Long nails

embkm

Songster
11 Years
Jan 16, 2009
571
7
139
Colbert, Ga
I am doing Poultry Judging with 4H this year. I went to pick up the 4 leghorn hens our county ordered and OMG! These are the most pathetic looking hens I've ever seen! They are scraggily and ragged. They've lived in cages their entire lives, they didn't even know what to do when I put them down on the grass in their new run.

And on top of everything else, they have some horrenously long nails. Some are almost an inch long! They seem to be walking ok. I need to trim them, but should I give them some time to get used to living here before I mess with them, or just go ahead and get all this out of the way so they can relax?
 
And I assume you know to have a cinder clock, a concrete block or a rough piece of rock like granite for them so they can self-trim their beaks and nails? They must have come from an environment where they did not have access to these things...what a shame.
 
Last edited:
Quote:
They have bricks in there that the oystershell and grit containers are on, just like in my personal chickens' area. But I don't know that they'll figure it out on their own. They are quarantined in their own area right now, so they can't even learn from my girls. I just feel so bad for them. Well, I guess I can consider these the lucky ones... they are only going to be used for the last practice tomorrow and the mock competition in 2 weeks (only 3 counties). At least they aren't being used for the actual competition, where hundreds of kids pull them out of the cages and check handling qualities.

Then they get to retire in their own comfy place at my home. No more battery cages for them!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom