Trimming hens spurs?

[purpletiger]

Hi everyone! I have a Dominique hen that's three years old and she is growing quite a set of spurs. Every year they seem to get longer. It's starting to affect the way she walks a little bit. She can still walk and run, but she uses more of the outside of her feet, probably to keep herself from tripping on them. Would filing them down every month eventually make them smaller? Or will they remain as long as they are now? I''m looking to bring them down a 1/2 inch if I can. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[sunflour]

I have not had any spurs among my own hens, but would definitely grind those down - here's link to a discussion #1.

There's also other sources of how to if you google. Just do a little at a time til you get the points under control.

 

[aart]

Those don't look too bad as far as length goes, they look pretty darn sharp tho.
I would nip off maybe an eight of an inch, then file off the sharp edges.
Do you have any experience clipping dogs nails?

Here's a couple pics of a spur anatomy for reference, just added them to that thread.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-spurs-and-nails.1177454/page-6#post-19371569

 

[purpletiger]

Thanks for the link! So a spur is basically a supper long nail. Yes I clip my cats and dogs nails every month. Do you think if were to clip of a bit every month I could eventually get them shorter?

 

[DaviJones]

I don't think they will eventually stop growing if that's what you mean by get shorter. I've heard of clipping them before, just be sure to check for the quick and use something heavy duty to clip. You probably already know how to find the quick but in case it's more difficult on chickens a flashlight should help. Maybe keep some corn starch on hand in case you accidently hit the quick, although you're probably pretty experienced. Best of luck!


Disclaimer:I'm hardly an expert, I just parrot what the real experts on here say.

 

[aart]

Do you think if were to clip of a bit every month I could eventually get them shorter?

I have no idea, but kind of doubt it.
I would think that if you nip a spur quick it's gonna bleed a lot more than a dog nail because the quick is so much larger. I've found using a dremel with a coarse sanding drum is good for dog nails, if you hit the quick it's a much smaller area and thus bleed. Might go the same for a spur.

But really there's no reason to trim a hen spur, except to take the sharpness off, unless they curl up into her leg or really inhibit her walking.

Ditto the corn starch, worked great when I ran out of the commercial bleed stop stuff for the dogs.

 

[purpletiger]

Thanks for your help everyone! I'll just file them down so they're not so sharp.