I have a Barred bantam Cochin rooster that got his upward curving spur hung on the fencing, while he was doing his morning fence fighting (because the other roosters were still in the fence and unable to get to him and that's how he likes to "fight“). It took some work from me to free him and thankfully I witnessed it so he didn't hang there for very long at all. Within two days I noticed his spur sheath was gone and his spur innards were oozing a lot. The oozing and dirt that stuck ended up forming a scab like top. This eventually fell off too and he has a very short spur now. That's been a few months. His spur was right at the point that I was checking him every couple of days to make sure it wasn't growing into his leg before this happened. He is 27 months old. My other roosters don't get trims, filing or removal and so far I've found they naturally shed the tips over time. I have a few that I keep a close eye on because I've noticed that the spur had created an abrasion on the opposite leg, but I see the line where the spur is getting ready to shed on its own. I recently found 2 spur sheaths. One that naturally shed and the spur that fell off from the rooster I spoke of at the beginning of this post.