Nail trimming

[Ninjasquirrel]

Ive tried to trim the nails on my cat before and noticed i need a buddy to hold her since she squirms about. I havent trimmed my birds nails yet but ive noticed some scratch marks on my eggs so im thinking they are do for it. Any advice on how, holding or how far to trim back would be appreciated.

 

[chickens really]

Not sure why you need to trim your Chickens nails. I sure never have. They scratch around and keep them filed naturally. Sounds like you need to collect the eggs sooner because they are scratching around and investigating or getting comfy..

 

[Ridgerunner]

How long or sharp the claws get will depend on how they are kept and what they have to scratch in. Hens walk on the eggs when they are getting on and off the eggs. I've seen that a lot yet don't see scratches on my eggs. Could you post some photos of those scratched eggs? I'm just curious. Maybe even some photos of the claws to see how long they are. I'm not convinced the scratches are from their claws. But that is for you to decide.

Chickens are certainly not cats. If you wrap a large towel around their body pinning their wings to their sides you should be fine. Some people like to cover their heads, I usually do not. They stay remarkably calm but I still hold on to their feet with one hand at all times.

How much is a bit hard to answer. The claws have a live part inside that if you cut it they can bleed. I've nipped it a few times, they usually don't even flinch and the bleeding is minimal and quickly stops but some people like to have something like flour handy to toss on to stop the bleeding.

I use chicken feet when I make broth. I blanch them to remove the skin and twist the claws off to clean them so I'm used to seeing that quick. How close that quick is to the end of the toe can vary quite a bit from chicken to chicken. Most of the time if you clip off no more than 1/4 of the claw you will miss the quick. Most of the time.

How? Different people have different methods. I use a Dremel tool with one of those discs used to cut metal. You could use a regular drill but those are a bit heavier and harder to handle. Still, if that is what you have it can work. Some people use pet nail clippers, probably what you used on your cat.

 

[aart]

I've never found a need to trim chicken nails, but my birds have lots of dirt to dig in...they dig some prodigious holes in their runs.
There are also concrete pavers in lots of places, to cover where I don't want them to dig, I imagine they scratch on those too.

I have seen scratches on darker eggs, sorry no pics.
Welsummer and Marans, and their OE offspring, coatings seem to scratch rather easily, but I don't worry about it.

 

[Ridgerunner]

That's a good point. My eggs are mostly blue or green, the blue coloring is through out the egg shell and the green is not that dark. The brown coloring is normally laid on top of the white shell so any scratch in a dark brown egg would be more noticeable when it exposed the white.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Ill take a picture when i get home to show you what im looking at. They will dig in the dirt and we do have pavers on the patio for them to scratch. I just dont know how long is too long

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

 

[townchicks]

Those look normal length to me. I wouldn't trim them.

 

[Ninjasquirrel]

Those look normal length to me. I wouldn't trim them.

Thanks. How long would you say is too long so i know for the future?

 

[townchicks]

When they start to look a lot longer than that. Maybe keep the photo handy as a reference. Sorry that's not very specific, but it's sort of a visual thing for me.