How short can a chicken's claws be and be perfectly healthy.

[ALJhappychicken]

I have a chicken whose claws are pretty long. I'm going to clip them soon, but can anybody tell me how short is too short? I would hate to have her start bleeding just because I clipped her nails into the quick...

 

[Stiggy]

as long as you don't get the quick they should be fine, same with beak trimming when it gets over grown.

 

[centrarchid]

Why trim claws? You may be able to get same results by having bird walk and scratch on hard surface.

 

[enola]

Not every one can provide their chickens with "a surface to scratch on". People who can't free range sometimes have to trim their chicken's toe nails........

 

[centrarchid]

Cinderblock.

 

[centrarchid]

Or sandpaper wrapped around roost pole. The lack of wear may not be limited to claws but also pads on on feet.

 

[enola]

I tried sand paper around the roost. They avoided it at all cost....

 

[ALJhappychicken]

She's been using a sandpaper roosting pole for the past three days but I'm not seeing much of a difference. But she hasn't been moving too much, anyway. Just sitting there. I did trim them a bit today but not the middle ones. They're over a cm. long... Is that considered long? Her claws are affecting her walking, I think.

 

[skunknchatter]

You should be able to tell where the quick is by looking at the under side of the nail. It usually ends when the nail starts to curve a lot. If you do quick them remember your chickens won't bleed to death out their toenails. You can also use a pinch of cornstarch to help stop a bleeding nail.

 

[ALJhappychicken]

You should be able to tell where the quick is by looking at the under side of the nail. It usually ends when the nail starts to curve a lot. If you do quick them remember your chickens won't bleed to death out their toenails. You can also use a pinch of cornstarch to help stop a bleeding nail.

Thanks. I did, unfortunately, clip one of me hen's toenails too long, so I did put some cornstarch on it. Luckily, she's a leghorn, so when th others checked her out, she ran and nobodyy can catch at chicken! Anything else I can do to help her?