How to make roo stop attacking

[Chicken.Lytle]

The best time to catch a feisty rooster is when the flock has roosted for the night.

There are a few methods for removing spurs. You can twist them off, using pliers or using your hands. You can soften them with a hot potato and them pull them off. Google for it.

 

[2bradleys]

Oh god. That seems rather...painful. For the rooster, that is. Can't I just clip them, like with dog toe-nail clippers? Keep them really short? I guess I'm assuming that they, in fact, like a toe-nail. I've never actually touched one, so I don't know what they're made of. Maybe repeatedly clipping them would be more painful, lol.

 

[Chicken.Lytle]

Quote:
I saw a youtube video where somebody uses a razor blade to pare down and then chop off the spurs. Required a lot of powder to stop the bleeding. Makes me think that it was the wrong method.

I would speculate that the spur could be tipped like dog and cat nails. Don't go too far with the cut or it will bleed, like dog and cat nails. Seriously, check out the hot potato method. If I ever remove spurs, that will be what I try first.

 

[azygous]

I've removed rooster spurs using pliers, and the roo gave no indication he was feeling any pain whatsoever. In fact, Stan the roo dozed in my lap as I was operating. It's important to grasp the spur at the base firmly with the pliers, and twist back and forth very, very gently until you feel them loosen, then put the pliers down and finish with your fingers. The outer "horn" will lift off exposing a small, fleshy nub no larger than the tip of your little finger. Put some first aid ointment on them and they'll harden in a day or so. Little or no blood involved and no pain.

Oh, and yes you can clip them short with dog nail clippers, but just as with nails, you have to be very, very careful not to get so far down you're into the fleshy inner nub. If you cut into the quick, you'll have a lot of bleeding to deal with. And I imagine it would be painful for the roo if that happens.