Removing rooster spurs with a hot potato...

[speckledhen]

No hot potatoes! May work but will bleed like crazy. Really, the dremel tool is what I use. Cauterizes as it cuts and you can cut as short as you like. My boys dont mind it at all.

 

[Momo]

Isn't there a bone inside the spur that grows out from the leg bone? How do you know where the bone ends and you have to stop cutting?

 

[gems76]

Hi everyone I'm new to all this and your post were very helpful... Thank You

 

[greathorse]

would a set of nippers work? The kind we use to trim horses hooves? I have a couple of those, seems like they would nip right off.

 

[lostsoulhelpmejebus]

Quote:
We use either the Dremel tool or the angle grinder. I prefer the Dremel since it is lighter and I can get in closer with it.

 

[Sammysmom]

Thank you all for your responses. You guys are great!

My husband has a Dremel and we are going to try that method. Thank you also for the warnings about the hot potato. Good to know.

 

[Laskaland]

How close to the leg can you go with the dremel? Can you saw the whole thing off? Will it grow back?
TY

 

[deerman]

Leave about 1/4 to 1/2 of inch long, yes cut or saw , not the hot potatoe, that only remove the outside. If it does bleed place flour or blood stop on it.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, dont go so close that you cut his leg. I sometimes just blunt them to protect the girls from being cut up. Sometimes I take it down to about 3/4 inch. Yes it will grow back. Spurs are like fingernails, really. There isnt a bone in there.

 

[GardenerGal]

About how to tell where the spur ends and live tissue starts, like I said in my previous post if you hold a light behind the spur, you can see through the "dead" part, but you'll see it turn opaque where the spur meats live tissue. Leave at least 1/8" of clear (non living) spur so you don't snip near the live "quick."

Spurs are made of the same protein as our finger nails. You can tell where your "dead" nail meets your "live" nail. Same for chickens. It also is like that for the beak, if you need to trim there without de-beaking.