rooster spurs

[Mrs. K]

Finally I have a grown up rooster, he is approaching 2 years old. He has gotten over the jumping everything all the time, he has grown up. July a year ago was the last time I had a predator loss, and he never gets mean with me. This is working well.

Late last summer I think a combination of a teenager roo and a molt had my girls looking a bit tough, but he got older, the molt got over and everyone looks pretty good now.

But the last few days, I have noticed some ruffled feathers, my eggs are coming in fertilized, so I know he is active. Yesterday I noticed that those spurs of his are getting long! VERY LONG - I have read on here where one can just twist them off.

So my question - should I do that, would it help with the girls, or will not make a difference?

MK

 

[Fleabuskitty]

I personally would be afraid I would do something wrong twisting them off. I would file them down to a nail filer or clip off the tips. But if you know you can do it and think it's necessary then you should. Are the hens scratched or anything? If they are only missing a few feathers and he isn't actually hurting them, I wouldn't worry about it. Removing his spurs won't stop the hens from loosing feathers, just from being injured. If you want to make sure they aren't loosing feathers or anything, either get the hens saddles or separate the rooster (although that would probably be more difficult and just upset him).

 

[DCasper]

If he is not hurting your hens or you, I would leave them alone. If you go to youtube and search removing rooster spurs, you will find a few videos on how to remove the spurs without hurting your rooster.