Chicken toe nail problems, really long! Pics

[Soccer Mom]

Wow! I've never seen nails get like that. I can only imagine how they were hiding under those feathered feet. I wonder if perhaps hers grow at an abnormally high rate. In horses and donkeys, abnormally rapid hoof growth is usually a metabolic or thyroid problem. I wonder if perhaps she has a metabolic disorder? Whether it is a reluctance to walk around or a metabolic disorder, it looks like she's going to need regular trimming.

I don't envy you.

 

[WriterofWords]

Quote:
She called me every name in the book and then attacked the sleeping cat on my desk which then knocked the keyboard off the desk breaking to plastic plug attachment that goes to the main brain. She also pooped in my lap and bit my knuckles. This was before we got the clippers near her.
We then wrapped her in a hoodie with just her feet showing and only trimmed about 1/4 of inch and we'll do a little at a time so she doesn't get hurt. When we let her out of the hoodie she stalked into the cage and turned her big white butt on us.

 

[Bird Collector]

I also have a chicken who requires regular manicures. Willow is a silkie and she has never had a proper gate and struggles to run.

She runs side to side verses forward. However functional and cute to watch, I ussually follow her through open areas in the yard so she does not get snatched away from those things in the air. She often looks like she is waiting for her escort. I also have a cronic problem with scaley leg mites so she always has vasilne or bag bum on her. She should have silkie feet!!

She does scratch for food but her nails grow too fast. I think she has gotten comfortable with her nails being cut. I want to cut away all her feet/toe feathers so I can manage her mite problem better but I am not sure you can do that.

She is known as my special needs chicken and I love her to death. She gets a lot of extra care and attention. Okay enough rambling.

 

[WriterofWords]

Show Off runs funny too! She's never had mites or anything or though. I hate to trim her pretty feathers, so I'll probably leave them alone.

 

[gsim]

Without knowing the facts, it seems that she does not get enough time around dirt to dig and scratch. Dogs that are inside all of the time get the same way. In future go out to coop after dark and just take her off of roost and hold her while a helper trims all nails. I would cut them to where they were no more than 1/4" long.

 

[Rocky Meadows]

I had a battered hen that we took in that looked like that and did a trim and then put corn starch on the nails to prevent bleeding. She doing alot better now. Good luck!

 

[Slywoody]

I have Seramas in the house on wire and have to trim nails about every 2 months. They'er small so easy to hold in one hand and trim with the other.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

I have a really old hen that I have to trim her nails twice a month. I soak her feet in warm water & epsom salts before I do it. Makes the nails a bit softer and easier to cut & see what I am doing if feet are clean.

 

[LilBizzy]

Quote:
I truly love your chicken stories. You always take a hairy situation and make it humorous. Kinda like me, but better. Your chickens have great personalities, and you allow us to visualize perfectly.

so, Little Miss Princess didn't want a pedicure? Didn't you tell her ALL the important chicken stars get pedicures? Remind her she can not be a true Princess untl her nails are a proper Princess length.

 

[WriterofWords]

Quote:
Show Off has about an acre to scratch around in but chooses not to. She likes her perch and she stays there. Every now and then in the earlier morning hours she'll leave the coop and pen and go out in the yard/desert area she has to mess around in and she dirt bathes,, then she goes right back to the coop and onto the perch.
She's only about 13 months old too!