hens it would be one thing. But I have 2 Roos that are both well behaved.
You can always try rehoming. I always say it just means I need more girls!

 

[Chickeggdiction]

Please help my poor BPR. She broke her beak yesterday I have no idea how it happened. I found no blood anywhere in the coop or run. I let my flock of 6 out for maybe a half hour while cleaning the coop to free range they didn't go more than 10 yards from the coop the entire time. She was one of my favorite birds and I feel terrible for her I know a chickens beak is vital to how it survives and I'm not sure what to do for her, how to handle this, or if she is really even going to be able to eat or drink. I put soft canned pumpkin in the coop today for her as well as a different type of waterier. Please take a good look at the picture (pretty much entire beak gone, NO BLOOD) let me know anything I should do first aid wise, and any other information I might find helpful. Is this common? Should I take her to a vet? Will the beak regenerate at all? Will she be able to survive? How badly will this affect her quality of life? How does this happen my BO looks to have a small crack in her beak also and I'm scared this is going to happen again? Could she have pecked the glass window in the background of the picture hare enough to break it? Thank you everyone I appreciate the help just feel bad for my bird want to take care of her and don't want this to happen to my others, this is my first flock.

I have had two broken beaks one just as bad as your hens and it regenerated. In the meantime you have to make sure she is able to eat and drink. I provided mine with a deep feeding bucket so she could easily fill her beak. My other hen is a cross beak and although we have trimmed her with a nail file weekly she managed to break off the top portion of her beak. She is doing extremely well eating and drinking still. If she is with others I would consider keeping a close eye to see if she is able to eat and drink easily and if not isolate her till it regrows. You'll be surprised at how resilient they are!

 

[guinealeghorn]

Yes too many Roos. Most people say 8 or more girls per rooster. Some people say less is ok. I know how you feel. People think I'm crazy I don't want to kill off extra boys just because their boys. If they were nasty to me or the hens it would be one thing. But I have 2 Roos that are both well behaved.
You can always try rehoming. I always say it just means I need more girls!

Lol! I might have to go buy some hens!

 

[BabyGirl2]

My chickens are game so the less I have to pick them up and go into their pen the better they like it. Their beaks they keep trimmed by wiping them on the wood walls and roosts in their pen and coop. Their toenails need a little trim but I've never done it. I'm looking for a natural way they can do it themselves. As for Georgia, my rooster, I trim his spurs every few months with help from my dad, we use a heavy duty pair of clippers made for trimming small trees and plants. He isn't at all happy about it and I think he knows when it's time for a trim because it is the only time he runs away from me instead of threating to attack.

 

[chickengr]

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

tell it to my poor bared back girls. I treated 3 of them for wounds that got infected before I saw it. and I trimmed the rooster's spurs.

 

[sonshine15]

I did a search on leg bands for geese. There's not much of a selection out there. Two are very easy to tell apart at first sight. At this point if they lost one of the small bands I could tell by watching them awhile and their personalities. Bands just make is so much easier to call them by name right off the bat. Does anyone know where some wider, pretty leg bands are sold? Right now they have on the small colored chick zips.