Great rooster but he’s ripping my hens’ flanks

[Shadrach]

Thank you all for your replies. Holly, we are definitely willing to trim the spurs. And I appreciate all that you shared. It encouraged me. However I wonder, and perhaps worry, that Sourland has it right in the end. He is struggling to balance once in awhile. We have a variety of chicken breeds and Mason is just a good size (Maran.) The Ameraucana and leghorns aren’t doing well with him but larger breeds are fine. And of course he pursues those smaller, easier to pin breeds more frequently.

Do the rest of you agree that probably trimming the spurs is not going to help if there is this kind of disparity in size between the rooster and several of the hens?

There is no need to cut. Use a file and round the points off. I do a couple of the roosters here and it only takes a few minutes.
The point about the rooster being too large for the hens is also worth considering.
If the roosters feet don't sit comfortably on the hens shoulders (where the wing meets the body) then he is liable to slip during mating and his spurs and toenails are likely to damge the hens feathers and eventually skin.

 

[PoultryPeace]

Well we used some dog nail clippers and then filed his spurs and our other rooster’s as well. Not sure how much we can file the toenails. So barely did them. Just slightly rounded them. In your experience, how close is the quick in the toenails? Spurs were very sharp like talons. It was all easy to do. We will watch now and see if there are still balance issues with the smaller chickens, and if his positioning is correct. Stay tuned. Thank you again for your replies.

 

[aart]

Just slightly rounded them. In your experience, how close is the quick in the toenails?

Can be impossible to tell.
From trimming the dogs nails with guillotine clippers, and hitting quick with the resulting bloody mess that takes all d@mn day to quell, I've gone to using a dremel tool with a coarse sanding drum.
That way if/when I do hit the quick it's a tiny spot of blood rather than a big gusher,
just check frequently for that spot of quick.