Poultry pampering?

[Beccazon]

I have come across articles in various places with subjects like "trimming chicken toenails" and "bathing your duck or chicken". I have heard of wing trimming and even oiling legs. (Oiling legs?!)

So who pampers or even just does bird maintenance? What do you do and why?

 

[crazychickenlady5]

We normally trim our chickens wings to help prevent them from getting out of our pen, since they live with our goats. But never have I heard of bathing a chicken, especially since they take dust baths on their own. That just seems kinda bizarre to me The oil on the legs is a treatment for scaly leg mites, which works pretty well. But I suppose it would sound pretty odd telling someone "I oiled my pet chicken's legs today"

 

[BaaKaaawk]

The only pampering I do is pretty much any non-meat table scraps. Man, those little garbage disposals will eat anything. Then of course I eat their eggs after that... so not sure what that makes me.

 

[Kdlevesque]

I am a toenail trimmer and my husband is always making fun of me. 2 of mine have nails that grow long and start to curl but the others don’t. We have dog nail trimmers that I use and they sound like we’re killing them the entire time. Afterwards, they settle fast and get rewarded with treats.

 

[MROO]

Pampering? Of course not! We downright SPOIL ours!
Not really, but a few do have "house privileges!" We do trim nails and spurs on a regular basis. If we don't, their nails can grow sideways and twist, much like a horse's hooves grow and turn. Not all bird feet do it, but we have enough that need regular trims that we just do the whole flock. With a small flock (~20,) it's easier for us. Ours get baths, as well, but mostly because DD shows them. Our feather-footed birds get baths fairly regularly, simply to keep their foot plates in nice shape.
We do oil legs and combs, mostly in the winter to help stave off frostbite. Our winters are muggy-cold, so the moisture can do some real damage. Oiling, sometimes using Vaseline but usually with baby or olive oil, is a good way to maintain combs and hang onto toes when the ground gets slushy! Oiling in the summer helps stop any scaly mites that may try take up residence, as well. And regular dust baths are a must!
Then there's Herman the House Rooster. He gets foot-baths regularly throughout the Spring and Summer, mainly because he's a dirtball and I refuse to allow him to wander my house with muddy feet. My Sammy is a clean-legged bantam, so he just gets a baby-wipe. Now, if I could only do the same with the kids and the dogs ...

 

[Beccazon]

I am a toenail trimmer and my husband is always making fun of me. 2 of mine have nails that grow long and start to curl but the others don’t. We have dog nail trimmers that I use and they sound like we’re killing them the entire time. Afterwards, they settle fast and get rewarded with treats.

I imagine that takes 3 people holding one bird and 2 people holding feet and an face shield for the one clipping? Lol

 

[Beccazon]

Pampering? Of course not! We downright SPOIL ours!
Not really, but a few do have "house privileges!" We do trim nails and spurs on a regular basis. If we don't, their nails can grow sideways and twist, much like a horse's hooves grow and turn. Not all bird feet do it, but we have enough that need regular trims that we just do the whole flock. With a small flock (~20,) it's easier for us. Ours get baths, as well, but mostly because DD shows them. Our feather-footed birds get baths fairly regularly, simply to keep their foot plates in nice shape.
We do oil legs and combs, mostly in the winter to help stave off frostbite. Our winters are muggy-cold, so the moisture can do some real damage. Oiling, sometimes using Vaseline but usually with baby or olive oil, is a good way to maintain combs and hang onto toes when the ground gets slushy! Oiling in the summer helps stop any scaly mites that may try take up residence, as well. And regular dust baths are a must!
Then there's Herman the House Rooster. He gets foot-baths regularly throughout the Spring and Summer, mainly because he's a dirtball and I refuse to allow him to wander my house with muddy feet. My Sammy is a clean-legged bantam, so he just gets a baby-wipe. Now, if I could only do the same with the kids and the dogs ...

This is quite possibly the best thing I have read all week! No way are my lil poo machines chillin' in my house. I know many people allow that but um...no. And I have to agree on the kids and dog! My dog, his fave spot is under a pine tree out from. You can imagine the sticky from time to time. As if not enough yuck, he then likes to roll in the SAND out back. Dear Lord smh. And 3 teen boys in high school sports...yah. Nuff said!

 

[Beccazon]

Ok so who is going to share their techniques for nail trimming? I do my dogs. Similar I assume. But the holding and such...pointers? Tips?

And oiling legs/combs. Best products? (How do legs look if mites set up shop?)

 

[MadisonOde]

It’s best to have two people cutting nails, one cutting and one holding the bird. Only trim a little off the end, or you’ll cut the quick and they bleed a lot. For bathing birds, we do it a couple of days before shows.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Pampering? Of course not! We downright SPOIL ours!
Not really, but a few do have "house privileges!" We do trim nails and spurs on a regular basis. If we don't, their nails can grow sideways and twist, much like a horse's hooves grow and turn. Not all bird feet do it, but we have enough that need regular trims that we just do the whole flock. With a small flock (~20,) it's easier for us. Ours get baths, as well, but mostly because DD shows them. Our feather-footed birds get baths fairly regularly, simply to keep their foot plates in nice shape.
We do oil legs and combs, mostly in the winter to help stave off frostbite. Our winters are muggy-cold, so the moisture can do some real damage. Oiling, sometimes using Vaseline but usually with baby or olive oil, is a good way to maintain combs and hang onto toes when the ground gets slushy! Oiling in the summer helps stop any scaly mites that may try take up residence, as well. And regular dust baths are a must!
Then there's Herman the House Rooster. He gets foot-baths regularly throughout the Spring and Summer, mainly because he's a dirtball and I refuse to allow him to wander my house with muddy feet. My Sammy is a clean-legged bantam, so he just gets a baby-wipe. Now, if I could only do the same with the kids and the dogs ...

Thanks, @MROO, I will keep this in mind if it gets cold enough here to worry about frostbite! This is good stuff to know, I learned a lot from this post! ... er, how cold, exactly, might that be?