Experience with removing spur casing? Need help!

[KelliV]

Hello! I currently have a flock of 30 birds. 12 of the birds are full grown, and in their own area. Of those 12 birds, one is a roo. He's very friendly, and that's the only reason he's hung around this long.

He is enjoying a little too much action, leaving three of my EE hens with feather loss on their backs. Of course, that has led to one of the girls getting pecked to the point that I have had to remove her from the flock to 'heal'. I have tried chicken saddles (not a whole lot of luck - they keep managing to get them off), blue koyte, and black salve with no help. I just end up with a roo that has black goo all over his bum.

After exhausting all of these options, I found some advice on removing the spur casing from the Roo on BYC (ala:

). My questions are as follows:

1. For people that have done this, what has your experience been? Does it seem to create a lot of distress in the Roo's? Have you had to isolate? Is there a healing process? Have you had trouble with infection? Is it relatively easy to do?

2. Any suggestions other than this?

I don't particularly want to isolate the Roo. He's not aggressive or nasty, and the girls don't seem to mind. I just can't deal with seeing the missing feathers, and then the picking.

I know that this can be a 'sensitive' topic. I'm not looking for opinions on if you feel it's right or not, just experiences if you have done this.

Thanks for any help and suggestions!

 

[chickenzoo]

I do it too many of my roos, especially when they start getting too long etc.... It is fairly easy to do. Have some one hold the roo, then use a pair of flat grip pliers and hold the spur in it almost near the point of it joining the leg, leaving 1/8 of an inch. Press pliers together and slightly turn until you feel it pop and start to slide off. Slip it off, apply some flour or blood stop and he should be fine. Some of mine are bleeders others not so much. They seem fine afterward, some a little sore. It will most often grow back in time, so it needs repeating every so often.

 

[KelliV]

Thanks for the advice! Now I just have to work up the gusto to do it.

 

[scubaforlife]

They pop off pretty easily. Just think of it as training for the day you might have to perform Bumble Foot surgery or Caponizing.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I used a dremel tool and cut the spurs off. People may think it is bad but it is a lot like cutting a fingernail.

I wrapped him in a towel, help him under one arm, and cut both spurs off, leaving a bit of spur. He is a Speckeld Sussex with pretty white legs, if that makes any difference. I could pretty well see where the meaty part stopped and the fingernail-like material started, so he did not bleed or flinch at all. When I finished, I just put him back in the run with the hens. He almost immediately started dancing for his hens.

It did not solve the problem. My wife recently had to make a saddle for an Australorp. A photo and the instructions she used are in this thread.

Chicken Saddle
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=308892

 

[KelliV]

Quote:
I am afraid of that. I used the exact info to make my chicken saddles (great info and easy to do!). I even added an extra strap that went around the midsection to try to help them stay in place.

For those of you that have done this, do you know if it helps with this problem? This group is a little over a year old, and I've never had this problem until the Roo's spurs got a little longer.

 

[Lollipop]

Yup, done it many times. Works very well. The stub that is left hardens in a week or so to form a new, shorter spur. Never had as much blood as in the video and never had an issue with infection. Make yourself a Crocidial Dundee necklace. I have also used a dremmel and prefer it. I cut about 3/8 to 1/2 inch from the leg. The dremmel cut off wheel does a good job of cauterizing the spur stub so there is little if any blood. A little pressure on the stub for a few minutes and any blood stops. Get a helper as the cock usually doesn`t like the buzzing of the dremmel, but appears as if nothing happened as soon as he`s loose. Do it like ya mean it. It will hurt you more than it does him.........Pop

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

I used a dremel on my roo - he had huge, huge spurs - thicker than my pinkie finger. I cut about 1/2 inch from his legs, they (spurs) bled, but the dremel cauterized them. Did it in the eve - DH held roo, I dremeled, then did his nail tips also - we just put him back to bed with the girls when we were done.

 

[mstricer]

Quote:
Its definetly not at all like Caponizing!!!!! That is a surgical procudure that is learned over time and you can kill your birds very easily.