Delawares from kathyinmo

[rancher hicks]

Awwww. They shouldn't be skeeered.

We've done spurs before ... twisted them off with pliers. But we also wrapped the quicks in gauze & vet wrap, and I'd like to avoid that if it is possible.

This site suggests it is possible to not wrap up the quicks after pulling the spurs off. I think this is the method we'll try this time. ... https://sites.google.com/a/poultrypedia.com/poultrypedia/home/rooster-spurs-trimming-and-removing

It just seems so painful. Like ripping off your finger nail rather than trimming it with clipper. Course even with a dremel you have to be careful not to hit the quick. I figure a bit shorter would be better than ripping off the spur.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

It just seems so painful.  Like ripping off your finger nail rather than trimming it with clipper.  Course even with a dremel you have to be careful not to hit the quick.  I figure a bit shorter would be better than ripping off the spur. 

Then I need to look into grinding them. I don't like having to hurt the birds.

 

[Zanna]

Then I need to look into grinding them. I don't like having to hurt the birds.

I usually trim them close to the quick with dog nail clippers then use a horse hoof type file to smooth them out. This usually does not make them a lot shorter and hubby and I can never get them perfectly smooth again so they are still a little sharp/jagged in spots. Wonder if it is even worth it? I have two Cocks in breeder pens with pullets/hens right now and I just left their spurs alone. I keep checking the females for cuts/rubs and so far so good, no problems.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

We had pretty go luck with making nice short spurs when we popped them off the hatchery birds a couple years ago. But we skipped Ruffles and Pecker & CuckooRoo and PapaDel weren't here yet. Some spurs on the cocks we did are growing back, but not all.

I have to do Ruffles and Pecker cuz they are having trouble walking as their spurs are long to the inside. CuckooRoo is so aggressive with the hens it would be nice to get his spurs off.

PapaDel doesn't look bad. At least not yet. I think breeding damage last year was from toes, not spurs.

Popping the spurs off was fast, but I remember plenty of blood. Holding them to file after trimming might be tricky. I do have files and dog nail trimmers.

Now I'm rethinking things.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I just showed Dad 5 youtube videos of different spur shortening techniques, so now he's feeling more confident about assisting with the procedure.

To make things below more clear, I'll divide the spur components into the "horn" (the dead finger-nail type portion) and the "quick" (the tender fleshy living cone around which the spur horn grows). If someone knows better words for these parts, I'm all ears.

Video One: simply trimmed back the crispy horn part of the spur a bit with dog nail trimmers. No filing. Fast and simple, but where to stop cutting? How often is repeating this procedure necessary? And I'd worry about jagged edges.

Video Two: used a saw blade on a Dremel to cut through both the horn and the quick to completely remove both at about 1/4" from the junction with the leg. No blood, but that wouldn't that permanently alter the bird? And the bird seemed to be uncomfortable with that procedure. I gather the theory with this one is the blade moves fast enough to heat up and cauterize the cut. I found it hard to watch.

Video Three: followed the PoultryPedia site's hot-potato technique. This one seems to generate the most blood, which is what I'd expect from a warmed-up quick. Also, the horn part got a little mushy, so it didn't seem to twist or snap off very easily. Lots of blood-stop powder and waiting for the bird to stop bleeding.

Videos Four & Five: the spurs were not treated with heat first and were simply popped off by gently squeezing and slightly twisting the horn around the quick with pliers until it released. Very little indication of pain from the birds, very little blood, a one-person operation. Video Four demonstrated just putting the bird back down on the floor of the coop and called it good (plus suggested using the horns in craft projects

). This was on an 8 yo bird which had had the spurs removed once before. She was able to use her fingers to remove one of the spurs. Video Five was the same technique, emphasizing to gently grasp the horn with the pliers, and stating there is sometimes "one drop" of blood. He also suggested isolating the bird for a while and keeping an eye on it in the (rare) case there might be some infection. These two videos were Dad's favorites, and mine.

I could put the links to the videos here if people are curious about which specific videos we watched.

 

[finnfur]

I just showed Dad 5 youtube videos of different spur shortening techniques, so now he's feeling more confident about assisting with the procedure.

To make things below more clear, I'll divide the spur components into the "horn" (the dead finger-nail type portion) and the "quick" (the tender fleshy living cone around which the spur horn grows). If someone knows better words for these parts, I'm all ears.

Video One: simply trimmed back the crispy horn part of the spur a bit with dog nail trimmers. No filing. Fast and simple, but where to stop cutting? How often is repeating this procedure necessary? And I'd worry about jagged edges.

Video Two: used a saw blade on a Dremel to cut through both the horn and the quick to completely remove both at about 1/4" from the junction with the leg. No blood, but that wouldn't that permanently alter the bird? And the bird seemed to be uncomfortable with that procedure. I gather the theory with this one is the blade moves fast enough to heat up and cauterize the cut. I found it hard to watch.

Video Three: followed the PoultryPedia site's hot-potato technique. This one seems to generate the most blood, which is what I'd expect from a warmed-up quick. Also, the horn part got a little mushy, so it didn't seem to twist or snap off very easily. Lots of blood-stop powder and waiting for the bird to stop bleeding.

Videos Four & Five: the spurs were not treated with heat first and were simply popped off by gently squeezing and slightly twisting the horn around the quick with pliers until it released. Very little indication of pain from the birds, very little blood, a one-person operation. Video Four demonstrated just putting the bird back down on the floor of the coop and called it good (plus suggested using the horns in craft projects

). This was on an 8 yo bird which had had the spurs removed once before. She was able to use her fingers to remove one of the spurs. Video Five was the same technique, emphasizing to gently grasp the horn with the pliers, and stating there is sometimes "one drop" of blood. He also suggested isolating the bird for a while and keeping an eye on it in the (rare) case there might be some infection. These two videos were Dad's favorites, and mine.

I could put the links to the videos here if people are curious about which specific videos we watched.

Real easy - don't get worked up about it -

You can do it with your fingers only but I use pliers because I have arthritis in fingers and can't get enough grip.
You can take a squirt bottle with some peroxide in it first to kill germs and again after removal.
They some times bleed a little but heal quick.
I think if you make a mistake with a dremel cutoff you may have more risk of a bleed problem.
remember this is only removing the hard shell like your fingernail .
If you want to do it right buy a bottle of Cockspur Rum, drink 8 oz . It won't help the Cock any but it will build up your courage.
Easy - Just do it !

 

[finnfur]

It just seems so painful. Like ripping off your finger nail rather than trimming it with clipper. Course even with a dremel you have to be careful not to hit the quick. I figure a bit shorter would be better than ripping off the spur.

Its not the same- your fingernail is attached on top of the finger - the spur is just a hard casing and grows from the bottom - when you break it at the base it slides right out of the casing- the new growth is what slides out- that has blood flow in it - thats why I don't think dremel cutoff is wise JMHO

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I think if you were inclined to trim the horn back to a point just shy of the quick instead of removing it, then having a dremel grinder bit to polish the cut end smooh would be handy. But I didn't like the video that showed sawing through both the horn and quick with the dremel.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Real easy - don't get worked up about it - 

You can do it with your fingers only but I use pliers because I have arthritis in fingers and can't get enough grip.
You can take a squirt bottle with some peroxide in it first to kill germs and again after removal.
They some times bleed a little but heal quick.
I think if you make a mistake with a dremel cutoff you may have more risk of a bleed problem.
remember this is only removing the hard shell like your fingernail .
If you want to do it right buy a bottle of Cockspur Rum, drink 8 oz . It won't help the Cock any but it will build up your courage.
Easy - Just do it !

Too funny!

Did you segregate your cock after taking off his spurs, or just toss him back in with the ladies. How long before he stopped dripping blood on their backs?

 

[finnfur]

Too funny!

Did you segregate your cock after taking off his spurs, or just toss him back in with the ladies. How long before he stopped dripping blood on their backs?

I remember telling you I couldn't figure out why hens had brown spots on there back - it was spur blood- so it must not hurt to bad because it didn't slow down either Bert or Ernie.
Gee if you separate him from his lades he will think he is being punished for something.
Spots all gone after first good rain.