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A spur on a chicken is made of keratin. The same material as fingernails, horn, & hooves. It is formed over and protrudes from a bony prominence on the inside of the birds leg. On large fowl this protruding bone is usually 3/4 of an inch or less and the spur forms upon that.
Spurs can be removed by several methods. To aid in handling the bird during spur removal I would suggest wrapping the bird's wings to the body with something like an ace bandage.
Some breeders grasp the spur, twist and pull in from the bone. This results in bleeding and a blood stop agent is necessary. A second similar method is to microwave a small potato and then place it on the spur. This aids in cauterizing the blood and the base of the spur. After a couple of minutes grasp the spur with a pair of pliers, twist and pull. The spur is off. Usually there will be no bleeding.
Another method is to use a small saw and cut the spur about 3/4 of an inch from the leg. Again it is advisable to have a blood stop agent ready.
The last method is to use a sanding drum on a Dremel tool. While you could remove the spur down to within 3/4 of an inch, I usually do it in steps. The sanding generates heat and could become quite uncomfortable for the bird. On the possitive side this same heat causes the blood vessels in the base of the spur to retract and bleeding usually isn't a problem. Spur removal isn't a permanent solution and the spur will grow back.
If you spend much time watching your birds breed you will observe the the rooster normally holds the hen by the neck and then stands upon her back. Most of the damage inflicted to her is not caused by the spurs but by the toenails. That's why I would suggest using the sanding drum to blunt the roosters nails. You need not remove much nail, you only want to round the ends to make them less sharp.
When a bird looses feathers they immediately will start to grown replacement feathers, however, it is also some what influence by where the bird is in the normal feather replacement cycle.
Hope this answers your questions sufficently.